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Just how fast is your smart phone's wireless connection? You're not the only one who'd like to know. So do the feds.
The brand-new FCC Speed Test is a free Android app that you can download from the Google Play Store. (A version for Apple iOS devices will be available soon, says the FCC.) Like the dozens of other broadband-performance testing apps already available, the FCC Speed Test app measures how fast data travels to and from your phone—download and upload speeds, respectively—via cellular service or a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The FCC app also collects—through a "fully anonymous process"—other data, such as your phone's GPS location, time of data collection, service provider, and type of connection (3G or 4G). This data will enable the FCC to map out service providers' wireless performance across the nation. Such performance maps, available by early next year, will arm consumers with "information to make fact-based, informed decisions about their wireless providers" the FCC said.
If you can't wait for the FCC to compile the performance data, use our survey-based reviews of cellular phone service covering metropolitan areas nationwide. And don't forget to find a top-quality—and fast—smart phone. After all, what good is a blazingly fast network if your phone isn't up to it?
—Paul Eng
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