By Anula Wiwatowska & Alex Choros
Just how good are Australia's 5G networks? Which provider should you go with if you want the best 5G experience in Australia? What kind of speeds can you expect?
These are tricky questions to answer. There are countless factors that can impact the performance of a mobile network. Congestion. Proximity to the tower. Interference caused by man-made structures. Your experience in one part of Australia might not be the same as in another.
These are still important questions, however. To get a start on answering them, we've conducted a hell of a lot of 5G speed tests in 2021. We conducted 108 5G speed tests split between six locations in Sydney where Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone all had 5G coverage back in February 2021, and we've followed these up with 126 further 5G speed tests in April 2021 and again in June 2021. These cover the same locations as our initial set of tests, plus a further spot.
This data is historical, but we found Telstra and Optus' 5G performance neck and neck. Vodafone trailed behind with roughly half the average speeds. Here are the cheapest 5G postpaid SIM-only plans from the three telcos:
|
#1
|
Optus
$60 Optus Choice Plus Plan
$39.00/mth
Min. cost $39
|
|
#2
|
Vodafone
$58 Small SIM Only Plan
$45.00/mth
Min. cost $45
|
|
#3
|
Telstra
$84 Essential Upfront SIM Plan
$74.00/mth
Min. cost $74
Link not supplied
|
Note that Telstra caps download speeds to 250Mbps on its cheapest 5G plan.
Of course, this our testing data only represents network performance on three days. There's every chance going to a different suburb could have yielded different results, testing on a different day, or at a different time. Moving by ten or so metres could be enough to change download speeds.
This isn't meant to provide a definitive answer to the question of which 5G network has the best download speeds, or which 5G network has the lowest latency. At the same time, there are still learnings in the data, and we've started to see trends emerge.
At each location, we conducted six speed tests on each network. These were split across an iPhone and Android device.
Here is how our tests have compared:
Average 5G download speeds (2021)
| Month | February (Mbps) | April (Mbps) | June (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telstra | 413 Mbps | 511 Mbps | 509 Mbps |
| Optus | 452 Mbps | 481 Mbps | 484 Mbps |
| Vodafone | 250 Mbps | 265 Mbps | 241 Mbps |
Average 5G upload speeds (2021)
| Month | February (Mbps) | April (Mbps) | June (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telstra | 54 Mbps | 54 Mbps | 56 Mbps |
| Optus | 44 Mbps | 45 Mbps | 62 Mbps |
| Vodafone | 17 Mbps | 20 Mbps | 21 Mbps |
Average 5G latency (2021)
| Month | February (ms) | April (ms) | June (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telstra | 16 ms | 17 ms | 15 ms |
| Optus | 15 ms | 16 ms | 15 ms |
| Vodafone | 23 ms | 19 ms | 19 ms |
The below tables have every average for each location, as well overall averages for the day of testing.
5G speeds in Australia (2021)
Average 5G download speeds in Sydney (Mbps)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 367 | 196 | 165 |
| Chatswood | 356 | 602 | 384 |
| North Ryde | 504 | 282 | 40 |
| Epping | 968 | 668 | 491 |
| Parramatta | 474 | 563 | 196 |
| Auburn | 308 | 511 | 218 |
| Banksmeadow | 667 | 574 | 483 |
| AVERAGE | 509 | 484 | 241 |
Average 5G download speeds in Sydney (Mbps)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 254 | 537 | 18 |
| Chatswood | 495 | 389 | 352 |
| North Ryde | 533 | 667 | 88 |
| Epping | 877 | 723 | 438 |
| Parramatta | 428 | 407 | 296 |
| Auburn | 340 | 92 | 338 |
