Measuring real 5G speed: Highest 779 Mbps, lowest 'no different' from 4G

Highest 5G download speed in Tuoi Tre Online's real-life measurement tests - Photo: DUC THIEN

On the morning of October 15, at the Viettel network's 5G service experience point at the Viettel Complex building (Cach Mang Thang 8 Street, District 10), after many 5G speed tests, the best result recorded by Tuoi Tre Online reporters was a download speed of 779 Mbps, an upload speed of 58 Mbps, and a latency of 20 ms.

Different location, different results

On the afternoon of October 15, the 5G speed recorded in the area in front of Caravelle Hotel (District 1) was only 101 Mbps for download and nearly 14 Mbps for upload.

The surprisingly low point was at the intersection of Le Duan and Dinh Tien Hoang - Ton Duc Thang streets. 5G speeds dropped to just under 36 Mbps download and nearly 23 Mbps upload. This speed is even lower than the average speed of current 4G services.

Previously, on the morning of October 14, in the Phan Xich Long street area (Phu Nhuan district), the best 5G speed recorded by Viettel network was more than 360 Mbps, but the latency was up to 28 ms. However, in the afternoon, on Tran Khac Chan street (Phu Nhuan district), 5G speed only fluctuated between 125 - 250 Mbps, with a latency of about 29 ms.

Unexpectedly low results of 5G speed on the afternoon of October 15 - Photo: DUC THIEN

In some other areas, we also recorded different 5G speeds such as: at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (District 5) it was 280 Mbps, at Nguyen Hue Street (District 1) it was 250 Mbps...

The above measurement results from the actual experience of Tuoi Tre Online reporters were performed with Viettel's 5G network, on the same smartphone device, using the same SpeedTest measurement software of Ookla.

Comparison with 4G and wired Internet

According to the Internet access speed measurement system in Vietnam of the Vietnam Internet Center (under the Ministry of Information and Communications), the average fixed (wired) Internet connection speed in September 2024 in Vietnam in the download direction is nearly 99 Mbps, the upload direction is nearly 98 Mbps, with a latency of 10 ms.

In particular, the speed of major carriers such as VNPT, Viettel, FPT Telecom all have indexes fluctuating around the above average number, without much difference. Only FPT Telecom has the lowest latency of 7.8 ms.

Smaller networks such as CMC Telecom, SPT, NetNam, and SCTV all have speed indexes much lower than the above average. Of which, NetNam's fixed Internet service has an average connection speed of only nearly 41 Mbps (download) and nearly 46 Mbps (upload), while SPT's are 52 Mbps and 46 Mbps respectively, the lowest among the above networks.

As for the current mobile network (mainly 4G), the September 2024 statistics of the Vietnam Internet Center are nearly 54 Mbps download speed and nearly 20 Mbps upload speed, the average latency is 36 ms.

Therefore, if we choose the best recorded 5G speed (779 Mbps) for comparison, we can temporarily see that 5G speed is currently far exceeding the average speed of both wireless Internet connection and 4G network.

However, the latency of 5G connections is nearly 2-3 times that of wired Internet connections on average, while in theory 5G has a latency that can be almost zero.

Furthermore, the current measured 5G speed is only temporary, while the wired connection speed of the above carriers is the average speed and also depends on the specific package type, so the comparison of 5G network connection speed and current wired fixed Internet network is for reference only.

Viettel: speed can reach 700 Mbps - 1 Gbps

According to Viettel's announcement at the launch event of the first commercial 5G service, Viettel's 5G network can reach speeds of 700 Mbps - 1 Gbps, 10 times faster than 4G and low latency of almost 0.
At the time of launch, Viettel's 5G network had more than 6,500 BTS stations, covering 100% of the capitals of 63/63 provinces and cities, industrial parks, tourist areas, seaports, airports, hospitals, and universities.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/do-toc-do-5g-thuc-te-cao-nhat-779-mbps-thap-nhat-cha-khac-gi-4g-20241016134407427.htm