Mobile broadband has transformed the ability to work on the move and with 5G the promise was of Gigabit speeds and at least we are seeing some mobile users able to enjoy that sort of speed.
A three mobile customer was seen with a 1,480 Mbps download and 45 Mbps upload speed test earlier in April. While this sort of speed from a 5G network may be exceptional when the 10% of the tests we see with the three network are at 304 Mbps or faster compared to the 101 Mbps of the EE mobile network it is clear that three is working hard to get Gigabit 5G working.
Our analysis of the download and upload speeds for the four mobile networks ordered by the speed that 10% of tests exceeded.
| Mobile Network 3G/4G/5G |
Download speed of slowest 10% | Average Median Download | Average Mean Download | Download speed of top 10% of tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| three | 3.7 Mbps | 30.9 Mbps | 91.3 Mbps | 304.4 Mbps |
| EE | 4.1 Mbps | 31 Mbps | 50 Mbps | 101.2 Mbps |
| Vodafone | 2 Mbps | 15.5 Mbps | 35.5 Mbps | 78.1 Mbps |
| Virgin Media O2 | 1.7 Mbps | 12.4 Mbps | 22.2 Mbps | 44.9 Mbps |
| Mobile Network 3G/4G/5G |
Upload speed of slowest 10% | Average Median Upload | Average Mean Upload | Upload speed of top 10% of tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| three | 0.7 Mbps | 5.7 Mbps | 14.7 Mbps | 38.6 Mbps |
| EE | 0.6 Mbps | 6.5 Mbps | 10.5 Mbps | 22.8 Mbps |
| Vodafone | 0.6 Mbps | 3.3 Mbps | 7 Mbps | 17.2 Mbps |
| Virgin Media O2 | 0.4 Mbps | 1.9 Mbps | 4.1 Mbps | 11 Mbps |
If you want to order the table by other metrics the order can change, so if you prefer the median average as the measure (median is where half are faster and half are slower). Or there is of course the arithmetic mean (i.e. all values summed and divided by sample size).
Fastest mobile network if using median average:
- EE
- three
- Vodafone
- Virgin Media O2
Fastest mobile network if using the mean average:
- three
- EE
- Vodafone
- Virgin Media O2
There are of course many permutations that can be used to arrive at placing a crown on the winner, this is especially the case if you start to try and combine the download and upload speeds.
What is clear is that three and EE appear to be the two networks for those who want the highest speeds from their mobile handset and that even with average speeds streaming 4K video to your mobile should not be an issue.
Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 do seem to be lagging in terms of speeds but of course with mobile networks what really matters is whether you have the speed you need at the location you are at in a moment of time, since enjoying 1.4 Gbps in a city centre while good for bragging is no use if when you go home to the suburbs and speeds are distinctly subpar.
5G got lots of hype and it has taken some time for us in the UK to see the sort of speeds talked about during the over-hyped launch period, but it’s clear that given sufficient radio spectrum Gigabit speeds are possible.
While the personal experience of this author on 5G is just personal experience, I will say that while I am able to get speeds that let me work when away from home there is still a lot of work to do on coverage and network stability, for example, while sat down I will see 5G on my handset and get mediocre speeds, then the mobile flips to 4G and speeds are much better. Also while 3G is being progressively switched off there are still places I go where 3G still seems to be common for mobile connectivity, what should happen as 3G is switched off is the spectrum is re-used for 4G or 5G services.
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So they have super-duper fast 5G, but is it reliable? Because 5G is a total and complete waste of time around here, by all accounts
I switched to O2 some months ago from BT/EE. A big mistake. Living in central London I barely get 4G data and have to log on to wifi networks where these are available. O2 have got to sort this issue out if it is not to lose business. I, for one, am switching back to BT/EE as soon as my contract term ends.
I’ve been using Three home broadband as my main connection for over 2 years. No problems at all. Cheaper than my old VDSL connection and miles faster (700Mbps vs 40Mbps). Suppose I’m lucky to live near a 5G tower that doesn’t suffer from congestion.
Must have spent more on 5g than alert system.
I’m on O2 & I’ve never got a 5G signal in the UK.
I’m on O2 and get pretty good 5G all over Scotland.
Recently re-joined Three (via Smarty) due to dire speeds and reliability of O2 wherever I went and have to say I’m majority impressed by the improvements that have been made while I’ve been gone. Rock solid 5G when available and even if I only have 1 bar on anything else its still pulling in a more than usable connection. Even managed a 1,235 Mbps down and 121 Mbps up on a speed test!
I’ve got 5G on O2 (using Virgin Mobile MVNO) in parts of South London, but when I’ve been in central London, it’s 4G. The one time I got 5G at London Bridge Station, it didn’t work, so had to go back to 4G!
I am on Three with two 5G mobile ‘phones and find it very good. My contracts are rolling one month through iDMobile.
We travel to visit family and friends in England and Scotland:I found the best 5G performance in Edinburgh.
But I also formerly found EE very good but more expensive and changed to cheaper and more flexible contracts using iDMobile and the Three network.
I have no connection with any provider and these are my personal observations purely as a matter of interest.
In contrast we have,at last,got ‘full fibre’ live to our dwelling and await the internal installation.Just days….
Over 2 Gbps isn’t hard to obtain on a site without much load, either. The highest I’ve seen on Three was 2.1 Gbps in Dorking.