Mobile broadband - how fast is your connection?

Research by broadband comparison site Broadband Expert has revealed that the average speed of UK mobile broadband is 1.46Mbs. By comparison earlier surveys by the same company revealed home broadband services deliver average speeds of 2.95Mbs.

The survey carried out between February and March 2008, tested 1,213 mobile broadband connections with top download speeds ranging from 2.3Mbps for Vodafone to 1.1Mbps for T-Mobile and 1Mbps for 3.

Vodafone clocked by far the fastest download speeds, though advertising for their latest offering promise much faster speeds of up to 7.2Mbps (however some of the customers surveyed were on old offers advertising lesser speeds).

The average upload speed for all providers was registered as 0.38Mbps. Upload speed describes the speed that data can be transmitted back to the internet and is important for VoIP (internet phone calls) services such as Skype.

Download speed varied between areas depending on the mobile coverage and the network used, with higher speeds more likely to be achieved in urban areas which have better coverage.

"With mobile broadband, speed shouldn't necessarily be the main focus when choosing a product," said Broadband Expert Technical Director William Harvey. Mobile broadband use tends to be business focused with email and web browsing the key activities. Speeds of 1-2Mbps are generally adequate for this type of activity.

"The most important factors to consider are network coverage linked to reliable service provision.

"It is not surprising that mobile broadband is behind fixed line broadband as it's a comparatively new technology. But, mobile broadband providers must not follow the lead of home broadband services and advertise speeds that are largely unachievable."

Also, check our Bytestart's own guide to mobile broadband.