Its theoretical speeds are 150Mbps. But in fact, Voda’s “superfast” mobile Internet is about half of that.
Last week, the red telco launched the ‘Cat 4’ 4G mobile broadband dongle and WiFi hotspot, flagged as having superfast “theoretical” speeds of 150Mbps.
When asked by CN how fast the Cat 4 4G speeds are in reality, a spokesperson said they can vary between 75-120Mbps, meaning the “superfast” new 4G could still be slower than current 4G speeds, which Vodafone claim can hit 100Mbps, theoretically.
“At this point we can only let you know the max theoretical speeds as in practice it depends on so many external factors like device capabilities, location and network congestion”.
Comparing speeds on the same time, same date, same device but at a different location could give one user 120Mbps download speed, while another user may get ‘only’ 75Mbps, the spokesperson said.
This is still an extremely fast service compared to 3G+ speeds of 1 – 15 Mbps.
“Actual speeds achieved vary depending on these factors as well as if you are indoors/outdoors or if you are surrounded by high buildings”.
Recent tests have shown Vodafone’s 4G to be among the fastest mobile internet services in some areas, although fell short of the ‘100Mbps’ headline speed.
The ‘Cat 4’ 4G are priced higher than current 4G mobile broadband devices.
