As the weather outside the window gets colder and the day gets noticeably shorter, life moves indoors to warmer environments. October is the month when our mobile devices work harder than usual – we use them to work remotely, study online, watch movies or keep in touch with loved ones. While nature is getting ready for its winter rest, the digital world is bustling with activity like never before. It’s a time when our smartphones and tablets are working at full steam, providing us with entertainment and helping us with our daily work. So let’s see how mobile operators in Poland fared this month in terms of service quality.

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

The latest report is based on 482554 measurements taken by users of the RFBENCHMARK app. This is an increase of 13.45% compared to September.

Orange invariably attracts the most attention from RFBENCHMARK app users, dominating the statistics related to the number of measurements taken. In October, it accounted for 32.6% of all tests performed. Just behind it, ranked Play with a result of 32.2% of all measurements. In the second part of the list we find the duo of Plus and T-Mobile, which with stable results – 18.4% and 16.8%, respectively – consistently occupy places in the second half of the table.

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Mobile Internet in Poland – what was the situation in September 2024?

September’s measurements yielded interesting results on the quality of mobile networks in Poland. In 5G technology, Orange remained the undisputed leader, dominating all key categories for the fifth consecutive month – from download speed (317.4 Mbps) to upload (51.2 Mbps) to the lowest ping (21.5 ms). Particularly noteworthy was the significant progress made by T-Mobile, which recorded an impressive increase in download speeds to 247.1 Mbps in 5G, distancing Play (170.8 Mbps) and Plus (137.7 Mbps).

In the case of 4G LTE technology, we saw a more evenly matched competition, although here, too, clear leaders emerged in each category. T-Mobile led the way in download speeds with a score of 46.2 Mbps, Play dominated in upload speeds reaching 22.1 Mbps, while Orange boasted the lowest ping at 28.8 ms. It is worth noting that, unlike in 5G, where the differences between operators were significant, in 4G LTE the results turned out to be more similar, indicating the maturity of this technology in the Polish market.

See what mobile Internet looked like in September 2024

5G results

Average download speed: T-Mobile (364.7 Mbps)

Orange’s hegemony, which lasted five months, has been broken. T-Mobile moved into first place in the average download speed category with a high score of 364.7 Mbps. It overtook the previous leader, which took the second position with a score of 303.4 Mbps.

The other two operators – Play (184.4 Mbps) and Plus (135.1 Mbps) – performed noticeably less well, not exceeding the 200 Mbps mark.

Average upload speed: T-Mobile (57.1 Mbps)

As with the average download speed, we have a ditto in the upload summary. T-Mobile reaches 57.1 Mbps, giving it the lead in the table. Orange became the runner-up, recording a result of 53.1 Mbps.

Play and Plus closed the ranking in this category, with 47.7 Mbps and 28.2 Mbps on their counter, respectively.

Lowest ping value: Orange (21.3 ms)

Orange managed to keep the lead in the last of the categories concerning mobile Internet speed and quality. It is, of course, about the statistics for the lowest average ping value. The Orange operator was second to none, reaching 21.3 ms.

By comparison – second-ranked Play recorded a score of 23.6 ms, and T-Mobile 25.5 ms. In fourth place with a slight loss was Plus (28.7 ms).

4G LTE results

Average download speed: T-Mobile (49.5 Mbps)

In October’s 4G LTE download speed chart, T-Mobile not only maintained its leadership position, but even strengthened its lead, improving September’s result from 46.2 Mbps to an impressive 49.5 Mbps. However, the situation behind the leader’s back has changed significantly, with Play (39.4 Mbps) and Orange (39 Mbps) recording a marked drop in speed, losing 1.6 Mbps and 1.1 Mbps, respectively, compared to the previous month. The stakes were again closed by Plus, with a score of 37.5 Mbps.

Average upload speed: Play (23.1 Mbps)

In the 4G LTE upload category, October brought a strengthening of Play’s position, which improved its September result from 22.1 Mbps to 23.1 Mbps. Second place went to T-Mobile with 21.0 Mbps, recording an increase of 0.7 Mbps compared to the previous month. Orange improved its position slightly to 20.1 Mbps (up 0.2 Mbps), while Plus remained in last place with an unchanged 17.8 Mbps.

Lowest ping value: Orange (28.1 ms)

In October’s competition for the lowest 4G LTE ping value, Orange reaffirmed its dominance, improving September’s result from 28.8 ms to 28.1 ms. Play maintained its second position with a result of 29.3 ms, recording a slight improvement of 0.3 ms over the previous month. In third place was T-Mobile, which managed to reduce latency by 1.8 ms compared to September, with a score of 32 ms. Plus, despite a slight improvement (from 39 ms to 38.9 ms), still remained in last place with a significantly higher ping than the competition.

5G/4G LTE performance table

How did we collect data for the ranking?

The measurements are collected from users using our mobile application. It allows us to measure the basic parameters of the mobile network – including the level and quality of the signal depending on the technology in which the mobile device works, information about the mobile network operator or the country where the smartphone is located. In addition, on-demand Internet speed measurements are taken during downloads and uploads, as well as a latency test.

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

Help us create a report on the quality of mobile Internet services and speeds in Poland!

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Recommended connection parameters that allow for trouble-free use of individual Internet services

			Download speed [Mbps]
Type of service	from 0.1 to 0.3	from 0.3 to 1	from 1 to 2	from 2 to 6	over 6	Ping
Real-time network games						Less than 30ms
Skype calls and VoIP						Less than 150ms
Skype video calls/screen sharing						Less than 150ms
Skype group video calls (3 people)						Less than 150ms
Browsing the web						Less than 200ms
Facebook						Less than 200ms
Other network games						Less than 200ms
YouTube video quality 480p, other services SD quality						Less than 200ms
YouTube HD video						Less than 200ms

Example access times to individual Internet services, depending on data download speed

	Download speed
Type of service	0.3 Mbps	1 Mbps	2 Mbps	6 Mbps
Opening the website (www.notelit.pl – 1.2 MB)	32 s	10 s	5 s	2 s	Service access time
Downloading email with attachments (5 MB)	133 s (2min)	40 s	20 s	7 s	Service access time
Download the map of Warsaw on Google Maps (3.4 MB)	91 s	27 s	14 s	5 s	Service access time
Flash game loading (3 MB)	80 s	24 s	12 s	4 s	Service access time
Loading audio stream from Wrzuta (6:09 – 10 MB)	267 s (4 min)	80 s	40 s	13 s	Service access time
Loading Full HD video stream from YouTube (2:33 – 40MB)	1067 s (18 min)	320 s (5 min)	160 s (3 min)	53 s	Service access time
Downloading a file from the FTP server (100 MB)	2667 S (44 min)	800 s (13 min)	400 s (7 min)	133 s (2 min)	Service access time