Best for speed, second-best for coverage.
| 4G Metric | Vodafone | Industry avg | |-----------|----------|---------------| | Median download | 58 Mbps | 55 Mbps | | 10th percentile download | 9.2 Mbps | 8.7 Mbps | | Consistency (≥5 Mbps down & 1 Mbps up) | 87.3% | 85.1% |
| Speed tier | Real download | Real upload | Notes | |------------|---------------|-------------|-------| | 500/100 | 432 Mbps | 86 Mbps | Over-provisioned, but upload limited | | 1 Gbps/100 | 812 Mbps | 89 Mbps | Asymmetric, vulnerable to evening congestion |
For the majority of Portuguese living in cities or towns, Vodafone provides the fastest and most consistent internet experience. In rural areas, MEO or NOS may offer better real-world speeds despite lower peak capabilities. Future 700 MHz and SA 5G deployments should erase this gap by late 2026.
| Plan (down/up) | Real speed (median, Ookla) | Latency (ms) | Jitter | |----------------|----------------------------|--------------|--------| | 500/100 Mbps | 487 / 94 Mbps | 5 ms | 2 ms | | 1 Gbps / 400 Mbps | 912 / 378 Mbps | 4 ms | 1 ms | | 10 Gbps / 10 Gbps (XGS-PON, limited areas) | 8,210 / 7,950 Mbps | 2 ms | <1 ms |
Vodafone suffers from congestion on in rural areas, where many users share a single 10 MHz channel. In contrast, NOS uses more Band 3 (1800 MHz) rural cells, giving them better rural speed consistency but lower peak speeds. 3. Fixed Broadband Speeds (FTTH & HFC) 3.1 Fiber (FTTH) – Vodafone’s strength Vodafone Portugal operates a fully owned FTTH network covering ~4.8 million homes (55% of Portuguese households), plus wholesale access from MEO in some regions.