Throughout much of the country, AT&T’s 3G can be wonderful. Step into a major city, however, and it tends to grind to a halt. Here in my hometown of San Luis Obispo, for example, it soars; anytime I head to San Francisco or New York, however, it’s practically useless. Speeds are all over the place, with pages loading one time and then timing out the next.
Slowly but surely, AT&T is making changes to their network to improve 3G in major cities. By piping data over the 850mhz spectrum in addition to 1900mhz, they theoretically up network capacity and coverage indoors. The latest to get the upgrade treatment is America’s thirty-third most populated city, Atlanta, Georgia. Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, North Fulton, and Fayette Counties and the Downtown areas should all see general improvements beginning today.
If you’re one of the bajillions of people in a massive city blanketed in gasping 3G, AT&T’s upgrades should hit before too long. Both New York City and San Francisco should be all patched up by the end of 2009.