As more people get 4G phones we will see less of the incredible speeds. I travel all over the country, and in some places Ill get over 20mb with 2bars. Then in another city will get 5mb with 4 bars. So the phone has a solid signal, but it there are 10x the people drawing from that tower, you will notice a difference.
ive been running the speed tests at random places in my area while at a stop light. highest speed i got was just under 40mbps which was just insane. seen a few other spots where I was getting in the 20-30 mbps range. at work, I only get 2 bars of 4g so the speeds are usually in the 6-8 mbps range which still aint too shabby
One was just a 3G test. On 3G, my GN got a whopping 500kbps down.
Just now I did a test on my home wifi. They are right next to each other.
Computer: 17.35mbps down, 4.20mbps up
Nexus: 12485kbps down, 4258kbps up
So, about the same up, but the down is significantly different. I don't know if the way that the phone receives information is any different or if it runs through a process regardless of where it's getting the data from, but there is obviously something not right.