08/21/2008, 1:20pm, EDT
Thursday, August 21st
Decreased iPhone speeds caused by 2.0.2 firmware?
The iPhone 2.0.2 update that was supposed to improve 3G connectivity may have had an unexpectedly negative effect on download speeds, accounts say. Test My iPhone is a site that allows users to test their iPhone's download and upload speeds, and also keeps track of average speeds recorded in the last 24 hours. The site has completed just over 600,000 speed tests, and has previously shown an average speed of around 2,224Kbps; in the last 24 hours however, this has fallen 30 percent to 1,578Kbps.
Cult of Mac reports that this decrease could be related to Monday's v2.0.2 update, though it speculates that there might be other reasons for a sudden speed reduction. Some suggestions include meteorological conditions, a spike in traffic on AT&T's network, or a bug in the site's reporting tool. It is noted that average global download and upload speeds are the same, which is a rare phenomenon. One reader comments that the global decrease could be simply be generated by users performing more EDGE tests versus 3G or Wi-Fi.
Complaints about 3G connectivity have surged in recent weeks, with one user going as far as to file a lawsuit against the company, arguing that Apple's claims of "twice the speed" are untrue.
Filed under: iPhone, networking, Apple
Other story tags: AT&T, iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0
, 
, 8
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Top
subscribe to comments
for this article
No
The report is accurate. I have quite a noticeable slow down and weakening on my iPhone.
DON'T RUN THIS TEST
Until the folks behind testmyiphone.com explain why their test rebooted my first gen. iphone during the d/l (wifi) speed test......
Re: Don't run...
Maybe you should be asking apple how running a web page could cause your iPhone to reboot?????
Noticed a slowdown but..
I may have noticed slower speeds but it is more stable and consistent and GPS seems to work in less than 10 seconds now.
Even with the slowdown, it is still 5X faster than Edge.
OR...
It could be on purpose to help AT&T with service issues, reduce the speed on the phone will reduce demand on AT&T's pathetic network so there is less issues.
yes
The report is inaccurate. I have quite a noticeable speed up and strengthening on my iPhone.
Huh?
The numbers quoted are for ALL connection types. I don't see any value for the aggregate and last 24 hours just for 3G.
Its not clear to me that any of the numbers (other than the value you get from your specific test on your specific phone) can be correlated to anything, there's just not enough data.
Questions or answers?
For the love of Mike, MacNN, stop putting question marks at the end of your headlines. If you know something to be true, say it in the headline. If you don't know it to be true, say Cult of Mac reports this or Test My iPhone says that. But please stop asking me questions with your headlines.