The IT Nerd

So since switching to Freedom Mobile, I’ve had the chance to do some basic speed testing of their 5G speeds. But before getting to what speeds I got, let me throw this out there. I wrote this some time ago about the fact that up to a certain point, the speed that you have doesn’t matter as nothing can really leverage that speed. So all of these telcos who are advertising how fast their mobile speeds are really doesn’t matter because nothing on your phone can leverage this speed. Having said that, I am sure that there’s a certain amount of bragging rights for a telco if they have the fastest speeds around.

Now with that out of the way, here’s what I got during my brief testing of Freedom Mobile’s speeds. This is an example of a speed test result that I got:

To give you some perspective, I got something north of 500 Mbps when I tested my iPhone 14 Pro on TELUS. And I can say that I have seen similar speeds with Rogers and Bell.

I also did testing in a variety of places around Toronto and got speeds as low as 47.9 Mbps downstream in downtown Toronto, and as high as 112 Mbps downstream in Central Etobicoke. And these speeds that I am seeing are more than enough to stream a video or do a video call for example. Pages on the web browser of your choice will load fast as well. Thus I doubt that you’re going to be lacking anything. And keep in mind that Freedom Mobile is in the process of expanding their 5G network over the next two years beyond their current footprint of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and surrounding areas. So while you shouldn’t purchase a product or service based on what might happen in the future, I think it’s safe to say that if I did these tests two years from now, these speeds will be faster. How much faster is still an open question though.

Finally, let me touch on coverage briefly as I am going to go down that rabbit hole after I have had a chance to do more testing. Freedom Mobile has its own 5G and 4G LTE networks. But while that coverage is in areas like the Greater Toronto Area, most of the Golden Horseshoe, and in a lot of places like Barrie, Kitchener, and the like, is still being built out for the most part. For example Peterborough and Ottawa for example have 4G LTE service only. Meanwhile Toronto and Barrie for example have 5G service. For everywhere else that isn’t covered by Freedom Mobile 5G or 4G LTE networks, the company relies on their “nationwide” network which means that Freedom Mobile customers roam onto Bell, or Rogers. You can get a look at Freedom Mobile’s coverage here. But it pays to check what their coverage in relation to where you tend to go is before you sign up to see if it will meet your needs.

So why does coverage matter? If you’re in a 5G area like I am, you’re more likely to get faster speeds than you would in a 4G LTE area, or on their “nationwide” network. But that remains to be tested. Which I will be doing over the next few days. Stay tuned for that.

This entry was posted on December 30, 2023 at 9:03 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Freedom Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.