MedUX Study Tests UK 5G Mobile Network Performance in London

Network testing and benchmarking firm MedUX has today published new research, which examines the performance and quality of 5G (mobile broadband) networks – including EE (BT), O2 (VMO2), Vodafone and Three UK – across London. The results indicate that EE is leading the pack in most areas, at least in the UK’s capital.

The new analysis is said to be based on a “robust methodology” involving 88,311 radio samples and 11,833 tests conducted in Q3 2023, which evaluated the performance of all four primary Mobile Network Operators (MNO) across various elements essential to 5G service quality and how they cover the UK’s capital. The 5G QoE Benchmarking Report for London then produces an overall QoE score, measuring a combination of availability, accessibility, speed (broadband), streaming, data and OTT (over-the-top) experience results.

Overall, EE provided the highest 5G registration rate (92% of time) and the most consistent experience (99.6% service reliability), leading in areas like accessibility, web navigation, gaming and video streaming. The operator was subject to 22,709 radio samples and 3,040 tests to its network, with findings highlighting “customers will experience an excellent overall quality, fast loading of video content, fast time-to-content in social media and OTT services, commendable gaming experiences, and fast download speeds” (achieving speeds of up to 800Mbps).

In terms of speeds, Vodafone secured the lead in 5G download speed, with an 87% value for speed score, narrowly outperforming EE by around 2%. But Three UK shone in upload performance (UL), achieving a remarkable maximum speed of 157Mbps. Finally, O2 just about managed to come top for having the most reliable DNS resolution service, albeit sharing a 92% DNS score with Three UK.

However, MedUX is also compiling a broader report at a European level (due to be available in the first half of February), which preliminarily shows London as having one of the worst overall experiences when compared to its European counterparts. But for now we only get a very limited overview of take-up.