August brought a real heatwave, perfectly matching the summer mood and offering tourists one last getaway before returning to school and work. In the holiday spirit, we decided to check how the mobile Internet, now an essential travel companion for many, was performing. With significant support from our mobile app users, we analysed the services offered by Polish mobile operators to see who best met the seasonal demands.

During August, a total of 341,333 mobile internet quality and speed tests were conducted using the RFBENCHMARK application. A large majority, 251,985 tests, used 4G technology, while 82,819 tests were on 5G networks. These numbers show that 5G accounted for 24% of all tests, indicating a growing interest in the latest mobile technologies, even though 4G networks still dominate daily use.

READ ALSO: Mobile Internet in Poland – A big summary of 2023

In August, the majority of mobile Internet quality and speed tests were conducted on Orange, making up 33.5% of all measurements and reinforcing its position as the leader. Play was a close second with 31.9%. The other networks, Plus and T-Mobile, posted similar results at 17.5% and 17.1%, respectively, highlighting their continued competition for user attention.

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Mobile Internet in Poland – What was the situation like in July 2024?

In July, Orange dominated the 5G market by recording the highest average data download speed of 318.3 Mbps, a significant rise from previous months (271.8 Mbps in June and 245.6 Mbps in May). The operator also topped the charts in the category of lowest ping value (22.1 ms) and highest average data upload speed (52.8 Mbps), outperforming Play, T-Mobile, and Plus in each of these categories. Play came in second for download speed at 176.5 Mbps, with T-Mobile close behind at 168.3 Mbps and Plus at 144.7 Mbps.

On the 4G LTE network in July, Play secured the top position with a download speed of 44.5 Mbps and an upload speed of 22.7 Mbps, ahead of T-Mobile (43.6 Mbps download and 20.4 Mbps upload) and Orange (43.4 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload). In the category of the lowest 4G ping, Orange took the lead with a score of 29.3 ms, just ahead of Play’s 29.9 ms. T-Mobile and Plus posted scores of 33.7 ms and 37.9 ms, respectively.

See what mobile Internet looked like in July 2024

5G performance

Average data download speed: Orange (341.6 Mbps)

Orange is not slowing down—instead, it keeps setting new standards in the mobile Internet market. In August, the operator strengthened its leadership in average data download speed on the 5G network, reaching an impressive 341.6 Mbps, well ahead of the competition. This shows an improvement of 23.3 Mbps, the first significant jump forward in a long time.

T-Mobile took second place with 182.3 Mbps, slightly ahead of Play, which achieved 180 Mbps. Plus came in last with 142.2 Mbps, clearly trailing behind the leader. These results show that Orange is setting benchmarks that other operators are yet to meet.

Average data upload speed: Orange (54.3 Mbps)

The development of the 5G network is on track for Orange. In August, the operator improved its position in terms of average data upload speed, reaching 54.3 Mbps, slightly better than the 52.8 Mbps recorded in July.

Play came second with 49.3 Mbps, and T-Mobile was third with 40.7 Mbps. Plus was fourth, managing 29.4 Mbps.

Lowest ping value: Orange (21.8 ms)

For the third month in a row, Orange led the way by achieving the lowest ping value, recording 21.8 ms in August. Play was close behind with 23.2 ms. T-Mobile and Plus were further back, scoring 25.2 ms and 27.8 ms, respectively.

4G LTE performance

Average data download speed: T-Mobile (44.4 Mbps)

There was a significant reshuffle in the average 4G LTE data download speed category. For the first time since May, T-Mobile climbed to the top spot with a speed of 44.4 Mbps. Orange slipped to second place with 43.7 Mbps, while the former leader, Play, dropped to third with 43.4 Mbps, just missing out on second place. Plus rounded out the group with 42.1 Mbps. 

This comparison highlights that the race for the top spots remains incredibly close, with only minor differences between the operators.

Average data upload speed: Play (22.7 Mbps)

The situation in the average 4G LTE data upload speed category remained unchanged from July. Play held onto its lead, recording the same speed as last month at 22.7 Mbps.

The battle for second and third place was tight, with T-Mobile edging out with 20.5 Mbps, just ahead of Orange at 20.4 Mbps. Plus was the only operator to record a result below 20 Mbps at 18.3 Mbps.

Lowest ping value: Play (29.1 ms)

In the category of lowest average 4G LTE ping value, Play led again with 29.1 ms. Orange was slightly behind at 29.6 ms, while the other competitors lagged further behind. T-Mobile took third place with 33.9 ms, and Plus again was last with 39 ms.

5G/4G LTE Leaderboard

How did we collect data for the ranking?

The measurements are collected from the users of our mobile app. It allows us to measure basic mobile network parameters – including signal level and quality depending on the technology used by the mobile device, information about the mobile network operator, or the country where the smartphone is located. In addition, on-demand measurements of data download and upload speeds, as well as a latency test, are performed.

When the app notices a low-quality voice call, lack of mobile Internet service, or other services, it has the ability to report the user’s current position where the problem occurred.

Help us create the report on the quality and speed of mobile Internet in Poland!

Download our mobile app for free and join the community!