A new mobile bandwidth report found big swings in the speeds that users on 4G networks can get, depending on time of day. The 4G bandwidth report, from mobile performance measurement company OpenSignal, found that 4G download speeds in the U.S. were 1.9 times faster in the late hours than during the day or evening.
4G Bandwidth Report
OpenSignal found that the United States finished 47th out of 77 countries in 4G speed. The report also found that speeds vary considerably from one U.S. urban market to another. Researchers expect to see changes in this data with the advent of 5G.
“5G will not only provide extremely fast speeds but also a solid bedrock of capacity, to even out the consistency issues we are seeing with current 4G networks,” the report reads. “As part of the 5G era, new high capacity and very high frequency radio bands will be usable for the first time by mobile technology, which will increase the networks’ ability to support more simultaneous users and data at very high speeds.”
The news is not all negative for 4G networks. Last month, OpenSignal said that Verizon and T-Mobile both exceeded 20 Mbps download speeds. Verizon averaged 20.9 Mbps and T-Mobile 21.1 Mbps. AT&T and Sprint, at 17.8 Mbps and 13.9 Mbps, still are short of the 20 Mbps threshold.
