The annual mobile network test by “Connect” has been completed. All German providers have reason to be happy – the winner can even be happy about the top mark for the first time.
The trade journal “Connect” has completed its mobile network test for the 29th time. In doing so, experts evaluate from various points of view which German mobile communications provider – i.e. Telekom, Vodafone and O2 – offers the best network and the fastest connection.
In order to determine as precisely as possible how solid the providers are in Germany, “Connect” relies on countless car journeys across the country, long walks in large cities and long-distance train journeys. Around a quarter of the overall rating is based on the quality and reliability of telephone connections. Almost half of the rating depends on the performance in the data discipline. It covers how fast the mobile internet is and how good the coverage is already with the latest 5G standard. “Connect” determines the rest of the final score from the measurement results submitted by the population – which, according to the editors, resulted in 2.1 billion individual measurement values.
Telekom in the front, O2 in the back: Everything stays (as good) as it is
The good news first: No provider affords any weaknesses worth mentioning. O2 scored the fewest points with 894 out of 1000 points, which was still “very good”. Vodafone defended second place with 915 points, which also corresponds to a “very good” in “Connect”. The testers rated the Telekom network particularly convincingly, which not only won the test for the 12th time in a row, but also received the grade “outstanding” for the first time and set a new record with 952 points.
Unsurprisingly, Telekom achieved the best results in terms of voice quality and the stability of telephone connections. In big cities, O2 even puts itself in front of the Vodafone network, but in the countryside and in small towns the picture has turned, they say. In the opinion of “Connect”, if you often sit on the train, Telekom and Vodafone are the best options, but all providers would have to struggle with the data rate on long-distance trains. The direction is right here, but compared to neighboring countries, the difference in quality is still “striking”.
Vodafone and O2 have to go to the country
According to “Connect”, Telekom still has the crown in the most important category, data evaluation. Both the average speed and the maximum speed are therefore higher than those of the competition. O2 took second place in this category, while Vodafone performed marginally worse. When it comes to 5G, the situation is similar: Telekom first, Vodafone second, followed closely by O2. According to “Connect”, however, Telekom is the only provider that can also reliably provide customers with reception on the roads outside of metropolitan areas. Vodafone and O2 “stagnate” in this discipline, they say.
Even if everything has remained the same in the end, “Connect” assures that it is much more difficult to maintain the high level of results due to stricter criteria and new test methods. For the work of the providers, this means that there have been noticeable improvements with every provider, without which a worse grade would have been inevitable. The experts expressly praise the ongoing 5G expansion in particular.
You can find the full test in the current issue of “Connect”.