| Banksmeadow | 651 | 552 | 456 |
| AVERAGE | 511 | 481 | 265 |
Average 5G download speeds in Sydney (Mbps)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 409 | 564 | 21 |
| Chatswood | 502 | 658 | 482 |
| North Ryde | 399 | 321 | 50 |
| Epping | 575 | 667 | 403 |
| Parramatta | 375 | 439 | 222 |
| Auburn | 218 | 68 | 321 |
| AVERAGE | 413 | 452 | 250 |
Average 5G upload speeds in Sydney (Mbps)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 29 | 17 | 27 |
| Chatswood | 59 | 99 | 28 |
| North Ryde | 52 | 24 | 5 |
| Epping | 79 | 118 | 29 |
| Parramatta | 77 | 96 | 32 |
| Auburn | 19 | 27 | 15 |
| Banksmeadow | 75 | 50 | 22 |
| AVERAGE | 56 | 62 | 21 |
Average 5G upload speeds in Sydney (Mbps)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 42 | 27 | 6 |
| Chatswood | 75 | 26 | 36 |
| North Ryde | 43 | 35 | 6 |
| Epping | 77 | 103 | 26 |
| Parramatta | 47 | 51 | 31 |
| Auburn | 39 | 10 | 12 |
| Banksmeadow | 58 | 63 | 32 |
| AVERAGE | 54 | 45 | 20 |
Average 5G upload speeds in Sydney (Mbps)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 62 | 28 | 4 |
| Chatswood | 72 | 79 | 37 |
| North Ryde | 50 | 29 | 1 |
| Epping | 72 | 82 | 39 |
| Parramatta | 49 | 37 | 17 |
| Auburn | 16 | 10 | 9 |
| AVERAGE | 54 | 44 | 17 |
Average 5G latency in Sydney (ms)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 19 | 17 | 27 |
| Chatswood | 15 | 13 | 28 |
| North Ryde | 14 | 16 | 20 |
| Epping | 14 | 13 | 24 |
| Parramatta | 12 | 12 | 19 |
| Auburn | 18 | 14 | 22 |
| Banksmeadow | 13 | 17 | 20 |
| AVERAGE | 15 | 15 | 22 |
Average 5G latency in Sydney (ms)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 18 | 17 | 23 |
| Chatswood | 15 | 15 | 19 |
| North Ryde | 18 | 18 | 23 |
| Epping | 15 | 14 | 21 |
| Parramatta | 17 | 14 | 21 |
| Auburn | 18 | 20 | 19 |
| Banksmeadow | 15 | 14 | 19 |
| AVERAGE | 17 | 16 | 19 |
Average 5G latency in Sydney (ms)
| Telstra | Optus | Vodafone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naremburn | 16 | 13 | 29 |
| Chatswood | 16 | 13 | 28 |
| North Ryde | 17 | 20 | 25 |
| Epping | 12 | 13 | 21 |
| Parramatta | 16 | 15 | 21 |
| Auburn | 16 | 18 | 20 |
| AVERAGE | 16 | 15 | 23 |
Please note, all results have been rounded to whole numbers. Raw data is available below
Analysis (June)
In our day of testing, we found that Telstra was the strongest performer in terms of download speeds across the seven locations in Sydney, while Optus performed better in terms of uploads. There were times the telcos bested each other, but on average, the Telstra 5G network offer faster download speeds while the Optus 5G network offered faster upload speeds. Optus taking the gong for upload speeds is notable, because our February and April tests showed Telstra performing better on that metric.
Telstra and Optus both tied when it came to latency, with an average ping of 15ms, which is an improvement on our testing from April. Vodafone measured in at 19ms, which is the same as what it averaged in April.
On the whole, average download speeds were roughly in line with our April tests. Telstra performed a little worse with an average 5G download speed of 509Mbps, down from 511Mbps. Optus was a little stronger at 484Mbps, up from 481Mbps. And Vodafone dropped from 265Mbps to 241Mbps.
Every telco's average 5G upload speeds improved, however. Telstra went from 54Mbps to 56Mbps, Optus shot up from 45Mbps to 62Mbps, and Vodafone climbed 1Mbps to 21Mbps.
Vodafone was however once again the least consistent performer. While we recorded a new peak download speed of 563Mbps for the telco, we also saw tests where it was as slow as 14Mbps. It's a similar story with upload, where speeds reached as fast as 55Mbps, but as low 1Mbps.
