iPhone users may have another reason to dislike AT&T. Noting a lack of independent testing for wireless 3G networks, computer magazine PC World decided to test the 3G networks of major carriers Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T Wireless. Their tests included three areas: download speed, upload speed, and reliability.

The results? Verizon’s 3G network provided the best download speeds with an average 951 kbps. AT&T and Sprint came in at a virtual tie for second by averaging 812 and 808 kbps, respectively. But here’s the kicker for iPhone users: AT&T came in a distant last place for reliability of connection. PC World’s testers were able to maintain an uninterrupted signal only 68% of the time. This is in stark contrast to 90.5% for Sprint and 89.9% for Verizon. Ouch.

Another interesting note from the article:

In our tests of AT&T’s networks in four cities (New York, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose), the number of bars was not predictive of the service quality we saw; in the other nine cities in our study, the number of bars proved marginally useful in predicting how well our test experience would turn out.

So those little bars are lying to us, eh?

Link:

PC World “A Day in the Life of 3G”