CHIP and NET CHECK show: Network supply in long-distance trains remains one of the central projects of the future. You can read about which providers performed well in the network test here.
CHIP and NET CHECK have once again examined the quality of German mobile networks. The test, which includes both crowdsourced data over an area of 235,000 square kilometers and hundreds of thousands of direct measurements using specialized equipment, shows:
The 5G expansion and network supply in long-distance trains remain the central future projects. With 1&1 there is also a new provider on the market whose network is still under construction.
Significant differences in the area of high-speed internet
In order to check the quality of the mobile phone networks on site, several teams of measurement technicians collected data across Germany. These measurements were supplemented by the evaluation of billions of data samples that were crowdsourced from around 1.9 million smartphones.
The results show that all networks perform well and handle everyday tasks such as web surfing and streaming videos.
But when it comes to high-speed Internet, there are clear differences between the providers, and Telekom emerges as the front runner. Vodafone follows in second place with also a very good rating and O2 is at the bottom of our test.
Telekom is ahead, but competitors are catching up
The network supply in long-distance trains remains a particularly critical point. The measurements continue to show clear weaknesses here, especially in terms of voice quality and data transfers.
“The better mobile communications get, the more noticeable the deficits are on Deutsche Bahn trains,” commented CHIP mobile communications expert Markus Mandau. Telekom is also ahead here, but the competition has caught up.
In the area of 5G, the data shows promising progress in 5G expansion. The differences between network operators are dwindling, and in the cities all networks are already at a similar level.
1&1 will probably play a bigger role next year
With 1&1, a new network operator enters the stage. Due to the current lack of progress in network expansion, 1&1 was specifically examined in Berlin, Frankfurt and Leipzig, as the 1&1 network is already present here.
This showed that the network quality for telephone calls is competitive, but still has weaknesses when it comes to the reliability of data transfers and when accessing websites.
Next year, 1&1 is expected to play a larger role in network testing as network construction continues.
