Bad news for all the new iPhone 4 owners in the US hoping to upload handfuls of pictures taken with their new built-in cameras, AT&T is limiting maximum upload speeds all over the nation. This is not a universal restriction, at least not yet, but it is very common in many major metropolitan areas since this past weekend.
iPhone 4s that before could have uploaded data at over 1000 kbps are now moping along at a mere 100 kbps. The following cities according to Gizmodo are effected by the slowed data speeds: NYC, Central Jersey, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, South Jersey/Philly, Columbus, Cleveland, West Houston, Phoenix, Northern Colorado, St. Paul/Minnesota, Suffolk County/Long Island, Quad Cities, South Jersey, Denver, Detroit Metro, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Fairfax, and Minneapolis.
The most likely cause of this clampdown on uploading is a massive downing of the HSUPA network, the network responsible for fast upload speeds, in those areas. Assuming that that is the culprit, it is unknown as to how long the slowdown should be a problem.
Perhaps the Senator did say it best, the internet is a series of tubes, and this network has a clog. How fast can you upload in your town?
I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps this internet thingy is the wrong line of work for AT&T. They seem to spend an inordinate amount of time working on ways to NOT provide internet.
Maybe it’s not too late for them to try another line of work. They could maybe make gourmet cupcakes or something?
I assume this is effecting all iPhone users?
If this is not a message to Apple that the iPhone needs to be on multiple mobile network operators (MNO) — then they are fools.
There are roughly 93 MNO and mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in the United States. Granted many of them are CDMA but many are GSM. Why can’t these MNO and MVNO also get their hands on the iPhone? I am making a hypothetical that by spreading out the iPhone population — the network issues would not be as problematic?
after downloading the FCC bandwidth testing app for my iPhone I got the sinking feeling that this was what was wrong with the numbers that I was seeing. 1-2mbps down is fine with me but 0.2-0.3mbps up is horrible.