By
Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor
Last updated

Sydney

Sydney has the worst performing mobile network out of major Australian cities, according to global mobile data analyst Tutela, who just dropped a new report on 3G and 4G mobile quality. The report looked at the five most populated cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

The key metric used to compare networks was "excellent consistent quality". This refers to what portion of a network is suitable for demanding activities, like streaming high definition video. Median download speed is a secondary metric.

Adelaide came out on top with an excellent consistent quality percentage of 88.8%, while Sydney placed last with a percentage of 86.1%.

Here are the full results:

Network performance across major cities
Excellent Consistent Quality Median Download Speed
Adelaide 88.8% 26.8Mbps
Melbourne 87.3% 23.1Mbps
Brisbane 86.4% 24.6Mbps
Perth 86.1% 24.1Mbps
Sydney 86.1% 23.6Mbps

Digging deeper, Telstra was found to have the highest excellent consistent quality percentage across all five cities, but was bested by Vodafone on median download speed in Melbourne. Here's a look how median download speeds compare across the five cities:

Median download speeds in major cities
TelstraOptusVodafone
Adelaide 29.1Mbps 27.1Mbps 23.9Mbps
Melbourne 23.8Mbps 22.1Mbps 23.9Mbps
Brisbane 25.7Mbps 23.9Mbps 24.0Mbps
Perth 24.6Mbps 24.6Mbps 22.7Mbps
Sydney 25.9Mbps 23.8Mbps 22.0Mbps

Tutela's report was based on over 10 million speed tests and 133 million latency tests between the start of April and the end of September this year. These came from both Australia and New Zealand, but Tutela did not provide a further breakdown of how the tests were split between the two countries. 

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros
Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio

Save on your phone plan

On average, WhistleOut visitors save over $160 a year when they switch telco services. Start saving now.

Compare phones and plans from the following carriers...

Latest Mobile Phone Deals

Pay just $14/mth for the first 6mths for the Swoop 30GB 5G SIM.

40GB for $15/mth for first 4mths! Ultd data banking, $200 international calls & no excess data charges!

iPhone 18 Pro 256GB, 220GB data, $108.30/mth + $200 Bonus Trade In Credit!

50% off plan fees for 4mths. $15 for 30GB with international call inclusions!

50% off first 3mths when you switch to Felix, $17.50 for 50GB for 3mths!

See our Editor's Pick choices for the Best Mobile plans this month