The fastest download speed we experienced was on the Telstra 5G network. We recorded 1,052Mbps on the iPhone 12 Pro Max in Epping, marking the first time we've seen gigabit 5G speeds in our testing. For comparison, the fastest speed we got in April was 909Mbps on the Pixel 5, also in Epping.
The fastest upload speed we encountered was on the Optus 5G network, where we attained 138Mbps on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Last time, the fastest result was also Optus in Epping, with 119Mbps on the Pixel 5.
Parramatta was home to the lowest latency in our testing, where we got a ping of just 7ms on an iPhone 12 Pro Max speed test on the Telstra network. Previously, the lowest latency we had seen was 10ms back in February. This time around, we saw multiple tests under 10ms on both the Telstra and Optus 5G networks. Vodafone's lowest latency was 13ms.
One interesting revelation was just how much fluctuation there could be at sites between test days. For example, Telstra 5G averaged download speeds of 356Mbps in Chatswood this time around, whereas we recorded 495Mbps back in April. The Chatswood tests were done at a similar time of day - around 2.30pm.
Similar held true for Optus. In April, Optus attained average speeds of 537Mbps at Naremburn, while these dropped to 196Mbps this time around. Once again, a similar time of day.
Vodafone's results were more consistent, with only around 100Mbps of variance at max. We did however see a big improvement at Naremburn, where it jumped from 18Mbps in February to 165Mbps.
Analysis (April)
In our day of testing, we found that Telstra was the strongest performer in terms of both download and upload speeds across the seven locations in Sydney. There were times when it was bested by Optus, but on average, the Telstra 5G network offered faster download and upload speeds. When we tested in February, we found that Optus performed better in terms of download.
On the other hand, Optus performed better when it came to latency this time around, with an average ping of 16ms. Telstra was slightly behind at 17ms, followed by Vodafone at 19ms. While Vodafone performed the worst in latency, it showed improvement on our February tests where we measured an average ping of 23ms.
On average, each telco performed better in our April tests than in our February tests. Telstra achieved an average 5G download speed of 511Mbps, up from 413Mbps. Optus achieved 481Mbps, up from 452Mbps, and Vodafone achieved 265Mbps, up from 250Mbps.
The average upload speeds we experienced were in line with what we saw in February. Telstra held firm at 54Mbps, Optus was up 1Mbps to 54Mbps, and Vodafone achieved 20Mbps, up from 17Mbps.
Vodafone was however once again the least consistent performer. While there were tests where it achieved download speeds of almost 500Mbps, we also had speed tests where the network struggled to even get 1Mbps of upload. At the same time, we did see improvement. In February, Vodafone's slowest download speed was 3Mbps. This time around it was 12Mbps.
The fastest download speed we experienced was on the Telstra 5G network. We recorded 909Mbps down on the Pixel 5 in Epping. For comparison, the fastest speed we saw in February was 773Mbps down on the Optus 5G network using the iPhone 12 Pro Max, also in Epping. Optus did however out do itself this time, with download speeds of 871Mbps on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, in Epping.
The fastest upload speed we encountered was on the Optus 5G network, where we attained 119Mbps up on the Pixel 5, once again, in Epping. Last time, Telstra took the crown for fastest upload speed with 98.4Mbps up on the Pixel 5. We don't even have to tell you what suburb.
Breaking the trend, Chatswood was the home of the lowest latency in our testing, where we attained a ping of just 11ms on an iPhone 12 Pro Max speed test. That is however higher than last time, where we measured a ping of just 10ms on two Telstra iPhone 12 Pro Max speed tests in Epping.
Analysis (February)
In our day of testing, we found that Optus was the strongest performer in terms of download speeds across the six locations in Sydney. While it was bested by Telstra and Vodafone at times, on average, the Optus 5G network offered faster download speeds.
On the other hand, Telstra was more reliable when it came to uploads. As with download, there were suburbs where it was beat out, but on average, the Telstra 5G network offered better upload speed than Optus and Vodafone in our tests.
Telstra and Optus were neck and neck when it came to latency in our tests, with average pings of 15.5ms and 15.5ms, respectively.
While Vodafone was a strong performer in many tests, it was also the least consistent. There were times it outperformed both Telstra and Optus, but we also had speed tests where the network struggled to even hit 1Mbps of upload.
