Nexus S 4g Hotspot/tether performance question

[rscarawa]

I just did a head to head wifi performance test between the Nexus phone and a Sprint Air Card (sierra wireless aircard 402 3g only) attached to a Cradlepoint router. WIth both devices in the same room and my phone indicating it has 3g coverage the air card outperformed the phone when using speedtest.net. Why is that? It seems that the Nexus, as a hot spot, is useless in 3g mode.

Location: On top of a mountain in Malibu, Ca.
Air card attached to router
(Sierra Wireless aircard 402, 3g only)
WAP Personal Encryption on
Ping 120
Down 1.27
Up .19

Nexus S 4g (3g connection Encryption off)
Ping 120
Down 0.77
Up 0.16

 

[mjgravina]

I would use it only with the 4G enabled.

In 4G mode, my brand new phone outperformed my $55/month Clearwire Wireless Internet Adapter. Kept the mobile hotspot for two days to play around with it, but the whole Phone slash Wireless Internet Point didn't quite work out for me.