Streaming, peak and off-peak broadband performance for largest UK providers in August 2019
It is just over four weeks since we covered the last analysis of the single download versus multiple download speeds from our speed test, so let us look at the most congestion sensitive part of our speed test for the period 1st August to 31st August.
New this month is Vodafone mobile, which means we are showing data for 3 out of the 4 big mobile providers. The sample size for Vodafone mobile is borderline but if the trend of people using the new 4G/5G unlimited data plans for fixed line broadband replacement continues we will hopefully see the numbers rising and now O2 has an unlimited SIM plan we may see their sample size cross the minimum threshold for inclusion.
The switch to mobile networks is we suspect driven by both the affordable unlimited SIM deals that now exist and in areas where fixed line services are slow people are discovering that mobile can provide a better option. The broadband Universal Service Obligation which goes live in March 2020 is likely to boost things further, since even though BT (aka EE 4G) will be used by many, there is likely to be enough people looking at the other mobile providers and if they can deliver service at the right price point they will use them.
| Off-Peak Tests Results August 2019 Off-Peak defined as midnight to 5.59pm Median Average | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider |
tbbx1 Streaming Test Median |
Multiple Download Test Median | % difference between download tests |
Upload Speed Median | Quality Lower value is Better Grade A = Best | Latency |
| BT | 31.3 Mbps | 35.9 Mbps | -12.8% | 7.5 Mbps | 0.5 Grade A | 39ms |
| EE | 19.1 Mbps | 24.8 Mbps | -23% | 5.1 Mbps | 0.5 Grade A | 45ms |
| EE Mobile 3G/4G/5G | 24.2 Mbps | 28.2 Mbps | -14.2% | 6.7 Mbps | 1.3 Grade C | 64ms |
| Plusnet | 24.1 Mbps | 28.7 Mbps | -16% | 5.4 Mbps | 0.5 Grade A | 42ms |
| Sky | 17.9 Mbps | 23.7 Mbps | -24.4% | 4.9 Mbps | 0.4 Grade A | 47ms |
| TalkTalk | 18.9 Mbps | 25.5 Mbps | -25.9% | 4.6 Mbps | 0.3 Grade A | 46ms |
| Three 3G/4G/5G | 13.5 Mbps | 17.8 Mbps | -24.2% | 5.9 Mbps | 1.1 Grade B | 85ms |
| Virgin Media | 48.1 Mbps | 82.5 Mbps | -41.7% | 8.2 Mbps | 0.6 Grade A | 37ms |
| Vodafone Home Broadband | 23.3 Mbps | 32 Mbps | -27.2% | 6.6 Mbps | 0.4 Grade A | 42ms |
| Vodafone Mobile 3G/4G/5G | 13.5 Mbps | 18.8 Mbps | -28.2% | 5.3 Mbps | 1.8 Grade D | 88ms |
| Zen Internet | 35.7 Mbps | 41.9 Mbps | -14.8% | 10.5 Mbps | 0.2 Grade A | 34ms |
The quality score is looking at how stable the download speed is during the multiple download test. The observant will notice that we have moved from using six downloads to eight downloads, which in theory should give the speed test an even bigger slice of the bandwidth pie if there is congestion during a test, though looking at the figures this has made little to no difference.
| Peak Tests Results August 2019 Peak time defined as 6pm to 11:59pm Median Average | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider |
tbbx1 Streaming Test Median |
Multiple Download Test Median | % difference between download tests |
Upload Speed Median | Quality Lower value is Better Grade A = Best | Latency |
| BT | 28.7 Mbps | 35.4 Mbps | -18.9% | 7.0 Mbps | 0.6 Grade A | 40ms |
| EE | 18.9 Mbps | 25.3 Mbps | -25.3% | 5.6 Mbps | 0.6 Grade A | 44ms |
| EE Mobile 3G/4G/5G | 21.9 Mbps | 23.7 Mbps | -7.6% | 5.6 Mbps | 1.4 Grade C | 68ms |
| Plusnet | 23.3 Mbps | 27.3 Mbps | -14.7% | 5.2 Mbps | 0.6 Grade A | 44ms |
| Sky | 17.4 Mbps | 24.1 Mbps | -27.8% | 5.1 Mbps | 0.5 Grade A | 46ms |
| TalkTalk | 15.2 Mbps | 18.9 Mbps | -19.6% | 3.8 Mbps | 0.4 Grade A | 50ms |
| Three 3G/4G/5G | 7.6 Mbps | 10 Mbps | -24% | 2.1 Mbps | 1.5 Grade C | 93ms |
| Virgin Media | 43.8 Mbps | 77.5 Mbps | -43.4% | 6.4 Mbps | 0.7 Grade A | 39ms |
| Vodafone Home Broadband | 18.7 Mbps | 26.3 Mbps | -28.9% | 5.9 Mbps | 0.6 Grade A | 44ms |
| Vodafone Mobile 3G/4G/5G | 9.1 Mbps | 11.3 Mbps | -19.5% | 2.5 Mbps | 2.2 Grade E | 91ms |
| Zen Internet | 36.1 Mbps | 39.6 Mbps | -8.8% | 9.2 Mbps | 0.2 Grade A | 34ms |
The mobile services in many cases don't look bad in terms of speeds compared to the fixed line, though Three is slower than the others though this is by virtue of the limited 4G spectrum they have, once take-up of 5G and coverage improves substationally it is possible this will change and Three might be the king of the mobile providers for speeds. Where the 3G and 4G services score badly is latency and the quality measurement i.e. latency is higher on the dominant 4G services and speeds even during the 8 to 12 seconds of a speed test are less consistent compared to the fixed line services. For standard web browsing, social media and video streaming this is likely to not be too much of a problem but for latency sensitive tasks such as gaming and remote working the hope is that 5G will deliver improvements.
Comments
Floxed
- andrew
- 26 days ago
I think at the beginning of the second sentence of the last paragraph it should read "mobile service" and not " fixed line service", otherwise it doesn't make sense.