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The speeds we're starting to see on next-gen mobile devices + networks are pretty impressive - more than can be used effectively without draining the battery in
by cscotta 16y ago
The speeds we're starting to see on next-gen mobile devices + networks are pretty impressive - more than can be used effectively without draining the battery in a hot second, at least. Now that we've got bandwidth figured out, it's time to tackle latency.
A coworker ran a speed test on his AT&T iPhone 4 in NE Portland at lunch and got about 1.4mbps down with a 150ms ping. I get about 3.9 - 4.3mbps down with an 80ms ping with my Nexus One (T-Mobile): http://j.mp/94sfpF http://j.mp/94sfpF
Both of these speeds are fantastic. The bandwidth question is highly network-dependent, and almost entirely moot once you're beyond the 800k mark -- especially with a low-latency ping, which is likely the biggest bottleneck when browsing the web.
We need device manufacturers and carriers to work closely, striving to reduce latency in mobile connections. For developers, it's critical to drive home the point of minimizing the number of HTTP requests. If you've got a minimum 200ms round-trip for each call and 98 items to load (NYT.com, tested a moment ago), it adds up quickly.
- jazzychad 16y agoAmen to that. I wrote a test app which downloads a single image from the net. There is a progress bar so you can actually see how "quickly" the bytes come in. I kick off the request, and the majority of the time is spent waiting for the first byte. I was pretty surprised by this. All this time I was thinking it was the throughput that was slow; but no, the latency really is the killer here.
- spudlyo 16y agoBad latency makes for a terrible interactive terminal experience too. I remember SSH on my first gen iPhone was awful.
- Prisen 16y agoImproved latency is one of the major improvements that 4G (lte) has over 3G. Networks are already being rolled out, it won't take long until there is coverage in major cities.