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Vodafone UK Named as London’s Best Mobile Network by Net Check Study

A recent network benchmarking study looking at 4G and 5G performance (for broadband and calls) across London has named Vodafone UK as the top performing network. 

Based in Berlin, NET CHECK completed their London study of mobile network performance and found that Vodafone achieved the highest number of ranking points – Scoring 932.83 out of 1,000 points.  

Who is NET CHECK?

NET CHECK was founded in 1999 to improve the quality of communication networks. Since then, NET CHECK has become one of the leading partners of network operators and infrastructure providers in the operation and optimisation of mobile and fixed communication networks of all technologies.

When and where was the network study conducted?

Between the 30th October and 7th November, a team from NET CHECK carried out a mix of performance based tests across all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London using Samsung S23+ smartphones. 

Covering 23 routes, the measurement technicians covered a distance of 1018km across Greater London whilst driving. The measuring equipment (SwissQual Benchmarker II (Rohde & Schwarz) and Samsung S23+) was placed in the roof boxes of two passenger cars collecting data on the performance of voice and data services during the tests. This approach allowed performance measurement for all the operators simultaneously and at the same locations. 

How did the network study allocate points?

As we said above, the maximum number of points a network provider can rank is 1,000. This is earned by a max of 350 points for voice services and a max of 650 points for data services. 

The testing involved a range of both voice and data services, with categories including:

  • Accessibility
  • Reliability
  • Speech quality  
  • Mobile broadband speed-tests using customer applications such as the browsing of popular web pages, video streaming and more. 

Sample wise, they collected approximately 15,700 data samples per operator to enable them to accurately analyse data services. For voice services, they made approximately 1,390 test calls. For each test call, they collected 12 speech samples which resulted in approximately 16,600 speech samples in total.

Which networks were close behind frontrunners Vodafone?

As we stated above, Vodafone ranked the highest in terms of points with 932.83 out of 1,000. 

Not far behind them was EE with 923.45 – Only about 9 points less than highest ranking Vodafone. 

In 3rd place it was O2 Virgin Media  with 834.16 points, with Three UK trailing behind its competitors with 757.82 points. 

You can see a summary of results from the study below. To have a read of the full report, head here.

With thanks to NET CHECK for all the tables and imagery, directly from their report.

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Top UK Mobile Networks for H2 2023 Revealed by RootMetrics Benchmark

How did UK mobile networks perform in the second half of 2023 when it comes to 4G, 5G and mobile broadband?

RootMetrics (now an Ookla company), a mobile analyst firm, has not long published their latest benchmark study of UK mobile networks (4G and 5G) and mobile broadband performance for H2 2023. 

RootMetrics offers scientifically collected and crowdsourced mobile network performance information to consumers and the industry. The firm captures user information by testing network performance when consumers are using their mobile phone for voice or data communications. 

Results of the latest biannual benchmarking report which once again see EE (BT) come out on top against their UK network rivals at Vodafone, Three UK and O2 (VMO2). 

Which UK mobile network is the best for 4G/5G?

When it comes to 5G performance, the picture painted by this recent report isn’t so clear-cut.

This latest study used data from a 5G-enabled, latest model of Samsung smartphone (the actual model was not disclosed in the report). It was purchased from operator stores and tested for both 4G and 5G performance across all 4 primary UK operators within 16 of the most populated UK cities. 

In summary, the study consisted of:

  • 1 latest model Samsung smartphone
  • 4 primary UK mobile operators
  • 16 UK cities
  • 634,942 tests across hundreds of locations
  • 788 locations were indoor
  • 24,179 miles driven during both the day and night

Results were divided into the following categories:

  • Network reliability
  • Speed
  • Data
  • Call and text quality

Scores were given out of 100 (100 being the highest score). As you can see from the data representation from RootMetrics below, EE came out on top across all categories, while VMO2 were found at the bottom of most. 

Interestingly, every one of the 4 primary UK operators saw a decrease in their overall scores when compared to the last RootMetrics report 6 months prior. 

The Overall Scores for H2 2023 (vs H1 2023), in order of best to worst, are:

1. EE – 94.2 (down from 95.9)
2. Vodafone – 90.1 (down from 92)
3. Three UK – 89.3 (down from 90.2)
4. O2 – 86.4 (down from 86.7)

So which is the best UK mobile network? When we look at the average (median) UK download speeds for both 4G and 5G networks, then the strongest data speeds were delivered by EE (68.6Mbps, which was up from 65.1Mbps in the last report).

Vodafone also saw an increase in data speeds, increasing to 34.5Mbps (from 29.4Mbps). Despite O2 improving their data speed score from 15.5Mbps to 19.9Mbps, they still scored the bottom of the 4 providers. Just behind Vodafone to take 3rd place, Three UK fell slightly to 32.3Mbps (down from 34.7Mbps). 

