T-Mobile is the fastest mobile network but I'm not switching — here's why

T-Mobile continues to blanket the country in pink speed as the "Un-carrier" was reported to have the fastest mobile network in the US.

The report furnished by Ookla , a web testing and network diagnostics company, looked at several metrics over the first half of 2024. T-Mobile was either comfortably ahead of competitors Verizon and AT&T or blowing them out of the water.

Ookla studied the speed of the network carriers' mobile networks, their 5G network speed, network consistency, video experiences, gaming experiences and how consumers felt about their carriers.

In the mobile network and 5G tests, T-Mobile's network showed median download speeds of over 220 megabits per second (Mbps). Verizon and AT&T were further away at around 110 Mbps on their mobile networks. The report notes that Verizon has significantly improved since last year, with their 5G speeds hitting 191 Mbps compared to 146 in 2023.

All three companies were relatively similar in consistency, as Ookla tests found that they all exceeded 80%, meeting the threshold of 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload throughput. T-Mobile was the highest at 86%.

Similar stories can be read in video and gaming for the trio of network carriers. And they weren't far off in consumer sentiment, with AT&T being rated the lowest at 3.14 stars out of 5, while T-Mobile was at 3.79 stars out of 5.

It should be noted that these tests are a general outlay of the United States. On a state-by-state level, it can be a different story. For example, Illinois had the fastest median download speeds of around 160 Mbps. Meanwhile, states like South Dakota, Maine and Vermont hover around only 42 Mbps, an astounding drop-off. T-Mobile led the pack in every state except North Dakota, where Verizon is the fastest.

Should you switch to T-Mobile?

With all this talk of superior speed and consistency, should you consider switching to T-Mobile?

Maybe.

Since acquiring Sprint and its network in 2020, T-Mobile has been integrating the yellow carrier's network into a nearly 100% pink coverage map . This isn't to say that the coverage is always good, though.

Our global editor-in-chief, Mark Spoonauer, recently switched from Verizon to T-Mobile ; in his words, it's been a total disaster.

Based out of New York, the T-Mobile network consistently had problems staying connected or getting connected for him.

"Overall, I’ve not been satisfied with T-Mobile’s network based on my experience so far. It has simply not been reliable enough for calls. Even while writing this story and talking to my wife on the way home, she cut out every few sentences or so, and I kept having to ask her to repeat herself. That's not sustainable."

Is one man's anecdotal evidence enough to say you shouldn't try it?

Not necessarily, but it is something to consider if the speed tests made your eyes go wide with network envy.

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