2.5G Browsing
 

Hey could anyone make a video showing the browsing and software download experience on EDGE? I'll by using the N900 on AT&T and would like to see if it is worse, better or equal to how it is on the iphone.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

its not too bad, but its noticeable compared with any other phone that can access ATT's 3G network, given EDGE is about 1/2 or more times slower in download speeds than 3G.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

I use 2,5 in lots of places - its fine as you can expect from 2.5 browsing. the iphone as a rule does not render the actual full webpage so you cannot expect it to be the same apples to apples comparison.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

Edge is better than expected. I just wish the N900 had better reception in low signal areas where I live. I am not the only one. There are two more N900 owners in my area suffering the same signal issue compared to their Crackberries. One of them, buying the N900 on my recommendation back in October.

Funny thing is that the Tmo staff in a few of the stores near where I live are heavy geeks and have been trying to get the N900 as well.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

That is the reason why I'm asking because on the iPhone Safari would just completely lock up if you tried to scroll while the page was not fully loaded and it would either resume working later or you'd get a crash back to springboard...

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

EDGE on the n900 is totally tolerable. I've been downloading packages ("apps") and browsing sites. AJAX heavy sites like Facebook suck on EDGE though. It might be noted that I was using it practically under a tower at the time, so that was helping.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

Made a very blurry video with my n82. Hope you like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8HXAHYZw-Q

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

I'm having the opposite experience. The cellphone radio seems very good, maybe better than any other phone I've had including a G1 and Razr. And the N900 is much better than the G1 at geting and holding a 3G signal. T-Mobile's 3G suddenly has better coverage than I thought.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

For Facebook a quicker (and cleaner) alternative is lite.facebook.com. It works well with the smaller screen and is much simpler code-wise then the full blown site. The advantage of lite vs. the mobile version or iPhone/Touch versions of Facebook is that lite is full content.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

It's better than I expected, and it definitely loads the whole page still.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

Is it possible to scroll around the page while it's loading? I mean can you read the text on there while the pictures are still loading?

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

Thought I'd pipe in here, since 2.5G browsing is my only option. I canceled my T-mobile contract because of no cell service around my house, and ended up going into AT&T an buying an iphone. I figured if I keep the n900 with at&t, selling the iphone would nicely offset the cost, and if I don't, an iphone is really the only alternative, since I don't get Verizon coverage either.

Side by side test with n900 on 2.5G and iphone 3GS on 3G, there really wasn't a big difference in loading mobile web pages, like m.espn.com, m.cnn.com, etc... It would take on average only 1-5 seconds longer to completely load. I could completely live with it on those types of pages.

However, I couldn't stream anything without hiccups on the n900, including lower quality audio and video streams, they always stuttered throughout, which is kind of what I expected. The coverage area i'm in is supposed to be solid, but I'm guessing results will vary. And regular web pages, espn.com, slashdot.org, could take over 1 minute to completely load depending on how much stuff was on there. I'm hoping this could be lessed by installing ad block, etc... to block flash advertising.

Installing apps was fine, no issues.

So all in all, it's really not too bad.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

My desktop PC internet connection was EDGE for several months and I survived it. EDGE is fine for webbrowsing as long as you don't stream videos. EDGE is only slightly slower than standard UMTS without HSPA, but the latency is higher.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

I'm on AT&T and stuck with Edge as well. The processor is so quick that it actually loads up most pages, especially 'intense' websites, much faster than my N97 on 3G. However, like most people said, if you are trying to load up youtube or just a flash display, it will take a while.

There is no T-Mobile reception at my work, so I don't know if I'll even switch back.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

I will second this.

My N900 loads up most pages faster on Edge than my N97 does on 3G.

Re: 2.5G Browsing
 

T-Mobile doesn't have 3G in Iowa, so I'm using 2.5 (neither does AT&T... gosh I wish the n900 was CDMA!). Can't complain too much, unlimited data and free incoming calls (so free outgoing as well thanks to google voice) for $45/month.

Works fine for normal browsing, reminds me of the Internet in the 90s. We created a whole dotcom bubble back then, so we made it work somehow right?