Airports are a prime location for using mobile broadband services. In a three-way battle between Optus, Telstra and the free Wi-Fi in the lounge, which comes out on top?
On my way up to the Gold Coast for TechEd Australia 2012 earlier this week, I ran speed tests comparing Optus’ recently-released 4G services, Telstra’s longer-established options and the free Qantas lounge Wi-Fi (also provided by Optus). I used the respective 4G hotspot models to access the Optus and Telstra services, which minimises the likelihood of driver or software problems. Results are averaged over three tests.
Provider | Ping | Download | Upload |
---|---|---|---|
Optus | 26ms | 30.18Mbps | 18.53Mbps |
Telstra | 82ms | 7.85Mbps | 0.28Mbps |
Lounge | 9ms | 5.39Mbps | 5.65Mbps |
That looks like a thumping victory for Optus, but there’s a very important caveat here. While Telstra’s 4G network does cover the airport area, in the lounge location where I was my hotspot would only connect to DC-HSPA services. The results were still very usable, but that discrepancy highlights yet again a point we always make about mobile broadband: throughput is not guaranteed. Even with a 4G device, you won’t always get 4G service.
Though Optus is by far the fastest, all three options performed well. Under the circumstances using the free lounge Wi-Fi would often be the sensible choice (why use paid-for data if you don’t have to?) That said, having 4G available once you arrive is still very welcome!
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