Average mobile broadband speed less than 1Mbit/sec

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 11 Jun 2009 at 08:27

A new study of British mobile broadband has revealed that the average download speed is less than 1Mbit/sec.

Despite mobile broadband companies advertising connections as fast as 7.2Mbits/sec, actual speeds struggle to get anywhere near the headline figures, the Epitiro study reveals.

The company performed 1.4 million speed tests on the connections of 1,300 volunteers, and found that UK mobile broadband users receive on average only 24% of the advertised download speed.

The company claims web browsing is 34% slower than with an ADSL line of an equivalent speed. It also found that the average ping time for mobile broadband was 150ms, making it largely unsuitable for gaming and three times slower than fixed line connections.

The study found that the average mobile broadband speed doubled to 1.8 Mbits/sec at 3am on weekdays, suggesting that contention at the mobile network cells is largely responsible for sluggish speeds during the day.

The findings back up anecdotal reports that mobile broadband speeds are actually beginning to wane, as both 3G dongles and surfing on mobile phone handsets become more popular.

However, the company did manage to achieve download speeds of above 3Mbits/sec during the five-month testing period, which suggests those in HSDPA areas are likely to achieve speeds well above the average.

"This exhaustive study confirms the general consensus that mobile broadband services are functional and, while currently slower in practice than their fixed line competition, continually improving," says Gavin Johns, CEO of Epitiro.

"That we recorded a few measurements at relatively higher speeds is confirmation that mobile broadband technology is capable of much more."

Read Tim Danton's thoughts on the problem with mobile broadband here