Three UK Still Fastest for 5G Mobile Broadband in Ookla H2 2024 Study
Network testing giant Ookla, which collects data from consumers via their popular Speedtest.net service, has published their Q3-Q4 2024 (H1) study into the speed of 5G based mobile broadband networks across the United Kingdom. The results reveal that Three UK once again delivered the fastest downloads (236.25Mbps) and uploads (12.94Mbps), but their performance has fallen.
As we’ve said before, mobile data performance can be a very difficult thing to pin down because related users are always moving through different areas (indoor, outdoor, underground etc.), using different devices with different capabilities and the surrounding environment (weather, trees, buildings etc.) is ever changeable.
All of the above can impact your service, and that’s before we even consider the other issues, such as network (backhaul) capacity at different cell sites or differing spectrum ownership between mobile operators. Nevertheless, Ookla’s latest study attempts to examine this by comparing 2,337,622 “user-initiated 5G tests“, taken via their iOS and Android based mobile apps (total of 397,094 devices), from all four of the major UK mobile operators.
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The results report that Three UK continued to deliver the fastest average (median) 5G mobile download speeds of 236.25Mbps (down from 255.23Mbps in H1 2024) and uploads of 12.94Mbps (down from 14.47Mbps), which is now a long way from the 292.57Mbps they scored back in H2 2022. However, Three’s rivals also saw a small reduction in 5G download and upload performance, while O2 still remains stuck at the bottom of the table.
Ookla’s UK 5G Mobile Speeds for H2 2024 (vs H1 2024)
Median Download Speed
Three UK – 236.25Mbps (255.23Mbps)
Vodafone – 149.80Mbps (155.90Mbps)
EE – 100.56Mbps (106.61Mbps)
O2 – 73.86Mbps (75.96Mbps)
Median Upload Speed
Three UK – 12.94Mbps (14.47Mbps)
Vodafone – 11.55Mbps (12.27Mbps)
EE – 11.97Mbps (12.23Mbps)
O2 – 8.46Mbps (8.97Mbps)
Median Latency (lower figures are faster)
Three UK – 29ms (29ms)
EE – 30ms (29ms)
Vodafone – 31ms (30ms)
O2 – 33ms (34ms)
Ookla also included some city-specific results for 5G speeds in London, Birmingham and Manchester, which you can see below.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Nice to see EE falling down the chart
I suspect it might actually be due to EE increasing the number of customers in 100mbps restricted plans recently.
Really? How come EE still fastest here? https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/10629190026
@Pabs Those capped plans will definitely be having an effect, but I typically get 200Mbps with EE on an unthrottled plan and just as often see 1Gbps+ on Three on my business phone. Three is definitely faster.
I find these results surprising and I wonder if there is another factor at play here.
Looking across EEs plans, the majority of the plans offered are now speed capped. For example, of the (I think) 13 SIM only plans showing on the site today, only 3 of those plans offer uncapped speeds. Some of those speeds cap as low as 10 Mbps but most at 100 Mbps.
Now I’m no fan of Three whatsoever, but surely Three is going to come out tops on these average speed tests when they aren’t capping any of their plans.
So my point is EE is capable of these faster speeds if you’re willing to sign up to a 24 month contract on a £££ plan for uncapped speeds. Thus, EEs average speeds from user generated speed tests are being dragged down by users on capped tariffs.
Am I wrong?
three have been consistent with their speed and reliability where i live.
I fear it may turn to dog shit after the merger with vodafone however.
Same here
In my town on Three with 5G connection i get to around 900-1200 mbps download. Matching my fiber at home. Shame threes 4G speeds generally suck though.