Verizon's first LTE dongle is startlingly large. But not as startling as the speed.
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These results are spot tests from all across the country: New York (Gizmodo & Engadget), Seattle (MSNBC.com), Philadelphia (GigaOM), Arizona (SlashGear) and Boston (NetworkWorld). And they paint a pretty remarkable picture. Most of the "slow" results—around 7-9Mbps downstream—are with a mere two bars of signal. MSNBC.com's crazy, fiber-fast speeds? Totally legit, Verizon told MSNBC.com super editor and Coors Light fanboy Wilson Rothman. It even trounced his home cable connection, again and again and again.
Our own results are from deep within Gizmodo HQ in SoHo in downtown Manhattan, the average of five speed tests. By comparison, our WiMax dongle from the same spot averaged a mere 2.7Mbps downstream and 2.8Mbps upstream, and the strength of the signal seemed a little shakier. LTE is the real deal—right now anyway, while there's nobody but lucky tech journos stealing all the internets. We'll have to see how well it holds up as more people pile on, but the initial results are stunning, to say the least.
Verizon LTE Speed Test: Insanely Fast [4G] (http://gizmodo.com/5704797/verizon-lte-speed-test-insanely-fast)