PCMag just released the 2022 results of the Best Mobile Networks report (fka Fastest Mobile Networks). And the overall winner is….T-Mobile!
For it13th year of testing, the mag’s staff drove more than 10,000 miles across the U.S. with the latest 5G phones and new software that tracks dropped calls and provides a better measure of reliability. Key highlights from the report:
- T-Mobile wins 18 of PCMag‘s 30 cities to Verizon’s eight and AT&T’s four.
- Both T-Mobile and Verizon see dramatically increased nationwide speeds this year as they expand their mid-band 5G networks.
- AT&T’s speeds decline, as it has added very little capacity while data demands grew. Its entire advantage is in places where it has greater network reliability than T-Mobile.
- PCMag saw a significant amount of Verizon’s “UW” icon nationwide and less of AT&T’s “5G+.” Both icons can signify mid-band or the even faster high-band spectrum. AT&T had the most mid-band-like characteristics in Detroit, Texas, and southern Florida. But both AT&T and Verizon are using less mid-band than T-Mobile is right now. While T-Mobile uses up to 110MHz, AT&T generally uses 40MHz and Verizon 60MHz.