While it’s worthwhile to get a 5G phone for T-Mobile or Verizon in the San
Diego area, we can’t say the same for AT&T.
SAN FRANCISCO/SAN JOSE: VERIZON WIRELESS
:HZHQWDOOWKHZD\DURXQGWKH6DQ)UDQFLVFR%D\$UHDIRUWKLVRQH¿QGLQJ
that Verizon’s 4G network outpaces all of the rest of the networks in the area.
Also, 5G gives Verizon an additional boost in San Jose, where we found a few
spots of Verizon 5G with speeds up to 1Gbps.
Verizon had both the fastest and most reliable network across the metro area,
but there were nuances. Verizon’s performance on the Peninsula, from San
Mateo through Santa Clara, was spectacular. Our Verizon 5G sweet spot, with
those 1Gbps speeds, was near San Jose’s Little Italy. Its performance in
residential San Francisco, in Noe Valley and the Haight, wasn’t quite as good.
AT&T outpaced Verizon in the Haight and Outer Sunset, so you might want to
consider AT&T if you spend more time in San Francisco itself.
T-Mobile’s San Francisco performance was uninspiring. While T-Mobile
showed 5G coverage in 67 percent of our tests, it didn’t make much of a
GL̆HUHQFHRQVSHHGRUUHOLDELOLW\