How is 5G performing on UK networks so far?

However, when we look purely at 5G networks, we see a bit of a different picture emerge when compared to the previous report for the first half of 2023. 

Whereas H1 2023 saw Three UK as the fastest median 5G download performance, that award now goes to EE. O2 were unfortunately at the bottom with a score well below the other 3 primary UK networks. The scores for median download speeds for 5G from the H2 2023 report were:

  1. EE – 174.1 Mbps
  2. Three – 165.7 Mbps
  3. Vodafone – 158.3 Mbps
  4. O2 – 68.7 Mbps

What is the availability of 5G on UK mobile network providers? 

As well as 5G speeds, the availability of 5G across UK networks was also tested. 

All 4 of the UK mobile network providers had 5G availability of over 52% during this latest UK wide testing. 

The UK providers in order of 5G availability are:

  1. Three – 57.6%
  2. O2 – 54.5%
  3. EE – 52.3%
  4. Vodafone – 41.9%

You can find more data below for particular regions as well as the most improved cities. 

What can we take away from this report on 5G speed and availability on UK mobile network operators?

So it would seem that even though EE has the fastest 5G speeds, that 5G connection is less available than that of its competitors Three and O2. 

Despite coming second place in terms of speed, Three weren’t too far behind EE and are also slightly more available. 

O2 might have decent 5G availability, but the speed of that connection is pretty dire according to this latest report. 

In terms of 5G speed, Vodafone aren’t too far behind rivals EE and Three, however they are at the bottom of the pile with the lowest 5G availability. 

What more would we like to know about 4G/5G connections across the UK mobile networks? 

If you’d like to read more on this and see further data, head to the full report from RootMetrics UK Mobile Performance Review 2H 2023 here. 

Whilst this review does shine a light on 5G speeds across the UK and how UK mobile networks are performing, it does only give select information. 

It would be interesting to also see how the networks perform when it comes to upload speeds and latency using 4G/5G connections. 

As you can see from the review, there seems to be a strong focus on urban areas across the bigger cities in the UK. Here at Geekabit we talk a lot about the struggles of rural businesses and more remote locations that still need strong 4G/5G mobile broadband connections. Some more data on the performance of UK mobile networks in these areas would be beneficial and would give a clearer picture of 4G/5G availability and speed across the UK as a whole. 

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Could 4G Boosters on Church Towers Improve Rural Wi-Fi in the UK? 

Using OpenRAN (Open Radio Access Network) technology, Vodafone are working alongside the Church of England to help extend mobile broadband via 4G for those in rural parts of the UK. They are doing this by utilising 11 church bell towers as base stations for the deployment of this small bits of kit. 

Which Rural Communities Will Benefit From These Church-Based 4G Base Stations?

The first to be installed were Brompton Regis (Blessed Virgin Mary Church) in Somerset and Ewyas Harold (St Michael’s and All Angels) in Herefordshire. 

9 further church-based 4G base stations will be going live over the next few months across the following counties:

  • Dorset
  • Essex
  • Norfolk
  • Wiltshire

Why Do Churches Make Good Base Stations for 4G Mobile Broadband? 

Generally speaking, churches are tall buildings that are often found on high ground, as well as being at the heart of communities. This makes them the ideal location to install a mobile site to help boost 4G mobile broadband connectivity for these communities. 

Even better, current technology means that the base stations are small enough to not spoil the architecture and tone of the churches themselves.

Vodafone’s aim is to use this technology to improve connectivity and better reach these rural communities that struggle so much with traditional broadband. 4G mobile broadband via these church-based base stations could be a huge step forward in connectivity for rural communities across the country. 

Rural communities deserve to access good, strong, reliable internet speeds like anyone else, and boosting 4G mobile broadband in this way could be just the thing to deliver it. 

How Do These 4G Base Stations on Churches Work? 

These 4G mobile broadband base stations are called new cell sites and involve small cells in the form of well-hidden boxes being employed on church towers. 

These new cell sites have a coverage radius of 500 metres, so are ideal to serve the community based around the church itself which is usually close by. 

The Idea of Church-Based 4G Base Stations is Actually Nothing New

Church spires and towers have been identified as a prime place for bits of mobile and fixed wireless broadband kit before, so this idea is nothing new. It’s been done many times before! 

A previous agreement between the Church of England and Cornerstone (Vodafone UK and O2’s network sharing division) was made back in 2019. 

But while the premise might not be new, we still think any action taken to improve the connectivity of rural communities across England and the UK is a great step towards access to reliable broadband for all. 

Do You Need Wi-Fi Assistance? 

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