AT&T to begin implementing N-SET in an effort to reduce 3G network strain
AT&T continues to boast of “the nation’s fastest 3G network” while many customers in various regions across the country seem to think differently. Dropped calls, outages, network congestion and general reliability issues continue to plague the carrier’s 3G network but today we have some good news for those of you currently with AT&T. According to one of our ninjas, AT&T is set to begin a rolling launch of its Network Settings (N-SET) Solution across all networks in the US. The roll out will begin this month. N-SET will balance traffic between the carrier’s 2G and 3G networks, thus reducing the load borne by its 3G network. Essentially, a customer who primarily uses voice services will connect via 2G even if 3G is supported by his or her handset. If and when said customer begins to actively use data services, the network will bounce him or her over to 3G. BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3G users will not be affected by the change. Assuming all goes according to plan, N-SET stands to have a pretty immediate impact on network performance by freeing up 3G bandwidth for heavier data users. Whether or not it will be enough to impact urban and populated areas — especially once the new iPhone is released this Summer — remains to be seen.
@blah,
Well what kind of phone do you have?
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).
@kimsu19 Yeah good luck when you will have a constant 3g signal less dropped calls faster 3g speeds and when you don’t have to pay for an overpriced network that has to many problems. Whats the point with staying with att? Its funny how they are the second biggest company and have the shitties network the thing that keeps them on top is the Iphone and their advertising. Faster 3g speeds less dropped calls yeah Fu&**ng right
Yeah, it would be, since TMO network is even more pathetic then AT&Ts. A majority of the country doesn’t even have TMO coverage.
but where it has T-Mobile service, it’s always better than AT&T (at least I can understand the words)
I don’t understand people who obsess over carriers. My guess is that those who are extremely PRO-Verizon or or PRO-At&t likely work for them… aside from a handful of people (myself included) that check these tech sites really care about these types of network issues. They want the iphone or whatever is hot at the moment. The tiny difference edge vs 3g or cdma vs gsm has is irrelevant to the average consumer.
@mingkee,
AT&T has perfect service in my area. Depends on your location.
Where TMobile and ATT both have coverage tmobile wins
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).
@terryjohnson16,
Actually, if you live in an area where T-Mobile and AT&T both have similar coverage, like where I live, you should choose the carrier that offers what you need. PERSONALLY, I would not choose T-Mobile because A) The 3G network is slow, and B) The phones suck. But for most people, the kind of phones they have aren’t a big factor, so you should choose the carrier that offers the best price for the plan you need.
so wrong mr. glansburgh
do you think all those dumb comments here is actually from ppl with knowledge? if they work fro them they wouldve known better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have 3 Moto v3x’s I purchased from my local at&t store 4 months back.
They bounce back to EDGE a lot out here and when they do the sound quality is poor.
It garbles and sounds robotic.
I made a call from my friends older v3 on T-Mobile and it sounded so much clearer and sharper.
I hope ATT doesn’t force me to use the GSM network all the time just because I am not a heavy data user.
I wouldn’t mind so much if they would fix the 2G voice quality issue they’ve had ever since they sold their other network to T-Mobile.
Los Angeles, CA.
@terryjohnson16;
I’ve been with tmo, for years(I’m talking aerial days)and I lived in 2 cities(tampa and now NYC) and tmo service always sucked, I finally bolted to att knowing very well vzw has better service,since I frequently go to europe where vzw is useless. I can speak from my experience in 2 cities and att has better service than tmo hands down.
True honest opinion from experience, I could care less about carriers, I really don’t get people here advertising, or arguing with people over carriers, do they get bonus minutes because they are cheerleading their carrier with lame lines like “come join us” Cirque De SoLame
NY area and have no issues but hope this helps those who are having issues.
P.S. I have both the iPhone 3g and Bold.
Maybe now I’ll start geting more than 250k down on my Bold.
LoL @ all these comments! I love it!
Well I’m already quite happy with the service and speed I get on my BB Bold in Miami, FL. Hopefully this helps out the rest of you constantly bitching about your city’s poor service and assuming your experience = the entire AT&T network performance.
So you’re telling me AT&T’s wonderful plan is to force voice-only users to 2G? I can’t wait til all their handsets hork because of constant baseband resets.
Also what is the point of having a 3G handset capable of simultaneous voice and data if you’re forced to 2G? You won’t be able to do simultaneous voice and data without power-cycling your radio and hoping AT&T gives you permission to use 3G!
Why don’t they reduce the amount of GSM/EDGE sites and deploy more WCDMA? That’s the correct solution. Oh wait that costs them money. Easier to screw the customer over than do the right thing.
More GSM TDMA noise, brought to you by The New AT&T™
Good reporting BGR. People need to know how they’re getting screwed.
C Cox:
how fast you can get with ATT 3G?
I usually get 1Mbps with T-Mobile, using netbook tethered with TM506, the speed is consistent most of the time in Lower Manhattan
@mingkee
About 1.3 tethered … so almost like yours. My point is that the network is only as good as your local market is. T-Mobile 3G isn’t as comprehensive as everyone else, and that is a fact because hell, they aren’t done rolling it out yet! lol But if it is up and running in your area, then T-Mobile is awesome for you.
@Agent Smith,
What a way to not understand what is going on. If your phone is using 3G, then all of your calls happen on that side of the network. Most people with phones that are not Bold or iPhone don’t use 3G data as heavily, so there is no reason to congest that network. What they are doing doesn’t mean they won’t be able to get 3G speeds if they need it. It means they will talk on the 2G side, and when they need 3G it will switch over automatically. They could get rid of their problems if they dumped all of their 2G phones and purchased 3G only, putting everyone on one pipe so they wouldn’t have the separation to deal with. But I doubt they would do that.
The main reason iPhone and Bold are exception is because both of those phones benefit highly from simultaneous voice and data, which is not possible under EDGE. With the Bold, it is beneficial to get corporate email while on a voice conference. On the iPhone, I constantly speak on the phone while using google maps and checking my exchange email. The other phones don’t use 3G in an iPhone or Bold manner.
You, kid, are a moron.
There sure are a lot of anti-AT&T crybabies on here.
It’s just a network, they are just phones. No one cares about your hate. Move on, get over it and grow the hell up.
I have yet to see any constructive and positive ideas about this whole thing. Personally I think that BGR should disable comments because lately it just seems like a bunch of trolls who post them.
hummmmm?? i’m paying for the ability to simultaneously talk, surf the web, tether and/or receive emails, etc. this story reads like the load-balancing (poo-poo) might disable the simulataneous features if i’m making a call???
@terryjohnson16
Not really. Here in Arizona AT
@C-cox or is it cocks?
Over 15 million people have iphones and they are all soccer moms, and 14 year olds. Yeah sounds about right.
I am a MD and all my peers use iphones. Not Blackberries. I will take a jailbroken iphone with OSX over any “smartphone’ OS any day of the week. The iphone is a computer, not a phone. Last time I checked I cannot check on my patients CT scan while I get gas in “real time’ on any other device. That includes blackberries.
I really think that BGR has it out for ATT, maybe this stuff is made up, because I don’t have any problems and don’t know anyone with ATT that does. I am getting 2000 down on average and 1000 up on average. Much faster than verizon and I can get data and use the web at the same time. As well travel the world with GSM. Try using a phone from verizon to do that. Good luck.
OH, and next time I talk to you at McDonalds try not to ask ‘do you want fries with that’. Seems that matches your mentality. Perfect job for you..
Balidilocks take your ass back to howardforums. At