MacRumors.com

One of the major criticisms of Apple's iPhone release is the use of AT&T's EDGE data network.

A common thread amongst the official reviews has been the slow speed of the EDGE Network:

- AT&TÂ’s EDGE cellular network: "excruciatingly slow"
- YouTube videos work great on Wi-Fi, but can display in a lower quality when youÂ’re not at a hotspot and are using AT&TÂ’s EDGE network
- Wi-Fi capability doesn't fully make up for the lack of a fast cellular data capability

Tonight, many forum members here and at Howard forums have reported that their EDGE network speeds may have been boosted substantially -- with benchmarks around 200kbps (25 Kilobytes/second).

While there had been rumors that AT&T had been working to upgrade their network to boost speeds from a paltry 40kbps (5 Kilobytes/second), we can't be certain if these numbers truly represent actual speed increases or simply faulty benchmark tools. Unfortunately, we don't have a similar set of data from earlier in the month to compare.

As this claim has been reported elsewhere already, we've posted this story for your interest and debate.

Update: Benchmarks posted by RnSK on June 26 found that EDGE speeds ranged between 16.8 KB/sec - 29.8 KB/sec in Washington, DC, so tonight's benchmark speeds may not actually reflect an increase, but they may be an accurate reflection of EDGE speeds.