So we've already taken a look at the strength of the Wifi signal on the Evo 4G. And that's important. You have to have a good connection to get anything done. But signal strength isn't everything. And so we re-ran our tests, this time measuring data speed. How did the Evo 4G compare? If the picture above is any indication, our results might surprise you.
Let's discuss, after the break.
Evo 4G Wifi speed test - Phil's results
Same setup as last time. The particulars:
- Router: Linksys WRT350N, 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz
- Phones: Nexus One, Evo 4G, Motorola Droid
- Test app: FCC Mobile Broadband Test
My router's in one corner of my house. I started in the corner of the house farthest away, working my way back toward the base, testing speed at the same five locations (and using the Atlanta server) as I tested the signal. I held the each phone in the same manner, pointed in the same direction, and ran the FCC test. Rooms are listed from farthest from the router to closest. Fasted speed is noted in bold.
| Evo 4G | Nexus One | Droid | |
| Laundry room | -- | 2.27/1.88/57 | 4.81/1.37/56 |
| Dining room | 4.63/1.86/64 | 4.72/1.85/59 | 6.85/1.45/52 |
| Living room | 7.24/1.83/59 | 7.45/1.92/53 | 7.58/1.72/55 |
| Bedroom | 8.08/1.86/64 | 7.77/1.91/56 | 7.26/1.64/54 |
| Office (router location) | 8.39/1.89/58 | 8.29/1.90/55 | 7.79/1.80/57 |
Results are downstream/upstream/latency. Speeds are Mbps, latency is in milliseconds.
So here's what I found: I ran each test five times in each location, for a total of 75 results. Took the average of each location, and that's how I came to the numbers above. The Evo did the best in the two locations closest to the router, and the Droid did the best farthest from it. The Evo refused to register data in the laundry room -- farthest from the router -- which is why it has no results.
Evo 4G Wifi test - Jerry's results
Same deal as above. Five tests in each location (on the Washington, D.C., server), with the averages below. The particulars:
- Router: Netgear WNR3500L 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4GHz
- Phones: Evo 4G (with 1.39.00.05.31 radio), Nexus One, Sprint Hero, Google Ion (dev phone)
- Test app: FCC Mobile Broadband Test
| Evo 4G | Nexus One | Sprint Hero | Google Ion | |
| Back porch | -- | 0.58/0.85-117 | -- | -- |
| Living room | 5.10/2.1/39 | 5.5/2.7/47 | 4.30/0.9/116 | 3.90/1.10/88 |
| Kitchen | 3.30/1.1/88 | 3.77/1.3/28 | 1.60/0.97/61 | 1.40/1.00/58 |
| Office (router location) | 11.2/3.1/22 | 9.7/3.0/41 | 5.73/1.37/88 | 4.90/0.90/104 |
So what did we learn?
Whoa, there! Jerry and I were both a little surprised by our findings. The Evo 4G had the fastest average closest to the router for both of us. And when it doesn't have a signal -- which pretty much was the case in my laundry room and on Jerry's back porch -- it doesn't get good speed. Natch.
But in between, the Evo 4G was right up there with the other phones. It beat out the Sprint Hero and Google Ion in Jerry's test, and the difference was mostly negligible in my tests. Repeat: The Evo 4G was not not noticeably slower than the other phones. (Except for when the Motorola Droid kicked everybody's butt, beating the Evo and the Nexus One in a few tests, as well as signal strength.)
So what do we take from this? Slow Wifi speeds may be in our heads, at least a little bit. While our tests were far from scientific, we both saw the same trends and had the same "Ah ha!" moment -- the Evo 4G did much better than we thought it would and is mostly on par with the other phones we tested.
Will you get different results? Maybe. There are a lot of variables to take into effect. (And we still need to test against a Droid Incredible.) Will we see signal strength and/or speeds improve with a software update? Maybe. Maybe not. But you won't hear any more complaints out of Jerry or myself.
