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What's Up With 3G Performance in the iPhone?

by: Dean Bubley August 25, 2008 | about stocks: AAPL / IFX / T    

Dean Bubley

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Having been buried in work and on holiday for much of the past month, I hadn't really caught up with some of the news about the 3G iPhone. There seems to be widespread consternation about the performance of the device when connected via 3G, both in terms of connect speed and download performance.

About 200-300kbit/s seems to be a typical connection speed in the US, with some people reporting much worse performance (on the fringes of coverage). However, according to Wired's 3G iPhone performance map, many users in Europe are getting 1-2Mbit/s quite easily.

Various fingers of blame are being pointed - is it the AT&T (T) network in the US? Is it the Infineon (IFX) chipset? Or is this just another manifestation of my favourite bugbear - the disconnect between mobile network designers and device developers (and thus by extension the 'real' user experience). It is simply the case that the original usage cases envisaged for HSDPA didn't include the type of rich, demanding applications (and implied traffic patterns) that iPhones generate?

Some thoughts:

  • Firstly, this could well be a manifestation of the HSDPA "idle mode" latency I discussed a few weeks ago. For iPhone users used to always-on, instant-connect WiFi, or even a nailed-up EDGE connection on a matured & optimised network - the initial "time to connect" could well be notably worse.
  • Secondly, in many countries, 3G is deployed in a higher frequency band than 2G (1900MHz vs 850MHz for AT&T, or 2100MHz vs 900/1800MHz in Europe). This means it will have shorter range, lesser coverage, and crucially worse indoor penetration.
  • The audience of 3G iPhone users is fairly self-selecting: Almost all actually use the data capabilities. While some of that is attributable to the phone's useability, it's also the case that it has attracted existing data-oriented users. It also tends to come bundled with data plans. This contrasts with most other popular 3G phones, for which only a small minority regularly use data (or even have a data plan). I'll bet the average Nokia (NOK) N95 or SonyEricsson (SNE) K-series user wouldn't notice lousy 3G signal, because they only fire up the browser once a month.
  • Various blogs have commented on the new 2.0.2 firmware release, wondering whether it contains changes to the radio stack. Some have claimed that they're seeing more bars of signal strength subsequently - although the cynic in me suspects it's easier to change the signal-strength indicator software, than the underlying radio.
  • AT&T has not previously had the consumer 3G dongle phenomenon take off the same way it has in many other countries (reflecting different pricing strategies). So its network engineers may be a little behind the curve on dealing with massive, sudden ramp-ups of data traffic growth, often in new and unexpected geographic locations. They're probably faced with a whole range of optimisation headaches, and may even be needing to split cells & find new locations.
  • Expectations of WiFi-like performance by end users reading about HSDPA's "headline" speeds may have been unrealistic. Normally, WiFi APs only have 1-3 users attached simultaneously, whereas a 3G base station might have hundreds - with the available capacity in a sector shared amongst them all. Then there's another set of questions about the backhaul capacity from the cell site, in comparison with WiFi which usually has a home/office broadband connection to exploit.
  • Somewhere there must be some side-by-side comparisons of an iPhone running next to another 3G handset (Nokia, Moto, whatever) connected to the same operator's network. If there was a big performance delta, that would point the finger of blame clearly at the phone/chipset rather than the network.
  • It could be that the radio chip or antenna has worse performance on AT&T's 1900MHz band than on most European operators' 2100MHz for some reason.
  • I'd imagine that the density of iPhone users in the US is higher than in most other countries, and thus more likely to put a strain on AT&T's network in dense urban areas.

Based on what I've been reading, I'm more inclined to point the finger at AT&T than at Infineon. Its 3G network has (to date) been geared more towards corporate PC + datacard users - and I suspect it's realising that massmarket consumer usage patterns are very different indeed.

Disclosure: None

 

 

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This article has 11 comments:

  •  
    Aug 25 10:30 AM
    Last week there were reports that the Blackberry Bold was experiencing similar connection problems as the iPhone, maybe it's not just an Apple iPhone problem. If you search Rimm's Blackberry you will see many problems, yet for some reason you rarely hear about them, looks like the shorts are at work.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 10:38 AM
    Here is article on BB Bold 3G issues.

    www.electronista.com/a.../
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 12:16 PM
    I thought that I might be having 3G problems since at home I get a no service message even though AT&T says I have 3G in my area. However I was in a store in a nearby town and had 5 bars for 3G and excellent performance for web browsing. That has convinced me that AT&T's network is the issue, not Apple's iPhone. If I drive around I can find holes in the service even though AT&T says that all of San Jose, CA has 3G. If people want to complain, direct it to the real culprit, AT&T.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 12:25 PM
    By the way, I have Sirius radio in my car and it drops out several places in my neighborhood due to trees, power lines, etc so the iPhone 3G issue may be more complex than just the AT&T network antenna placement.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 12:44 PM
    Some good points in the article - its true that the iPhone has USEABLE features which require data connection a LOT more than Nokia etc.

    This is a GOOD thing, but AT&T are not up to the job.

    There is a test here:

    www.engadget.com/2008/.../

    that shows the iPhone is the same as all the other 3G phones.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 01:11 PM
    I've had great and consistant 3G here in PCola with the iPhone. We just got 3G here 3 wks ago and I just don't think there is the saturation of 3G users in this small town. Even sitting at my desk at work, I go from 3-5 bars without moving an inch. Do you get less bars if there is more users on the same tower?
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 01:55 PM
    Mr Bubbly last bemoaned the iPhone's camera, if I recall correctly.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 04:07 PM
    Bubley. How would you like to be saddled with that name. LOL!
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 05:28 PM
    No problems, AppleFinland. It's a lot better than boring names like Jobs or Gates, and a lot more easily pronounceable than Kallasvuo....

    Tuskagee - you do indeed recall that. But that's Apple's fault, while this seems more likely to be a network issue, given the reports I'm seeing that the 3G iPhone is working fine elsewhere.

    Incidentally, it appears that Seeking Alpha has included this article of mine twice under different titles. See the other comment thread at:
    seekingalpha.com/artic...

    Or my original post at:
    disruptivewireless.blo...
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 25 06:44 PM
    You write nonsense about not liking the iPhone for business due to its camera, which is not a Hasselblad last time I looked, and you want credibility? Ha!
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 26 05:35 AM
    Tuskagee - try re-reading my posts. You're misinterpreting them.
    Reply
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