How fast is the Kogan Mobile network?

How fast is the Telstra wholesale 3G network used by Kogan Mobile?
Kogan Mobile uses the Telstra wholesale 3G network, but how fast are data speeds?

Kogan Mobile uses the Telstra wholesale 3G network, but how fast are data speeds?

Australian online store Kogan officially launched its own pre-paid mobile phone service yesterday called Kogan Mobile. It offers extremely competitive and cheap prices on pre-paid plans, but how fast are data speeds?

The big news from the Kogan Mobile launch was the fact that the company is the first MVNO in Australia to use the Telstra network. Well, at least "part of it". Most current low cost MVNO's in Australia, such as Red Bull Mobile, Amaysim and Live Connected, use either the Optus or Vodafone networks.

According to Kogan, it is the first provider to use Telstra's wholesale 3G network but this network is capped below the regular speeds of Telstra's 'Next G' network. Here's Kogan Mobile's official details, taken straight from the company's Web site.

Kogan Mobile's service, using part of Telstra's Mobile Network -

• provides a 3G coverage footprint of 97% of the Australian Population covering more than 960,000 square kilometres

• has a typical download speed of 550kbps-3Mbps and upload speed of 300kbps-1Mbps (peak network download speed of 7.2Mbps)

• supports these typical download speeds across the entire Kogan Mobile 3G coverage footprint not just selected metropolitan areas

• has extensive breadth and depth of coverage and support by a quality network. Kogan Mobile is underpinned by over 6,600 3G 850MHz sites

On the other hand, typical Telstra 'Next G' download speeds range from a faster 1.1Mbps to 20Mbps and cover 99 per cent of the Australian population, more than Kogan.

So, with all these details in mind how fast is Kogan Mobile and the Telstra wholesale 3G network? We just received and activated a new Kogan Mobile SIM card and decided to run a few speed tests to find out.

Although we haven't undertaken any extensive testing yet, here's our initial results. All speed tests were recorded in North Sydney, with a full coverage indicator.

The results of some speed tests we ran on the Kogan Mobile network.The results of some speed tests we ran on the Kogan Mobile network.

As you can see above, download speeds on the Kogan Mobile network varied from a low of 4.99 megabits per second (Mbps) to a high of 6.57Mbps, while upload speeds ranged from just 1.24Mbps up to 3.48Mbps.

We ran the same tests in the same location at the same time on Telstra's Next G network and the results weren't surprising. The regular Telstra 3G network was often over twice as fast as Kogan Mobile during our tests. It produced download speeds of between 15.93Mbps and 20.15Mbps. However, upload speeds were very similar.

Are you planning to use the Kogan Mobile pre-paid service? Are the data speeds recorded in our tests fast enough to you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Related content

• Kogan officially enters Australian mobile provider market
• Kogan to launch pre-paid mobile service through Telstra?
• Red Bull targeting data hungry smartphone users with new unlimited plan
• Kogan facing iPhone 5 backlash after shipping delays
• Kogan will sell you a grey import iPhone 5 cheaper than Apple

Register now for the ARN Security Forum 2013 on June 4 at the Sydney Mint

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Comments

Jason

1

Now do it outside the Sydney CBD in a regional and rural area and tell me what speed you get?

Dazza

2

Why is ARN and other media outlets so fixated on what Kogan does? There are many interesting technology providers out there with a far more sophisticated business strategy than "selling stuff cheap".

HH

3

Jason, as you probably know, there is hardly any 4G coverage at all in rural and regional areas, not even in our densly populated mid north coast of NSW. Hence, the speed of the Kogan SIM will probably be identical with the most expensive Telstra plan, just many orders of magnitude better value

Jonny

4

I am a Telstra NextG customer in Adelaide and the fastest download speed I have seen is still in the single digits.
I have purchased a Kogan SIM for my iPad and can't wait to see if the speeds compare well here too.

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Tags: Kogan Mobile, kogan, MVNO, Telstra 3G, telstra wholesale, pre-paid mobile, Telstra
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