OpenSignal: Mobile networks are getting faster than Wi-Fi on a global scale

[Matrix]

 

 

Why it matters: It only seems intuitive that Wi-Fi would be faster than cellular as it’s usually based on a wired connection closer to you. But a new study conducted by OpenSignal, a networking firm dedicated to wireless coverage mapping, has caused quite a stir. Some of the cited countries include France, whose cellular is said to be 2.5Mb faster than Wi-Fi, all the way to Australia, whose cellular is claimed to be 13Mb faster.

According to OpenSignal, the majority of countries have average Wi-Fi speeds that are pretty much the same as cellular speeds, with Australia being the only large country to show a substantial difference. In America, however, Wi-Fi is still faster by 25Mbps on average, with Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea following the same trend.

The UK’s telecommunications regulatory body’s top tech expert, Mansoor Hanif, recently used the study as evidence to highlight just how bad the Wi-Fi industry is. Although Hanif mostly comes out like a disgruntled user's voice whose residential building's Wi-Fi probably doesn't work as it should, he shows his frustration with how slow Wi-Fi development is progressing.

With 5G on the horizon, cellular networking speeds are bound to get faster and better. However the next generation of Wi-Fi called 802.11ax or Wi-Fi 6 is designed for cellular data offloading, so both technologies are not meant to act alone or exclusively apart from each other, but quite the opposite.

Editor's note: While we have no reason to doubt OpenSignal's study comprised of billions of measurements on Android and iOS mobile devices, and the trend is clear that wireless is getting better (data caps aside), having visited over a dozen of those studied countries in the past 18 months, our informal observations are that generally speaking Wi-Fi remains a more desirable connection over wireless (for now).

Also, while using 5G to power a home network is possible and is coming soon, it may not be an ideal solution for most either. To access 5G indoors, a large and power-hungry antenna needs to be attached to a building and connected directly to a Wi-Fi router.

Another interesting observation brought up by the study is mobile device’s tendency to favor Wi-Fi. With the exception of some phone brands like Huawei, most cellular devices will automatically switch away from cellular networks without performing a speed test. This is certainly cheaper and better in some circumstances, but as wireless gains ground, that assumption will have to be revised accordingly.

 

source

[nir]

Mobile faster than wi-fi in many countries

Download speeds across mobile networks are now faster than wi-fi in many countries, research suggests.

Speed tests in 80 countries revealed wi-fi was left lagging in 33 nations, according to wireless coverage mapping company OpenSignal.

 

Mobile data should also get a further speed boost when 5G networks arrived, it said.

 

Wi-fi remained the fastest way to go online in most countries surveyed, including the UK and Ireland.

 

But OpenSignal noted that because anyone could set up a wi-fi network in a location already used by others, performance could suddenly lag due to "congestion" of the airwaves involved.

 

By contrast, mobile networks have to license the spectrum they use, so in theory, the company said, they should deliver a more consistent experience.

 

"The perception that mobile networks are inferior to wi-fi has persisted, wrongly," wrote analyst Ian Fogg in the report.

 

Australians enjoy the greatest advantage over wi-fi, with mobile download speeds being on average 13Mbps faster. Other nations in a similar position included Qatar, France, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa.

 

Places where wi-fi was on average more than twice the speed of mobile data included Hong Kong, the US, Thailand, Israel and Russia.

 

In the UK, wi-fi was about 60% faster than mobile because, said the report, its mature fixed network helped data get to hotspots and on to users quickly.

 

The differences in network speeds were more pronounced when only the latest 4G networks were taken into account.

Countdown to 5G

In 63% of the 50 nations where 4G was available, mobile networks were quicker, said Mr Fogg.

 

And the gap would only widen once fifth-generation (5G) networks were turned on, because most improvements to wi-fi speeds were set to come from work to upgrade fixed broadband networks, which would take much longer to accomplish.

 

However, another data speed-measuring company cautioned that it could take a while for the benefits to be shared by all.

 

"The infrastructure deployed for 5G will likely not extend into remote areas," Kevin Hasley, head of product at RootMetrics, told the BBC.

 

"Wi-fi will remain an important tool for the provision of fast internet connections for a segment of the populous."

 

Even so, OpenSignal said phone-makers needed to "ensure they do not accidentally push consumers' smartphones on to a wi-fi network with a worse experience than the mobile network".

 

Technology news site The Register said Huawei now made phones that performed tests to find the fastest network.

 

The report also noted efforts by Samsung to make phones that joined to both wi-fi and mobile networks to send data and boost browsing speeds.

 

Source

[nir]

Another Source

 

Fogg expects that with 5G, which will eventually offer gigabit speeds, the industry will be forced to change the assumption that Wi-Fi is better.

OpenSignal found that in 33 countries, or 41 percent of those analyzed, mobile delivers faster downloads than Wi-Fi

[Jogs]

Wifi is mostly shared whereas mobile connection is not, this could be a big factor.

[Matrix]

also here

 

 

[HFSniper]

Hello if you see a 5G transmission Tower
the race far away from the Tower ...find out what's behind the 5G technique

i wish the Creator protect us all.

[Ha91]

It's quite obvious to note that the developing countries have mobile internet faster than they have wi-fi because of their weak infrastructural investments and resultance reliance on the former. This has not been pin-pointed in this article although it is a crucial focal point to discuss and focus upon.

I am still confused as to what benefit, if any, does Wifi 6 or 801.ax will provide for Wi-fi service?

[DKT27]

@nir: Topics merged.

 

I wonder if fiber's reach influences the speed of mobile networks too. As if it does, then expect both of them to be improving together I think.

[Ha91]

@DKT27 I did not truly think completely over it. Agree. Thing is with islands small as ours or poor countries, we often do not have reliable broadband because of problem of access (island in my case) and affordability.

[DKT27]

19 minutes ago, Ha91 said:

@DKT27 I did not truly think completely over it. Agree. Thing is with islands small as ours or poor countries, we often do not have reliable broadband because of problem of access (island in my case) and affordability.

 

As per this, all mobile towers are indirectly influenced and connected by wires. So wire's reach and abilities might highly influence even mobile network's speeds I think.