How fast is the internet in Germany? Almost 8 million measurements by Internet users of Computerbild give a clear picture with a total of two test winners. With one winner, however, you have to cut corners in the evening hours.
“Vodafone Kabel rushes past everyone at a brisk and stable pace” – that is the conclusion of a tempo test by Computerbild . In the past twelve months, the magazine has had its users carry out and analyzed a total of 7.95 million measurements. Vodafone was the only one of the six tested providers to receive a “good” rating and left the competition behind. Nevertheless, there is something to criticize about the connections in the evening hours.
The Internet access of Vodafone cable customers delivered an average of 260 Mbit / s in the download. This means that Vodafone is four times as fast as the fastest DSL competitor. However, this is due to the technology. By using the DOCSIS 3.1 standard, Vodafone can currently connect old TV cable lines with a signal of 1 Gbit / s relatively easily . There will be even more in the future. With DSL, the current limit is 250 Mbit / s, and a fiber optic cable must go to at least the basement of the building, which is correspondingly expensive to build.
DSL WINNER TELEKOM WITH FIBER OPTIC PROBLEMS?
The cable connections also achieved an average of 28 Mbit / s in the upload. There were hardly any differences in the speed of the Internet between urban and rural areas at the cable connections this year. In addition, in a comparison of cable network providers and across all technologies, Vodafone received top marks in all tariffs for the price-performance ratio.
Deutsche Telekom won the DSL connection . Here the users measured an average of 65 Mbit / s, in the upload 24 Mbit / s. Vodafone competitor Pyur (Tele Columbus) received the red lantern when uploading: The users measured the computer image only 13 Mbit / s. At Telekom, Computerbild also found the comparatively largest differences between urban and rural areas. In the country, users achieved an average of around 54 Mbit / s, in the city almost 74 Mbit / s.
Vodafone technology boss Guido Weißbrich is pleased with the result. “Even if the network was literally ‘glowing’ in the past few months: We have taken numerous measures to ensure performance and made our network even more stable and faster. Wherever many people use the network, Vodafone will do better in certain areas and build more fiber optic routes. The aim of the cable network operator is to get a grip on the problem that occurs again and again with cable connections: the effect of the shared medium. It is about speed drops, which in the worst case are permanent, but mostly only occur in the evening hours. After all: Computerbild certified Vodafone that the fluctuations in the cable network in the evening hours at peak time, when everyone is online, have decreased compared to the previous year.
THAT IS WHY FAST CONNECTIONS ARE OFTEN SUPPOSEDLY SLOW
But it is also particularly surprising that the measurement results on Gigabit connections from Telekom are disastrous in comparison. Instead of 1,000 Mbit / s, an average of only 243 Mbit / s arrived. While Computerbild advises to complain to the Federal Network Agency at less than 90 percent of the agreed speed, the Vodafone network manager suggests a different tactic: “To benefit from speeds of over 500 Mbit / s, you need gigabit-capable devices at home Equipment. “
In addition, factors such as browser or operating system play an important role when measuring high speeds, it is said. In the experience of our editorial team, measurements via WLAN or network ports that are too slow are often the cause of the significant falsification of the measurements. WLAN never delivers the data rates that the WLAN router promises on the packaging . However: the network of the providers also plays a role, as our direct comparison of gigabit connections from Telekom and Vodafone has shown.
