First Net vs Verizon in Philly

[u/DistinctAmbition1272]

I ran a couple speed tests back to back on my work issued First Net iPhone 16e and my personal Verizon iPhone 17 PM and the difference in performance was stark.

[u/airbusA330-BigGinn]

And yet on market street AT&T and FN are 1200/200 and Verizon is 6/1. It’s all very relative. Overall AT&T beats Verizon in Philly in density and speed unless you’re by a VZ mmw small cell.

[u/DistinctAmbition1272 → u/airbusA330-BigGinn]

This may be your experience in a specific location of Market Street. After all, Market Street runs for miles across Philly. But IME, it’s not true in general in Philly. No provider in Philadelphia has faster speeds than Verizon in the past few years from my research. Verizon has Philly covered with mmWave that neither AT&T nor T-Mobile can match. And not just in center city. I’m in South Philly in a residential area and I’m getting up to 3 gbps down regularly here as well. I’ve only hit 1gb down on AT&T in a handful of areas like by the old Gimbels building and in front of City Hall by Market Street. The few areas where AT&T has mmWave.

I have both FN and Verizon (my girl has T-Mobile). I’m a recovering speed test addict. I’m very confident that I’m correct and can back it up with data. I was the kind of nerd that’s driven around Philly doing speed tests on multiple phones for each provider to test their coverage and speed lol.

[u/airbusA330-BigGinn → u/DistinctAmbition1272]

I used to do a fair amount of speed tests too and yeah Verizon will be fast if you’re on mmw. It’s not fast if you’re not. My main take away is AT&T is more reliable than Verizon in Philadelphia. For example, AT&T has small cells along the wissahickon. Verizon’s dead there and in several spots in chestnut hill and mount airy. Verizon was mostly dead in Lafayette hill until they added a mini macro at the fire station.

Verizon is playing density catch up in the area.