Active goodput measurements from a public 3G/UMTS network

Although third generation cellular networks are being deployed in many countries, rigorous measurement studies from public networks have yet to be published. After extensive experimentation, we collect measurements from a commercial WCDMA 3G/UMTS network and observe that the goodput of the first of a series of back-to-back transfers is consistently below par. We compare these results with those obtained from an all-wired network and show that 3G signaling plays an important, albeit detrimental role in end-user goodput. Finally, we illustrate that near-nominal goodput is realizable for large payloads only.