When I first arrived in Pensacola a few months ago, my iPhone’s internet speed was near dial-up speeds. Also at my in-laws house and neighborhood, I couldn’t get reception for the internet at all. I’d have to drive a few blocks away to find good enough reception to surf the web and check email. I believe my best speed test was around 70-90 kbps. To be honest, I was frustrated and disappointed by this especially after having had great reception where I lived before. Grant it, I lived in a much larger city (Buffalo, NY) at the time, but still, I thought I’d at least have excellent coverage in town. I didn’t.

However, something changed this past week and I’m not sure what. My guesses are someone has thrown a switch somewheres. Why do I think this? I now have reception in my in-laws home, something I had never been able to do before. And it is fast, very fast. I just tested in this morning and it was 226 kbps. I used the web app at www.testmyiphone.com . My highest is 262 kbps (just ran that test while typing this post). There has definitely been a change for edge in my neck of the woods. I know that 3g is currently unavailable in P’cola. Maybe that will change next week?

I believe the noticeable change in my internet speeds is due to At&t readying their data network for the iPhone 3g. I believe this is part of the improvements that At&t has been doing over the past few months. Maybe P’cola will get 3g and maybe I’ll have another excuse of why-I-won’t-buy-the-iPhone-3g marked off my list.

Have any of you noticed a change in your internet speeds with your mobile devices? I can only imagine that other mobile users in my area have probably noticed an improvement as well.