How's the EDGE network in NYC on a normal day?

September 8, 2007 7:41 AM

What are the EDGE network speeds like on an iphone in New York City on a normal day? Are they excruciating? I am not interested in watching videos, just basic suring (e.g., moviefone, nyt), email checking, etc.

I know that they won't be 3G, but are they passable?

posted by milarepa to technology (9 comments total)

D'oh, surfing not suring.
posted by milarepa at 7:44 AM on September 8, 2007

Try it for yourself and form your own opinion. Go to an Apple store, turn Wi-fi off (under the Settings button) and surf around on the EDGE network.
posted by zachlipton at 7:46 AM on September 8, 2007

I live in Boston, not New York, but EDGE is fine for the sorts of things you're talking about. Email checking happens in the background; text on webpages loads up fine. You may want to use the mobile-optimized versions of some webpages, although more for easy legibility than anything else (no zooming or scrolling necessary.)

Then again, I never had 3G, so perhaps I'd be complaining more if I were used to something else.
posted by wyzewoman at 8:02 AM on September 8, 2007

As a tip that I've read about online, don't cover the black plastic part on the back of the phone when using EDGE. That black portion is actually the phone's antenna (weird location, I know). You actually can noticeably improve the speed by not covering it - I've tried it.
posted by superwillis at 8:45 AM on September 8, 2007

EDGE is not agonizing on the iPhone in NYC. It's not fast, but it's not so slow as to make you give up. Sometimes it is actually startlingly fast. I use it quite frequently to Google movie showtimes, check blogs, etc., and it's rarely frustrating and just about always usable. I've also never had a 3G phone, but I did have another EDGE phone on Cingular/AT&T before this, and they unquestionably beefed up the network in a BIG way for the iPhone's launch, it's at least twice as fast as it used to be.
posted by logovisual at 9:40 AM on September 8, 2007

For email, maps and basic web surfing, EDGE is fine on my iPhone. It's not super fast, but it's not excruciatingly slow.
posted by andrewraff at 10:05 AM on September 8, 2007

EDGE on the iPhone is adequate in NYC for basic connectivity (no multimedia, obviously.)
posted by enrevanche at 10:20 AM on September 8, 2007

EDGE on the iPhone is inadequate for anything other than the most basic connectivity (text emails, at most) and in many NYC locations, inadequate even for that. It does not function at all in most office buildings. In short, it is totally unacceptable for hardware of such otherwise stellar quality. A shame really. Apple really dropped the ball by agreeing to EDGE. Steve actually admitted this, in a moment of what counts as shocking candor for Steve, when he said browsing under EDGE is "not as fast as we'd like it to be". (Apple also badly botched the email client, which is surprising for a company that usually works so hard on software, but that's another issue.) I would not buy an iPhone expecting to get any love from EDGE at all. Buy it because it's a great iPod or because you plan to use it in a WiFi environment. Or better, buy a decent phone and an iPod Touch. The iPhone/iPod Touch really is the most spectacular media device in the known universe.
posted by The Bellman at 11:24 AM on September 8, 2007

I've been using an iPhone for ~5 months in Seattle, where I found EDGE fast enough to be useful, but slow enough to be frustrating.

I spent last week in Manhattan and found the EDGE experience there to be significantly worse. I was still glad to have access to Google, maps, e-mail, etc, but I gave up on a lot more websites than I would have browsing over EDGE in Seattle.
posted by Good Brain at 4:15 PM on January 21