Overall, the 250U's average download rate was 3.5 Mbps, which puts the 250U towards the low end of Sprint's advertised rates but just above the Sprint Overdrive, which averaged 3.4 Mbps for downloads in Philadelphia. For example, loaded in an average of 6.2 seconds over 4G, compared to 12.5 seconds on 3G. Playback was nearly instantaneous no loading, buffering, or video quality adjustments interrupted our viewing during the 15 minutes we watched, and jumping from to scene to scene was smooth and free of delays. Using this connection, we streamed the South Korean film Old Boy with Netflix's Watch Instantly feature.
To put that in perspective, 7 Mbps is fast enough to download a standard definition movie file (roughly 700MB) in about 13 minutes. The fastest rate we obtained during our testing was a scorching 7.6 Mbps while sitting in the back of a restaurant just outside of downtown Atlanta. Sprint claims 4G download rates of 3 to 6 Mbps with peaks of 10 Mbps or higher. We also tested 3G connectivity in these same locations, as well as at Hartsfield International Airport and in the city's southwest suburbs.
We used to measure download and upload signals in the front of a restaurant near the windows and entrance, about 40 feet from any windows in the same building, and in the open air of Piedmont Park. In Atlanta, we only found 4G data signals near the downtown area, and not in the city's suburbs (within city limits). (Check here to see if 4G is available near you.) Baltimore, Md., and other cities in 15 states. We tested the 250U in and around Atlanta, Ga., one of the not-plentiful-but-growing number of markets with Sprint's 4G coverage.
SmartView's GPS software works in a pinch, but we prefer leveraging our data connection to search Bing, Google Maps, or Yelp ourselves. When we tested this feature at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, we found a smattering of options: searching for nearby restaurants pulled up ten venues, and placed them on a map in Bing a search for Wi-Fi hotspots gave us a list of local McDonald's joints.
It can determine your location and launch a Bing search for local businesses, making it a matter of clicks to find things like nearby restaurants or hotels.