Edward Kirk
June 16th, 2008, 06:02 PM
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You might remember that we told you earlier <a href="http://www.iphonealley.com/news/the-iphone039s-3g-speeds-explained" target="_blank">last week</a> that AT&T would be restricting the data speeds of the 3G iPhone so as not to drain it's battery life and to make sure that their 3G network doesn't get bogged down with all of the internet usage. Well, AT&T recently stated that they're not actually limiting it's speed, but that this is how fast their network is in most areas on average. <!--break-->
Apparently what's actually going on is that the 1.4Mbps we thought they were capping the iPhone at is actually the "observed speed" that they've been seeing over their 3G network. The faster speeds mentioned that we though the iPhone was actually capable of on the network is actually the peak speeds that it can actually reach, but that AT&T and Apple have chosen to advertise the 1.4Mbps as that's what most people will probably be getting.
While it doesn't change the fact that the iPhone won't be getting that blazing fast speed increase we've all been hoping for, it does help to clarify a little about their motives. Of course, this could still be an elaborate scheme to make us <em>think</em> they're not capping speeds, or to cover up for the fact that their network isn't really all that great (and it's probably <a href="http://www.iphonealley.com/news/3g-data-coverage-map" target="_blank">not</a>), but we'll let you decide on that one.
[via <a href="http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/06/16/iphone.3g.speeds.14mbps/" target="_blank">MacNN</a>]</div>
You might remember that we told you earlier <a href="http://www.iphonealley.com/news/the-iphone039s-3g-speeds-explained" target="_blank">last week</a> that AT&T would be restricting the data speeds of the 3G iPhone so as not to drain it's battery life and to make sure that their 3G network doesn't get bogged down with all of the internet usage. Well, AT&T recently stated that they're not actually limiting it's speed, but that this is how fast their network is in most areas on average. <!--break-->
Apparently what's actually going on is that the 1.4Mbps we thought they were capping the iPhone at is actually the "observed speed" that they've been seeing over their 3G network. The faster speeds mentioned that we though the iPhone was actually capable of on the network is actually the peak speeds that it can actually reach, but that AT&T and Apple have chosen to advertise the 1.4Mbps as that's what most people will probably be getting.
While it doesn't change the fact that the iPhone won't be getting that blazing fast speed increase we've all been hoping for, it does help to clarify a little about their motives. Of course, this could still be an elaborate scheme to make us <em>think</em> they're not capping speeds, or to cover up for the fact that their network isn't really all that great (and it's probably <a href="http://www.iphonealley.com/news/3g-data-coverage-map" target="_blank">not</a>), but we'll let you decide on that one.
[via <a href="http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/06/16/iphone.3g.speeds.14mbps/" target="_blank">MacNN</a>]</div>