The entry of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 into two T-cell lines has been analyzed to determine the relative time courses with which virus entry can be blocked (i) by washing, (ii) by adding a monoclonal antibody to the V3 loop of gp120 that neutralizes without blocking CD4 binding (0.5 beta), or (iii) by adding an antireceptor monoclonal antibody that competes for virus binding (leu3a). During entry into C8166 cells, 50% escape from the wash as well as the anti-V3 loop antibody required 20 min, whereas 50% escape from the leu3a block required 45 minutes. In contrast, during entry into H9 cells, 50% escape from the wash block required 50 min, 50% escape from the anti-V3 loop antibody required 110 min, and 50% escape from the antireceptor antibody required 190 min. These results demonstrate that the times required for entering virus to escape each of the blocks were cell type specific. They also demonstrate that V3 loop-dependent steps occur relatively early in entry and suggest that binding of gp120 to CD4 is important for late as well as early steps in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 entry.