T-Mobile's 5G speeds demolished Verizon and AT&T during the third quarter

You know that Speedtest.net app that you installed on your iPhone and Android handset? It tells you your download and upload data speed to make sure that you are getting the mobile data speeds you were promised by your wireless provider. The app has been downloaded over 100 million times on Android alone and is also available for iOS.

T-Mobile was the fastest wireless carrier in the U.S. during the third quarter

The app's developer, Ookla, also uses the data generated by the use of the Speedtest.net app to determine which carriers are the fastest in certain markets. During the third quarter, Ookla says that the fastest wireless carrier in the states was T-Mobile with a median download speed of 116.14Mbps. Verizon and AT&T went toe-to-toe for the runner-up position with Verizon edging out AT&T with download speeds of 58.64 and 57.94 respectively.

A median score is one where half of the results in a series scored higher and the other half scored lower. With that in mind, T-Mobile also had the fastest upload speeds for the third quarter with a median score of 10.91Mbps. Verizon was second with a median upload speed of 8.30Mbps followed by the 7.55Mbps achieved by AT&T.

T-Mobile also had the highest consistency score in the states during the third quarter. Ookla defines this as the percentage of tests showing results of at least showing at least 5Mbps download and 1Mbps upload speeds. T-Mobile was able to produce these scores or better 84.4% of the time compared to 79.6% of the time for Verizon and 79.4% of the time for AT&T.

T-Mobile (76.81), Verizon (73.55), and AT&T (70.47) finished 1-2-3 in that order for video. 5G video was closer but the results were the same with T-Mobile scoring 81.50, slightly ahead of the 81.30 scored by Verizon. Both were well ahead of AT&T's third-place score of 73.48.

T-Mobile delivered the fastest 5G speeds in the quarter with a median download tally of 193.06Mbps compared to 119.80Mbps for Verizon and 81.22Mbps for AT&T. During the same time period 69.2% of T-Mobile subscribers with a 5G capable phone had a 5G signal. That figure for AT&T was 59.2% while Verizon customers in the same situation were able to get a 5G signal just 32% of the time.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max was the fastest phone in the states during Q3

According to Ookla, 5G consistency had no clear winner in the third quarter as Verizon and T-Mobile scored 75.6% and 75.3% respectively. AT&T, with a score of 69.6%, finished third.

Among the most popular devices, the newly released iPhone 14 Pro Max scored the top median download and upload speeds of 147.42Mbps and 17.07Mbps respectively. The iPhone 14 Pro was next (142.57Mbps down, 16.07Mbps up). The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (102.87Mbps down, 11.67Mbps up) came in third.

Overall though, Samsung edged out Apple as the fastest manufacturer. Samsung's median Q3 download data speed came to 65.94Mbps with a median upload data speed of 8.81Mbps. That topped Apple's third-quarter median download speed of 62.49Mbps and median upload speed of 7.89Mbps.

The top five fastest mobile 5G chips in the U.S. during Q3 were all designed by Qualcomm

The five chipsets delivering the fastest 5G data speed during the third quarter were all designed by Qualcomm. On the top of the list during the third quarter was the Snapdragon X65 5G modem with a median download speed of 145.11Mbps and a median upload speed of 16.61Mbps. The fastest Applications Processor (AP) was the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 with a median download speed of 123.67Mbps and a median upload speed of 12.93Mbps. In third place was the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 AP with median download and upload speeds of 98.04Mbps and 11.16Mbps respectively.

Do you live in one of the states with the fastest data speeds? The state with the fastest wireless service during the third quarter was New Jersey (81.47Mbps median download speed, 11.59Mbps median upload speed). The rest of the top states include:

• Illinois (80.43Mbps median download, 9.6Mbps median upload).

• District of Columbia (79.94Mbps, 10.90Mbps).

• New York (79.83Mbps 12.26Mbps).

• Minnesota (79.59Mbps, 8.07Mbps).

• Massachusetts (76.45Mbps, 11.07Mbps)

• Delaware (75.49Mbps, 9.57Mbps)

• Pennsylvania (72.49Mbps, 8.79Mbps)

• Utah (71.91Mbps, 9.77Mbps)

• Ohio (69.07Mbps, 7.71Mbps)

T-Mobile was the fastest wireless provider in each of the top ten states during the third quarter. The carrier's acquisition of Sprint allowed it to take possession of Sprint's 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum helping it cover 260 million Americans this year and 300 million next year with its Ultra-Capacity 5G signals. The latter can deliver download data speeds up to 10 times faster than LTE.

"We built our nationwide 5G network to provide customers with better connectivity and an experience they can always rely on," said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. "T-Mobile has proven time and time again the standout benefits our nationwide 5G network offers through speed, reliability and coverage, and these reports are just another example of the work we’re doing to provide the best network experience in the country — and we’re not slowing down."