As of its “Fastest Mobile Networks 2011” package, PCMag road-tested eight 3G and 4G networks in 21 U.S. cities, including all five boroughs of New York. Surprising no one, the news was not good for AT&T customers.
In NYC, we got some of the slowest AT&T speeds, and least-reliable AT&T connections, of all the cities we tested. Even little MetroPCS is both faster and more reliable than AT&T in the Big Apple.
But, if you’re not under contract, there are other options:
The good news is that you have a bunch of faster choices. New York has always been a Verizon town, and Verizon’s new 4G LTE network is the fastest in the city. But we also saw peak speeds on Sprint 4G and T-Mobile topping 8Mbps, and MetroPCS turned in an impressive performance given its very low prices.
Only two spots were tested in Brooklyn and Queens, versus eight in Manhattan, but Astoria won out best overall speeds thanks to “just the right combination of relatively low-rise buildings, but dense population to deliver great wireless signals.” Something Nate Silver did not take into account when he ranked it only the 11th most livable neighborhood in New York.
