No pretty metaphors for you here. It’s not as seamlessly smooth and interwoven as the finest Japanese silk. It’s not the robust, reliable, solid as a rock Chevy that’ll pull an airplane or whatever the case may be. To be honest…AT&T’s 3G coverage is a bit spotty.
To their credit, the map provided is pretty good for users. It can be misleading at first. You start out with this map covered in blue. There’s data coverage for as far as the eye can see. Fresh crisp blue open sea for you and your 3G jetski of a phone or broadband card.
Then you enter your street address. Lo and behold it’s dark blue there too! Mobile Broadband here we come!
You’re waiting for the catch aren’t you?
Here it is.
If you look at a map that displays just AT&T mobile broadband coverage in blue, you’ll see that only major cities are covered. Everywhere else gets EDGE, which is unbearable slow if you’re used to broadband speeds.
AT&T actually says it themselves:
“The AT&T 3G / BroadbandConnect network is currently available in most major metropolitan areas and is expanding rapidly…EDGE is AT&T’s national wireless high-speed data network available in over 13,000 cities and towns and along nearly 40,000 miles of highway. “
That’s them putting it nicely. In other words, it’s not in a lot of places but you can get EDGE just about anywhere. It’s true. They just don’t tell you the snail’s pace that EDGE moves at.
The Verdict:
AT&T Wireless Broadband coverage is okay. Definitely not phenomenal. Considering the huge load of I-Phones flooding their network, they need to up their infrastructure in the mobile broadband department in 2009. If you live in an urban area you’ll most likely be covered.