The fastest download speed we experienced was on the Optus 5G network. We recorded 773Mbps down on the iPhone 12 Pro Max in Epping.
The fastest upload speed we encountered was on the Telstra 5G network, where we measured 98.4Mbps up on the Pixel 5, also in Epping.
Epping was also the home of the lowest latency in our testing, where we measured a ping of just 10ms on two Telstra iPhone 12 Pro Max speed tests.
While there was variability between iPhone 12 Pro Max and Pixel 5 speed tests, the iPhone 12 Pro Max recorded faster download speeds than the Pixel 5 on average. Latency and upload speeds were similar, however.
Anecdotally, Telstra 5G was the easiest to find. In each of the suburbs we tested in, Telstra 5G was reasonably widespread. Finding Optus 5G and Vodafone 5G was much harder. Given Vodafone's 5G network is the youngest, it's no surprise that actually getting coverage was a challenge at times.
Methodology (June)
In collecting June's data, we conducted 126 speed tests across six locations in Sydney: Naremburn, Chatswood, North Ryde, Epping, Parramatta, Auburn, and Banksmeadow. These were the same seven suburbs we tested in April. No additional sites were added in this round of testing.
The suburbs we tested in were chosen because they're areas where all three networks have 5G coverage. When testing, we specifically looked for communal coverage areas where devices consistently showed at least three bars of reception.
At each location, we conducted six speed tests on each mobile network using Ookla's Speedtest app. Three of these were performed on an iPhone 12 Pro Max, and three on a Pixel 5. The Speedtest app was left on default settings - we did not manually specify testing servers. The key analytics we measured were download speed, upload speed, and latency. Time was also noted.
Methodology (April)
In collecting April's data, we conducted 126 speed tests across six locations in Sydney: Naremburn, Chatswood, North Ryde, Epping, Parramatta, Auburn, and Banksmeadow. The first six suburbs were the areas we first tested in February, while Banksmeadow was a new addition to expand our data collection.
The suburbs we tested in were chosen because they're areas where all three networks have 5G coverage. When testing, we specifically looked for communal coverage areas where devices consistently showed at least three bars of reception.
At each location, we conducted six speed tests on each mobile network using Ookla's Speedtest app. Three of these were performed on an iPhone 12 Pro Max, and three on a Pixel 5. The Speedtest app was left on default settings - we did not manually specify testing servers. The key analytics we measured were download speed, upload speed, and latency. Time was also noted.
Methodology (February)
In obtaining this data, we conducted 108 speed tests across six locations in Sydney: Naremburn, Chatswood, North Ryde, Epping, Parramatta, and Auburn. These suburbs were chosen because they are areas where all three networks have 5G coverage. When testing, we specifically looked for areas where signal strength was comparable. We wanted the devices to consistently show at least three bars of reception. We had initially planned to try and test at central locations such as post offices or train stations, but these weren't always covered by all three networks.
We initially planned for eight locations, but we couldn't find communal coverage areas in Homebush West and Surry Hills, despite the telcos all claiming they have coverage in those suburbs. We also planned to test in Ryde before pivoting to North Ryde due to a similar issue.
At each location, we conducted six speed tests on each mobile network using Ookla's Speedtest app. Three of these were performed on an iPhone 12 Pro Max, and three on a Pixel 5. The Speedtest app was let on default settings - we did not manually specify testing servers. The key analytics we measured were download speed, upload speed, and latency. Time was also noted.
How to compare 5G coverage
WhistleOut's coverage checker tool has 5G coverage maps, making it easy to see whether you can get 5G at your location. All you need to do is punch in your address when searching for a new phone plan. After you've done so and hit Search, you can jump straight to the coverage map by tapping See Coverage Map and then tapping Click To Activate Interactive Map.
This map will show you what kind of coverage you have in your area. 5G coverage is highlighted using the darkest shade of purple, but unticking 4G and 3G can help make it clearer. The drop down menu lets you choose between telcos.
Coverage maps are only approximate, only show outdoor coverage, and may be impacted by local conditions such as buildings.
Related Articles
