How fast is 3g service

Tweet Share Email. In This Article. Overall Findings. Final Verdict. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Tell us why! More from Lifewire. To watch an average Youtube video on a 3G connection would use Mb of data, and take almost 7 hours to render out. It caps at about 7 Megabits per second Mbps. To qualify for 4G on the other hand, rates have a minimum requirement of Mbps while mobile traveling in a car or subway , and 1 gigabit per second Gbps when stationary.

While these are minimum standards, things like distance, number of users, and even weather can all impact transfer rates. Typically there are more 4G networks in operation than 3G, meaning easier access and better service areas. So while your phone typically relies on the signal provided by your cell carrier—it also has the option to connect to a WiFi router. Wireless routers carry the benefit of being hardwired into the data stream—meaning that you have a closer proximity to the actual access of the internet, than however far away you are from the nearest cell phone tower.

Meaning typically no dead zones. The speed of the WiFi is dependent on the plan and provider. When it comes to its development history, the "G" stands for generation. This means that 4G stands for the fourth generation and 3G stands for the third generation. As a general rule, if you are on the same carrier that is being used, A 4G connection is much faster than that of a 3G connection. Another thing that users have to take into account is that once a new generation of wireless broadband becomes open to the public, this typically requires the Internet Service Provider to make some necessary hardware upgrades to their towers, and ultimately, to make upgrades to your phone as well.

The upgrades that are being made towards your phone is to make sure that it will be able to send and receive information through the new infrastructure. A 3G phone cannot simply communicate with a 4G network, but new generations of phones are specifically designed to be backward-compatible, this means that a phone that has a 4G connection will be able to communicate with a 3G and 2G network.

The newer your mobile tech, the shorter that latency period will be:. The more users that are connected to a signal, the slower that signal becomes. Think of it as a road. Network signals work in the same way. This is why speeds might be slower in cities where there are more users, or at certain times of the day when more people are likely to be using the network.

For a long time one of the many reasons 4G was so much faster than 3G was simply because fewer people had 4G devices. This is no longer true as a general rule since many people nowadays have 4G. But when 5G becomes available this will be true again, since few people will initially have 5G devices or even a 5G phone plan. Accessing a webpage uses around 1. In real life, however, there is a chance that your download speeds could affect your download limit. Firstly, this is because access to a faster internet connection often tempts people into using the internet more, into downloading more online games, or streaming more video, simply because these things are easier on a faster connection.

Another reason is because some websites use adaptive technology. For example, YouTube automatically chooses the quality of a video depending on what speeds it thinks your phone can handle.

Upgrade to a new phone with 4G connectivity and YouTube may begin choosing High Definition by default instead. However, for the most part, this is probably going to cost you cash. Here are a few things you can try:.