From the 33.6kbps of a dial-up modem to the 2Gbps of a 5G FWA router - a twenty-five year arc of mobile data speeds. This guide covers every generation with real-world figures, latency data and UK context.
Theoretical peak speeds from standards bodies rarely match what users experience. The figures below show both - the ceiling set by the standard and the real-world range a UK user would typically see on a well-maintained network.
| Generation / Standard | Peak Theoretical | UK Typical Download | UK Typical Upload | Latency | Era |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPRS (2.5G) | 115 Kbps | 20-40 Kbps | 10-20 Kbps | 500-700ms | 2001-2007 |
| EDGE (2.75G) | 384 Kbps | 100-200 Kbps | 50-100 Kbps | 200-400ms | 2003-2010 |
| UMTS 3G | 2 Mbps | 0.3-1 Mbps | 0.1-0.3 Mbps | 100-200ms | 2003-2009 |
| HSDPA (3G Cat 8) | 7.2 Mbps | 2-4 Mbps | 0.5-1 Mbps | 60-120ms | 2006-2012 - GlobeSurfer III |
| HSPA+ (3.75G Cat 14) | 21.1 Mbps | 5-12 Mbps | 1-3 Mbps | 40-80ms | 2009-2016 - GlobeSurfer III+ |
| HSPA+ DC (Cat 24) | 42.2 Mbps | 10-25 Mbps | 2-5 Mbps | 40-70ms | 2011-2016 |
| LTE Cat 3 (4G) | 100 Mbps | 15-40 Mbps | 5-15 Mbps | 25-50ms | 2012-2015 |
| LTE Cat 4 | 150 Mbps | 20-60 Mbps | 5-20 Mbps | 20-40ms | 2013-current |
| LTE Cat 6 (2CA) | 300 Mbps | 40-120 Mbps | 10-30 Mbps | 15-30ms | 2015-current |
| LTE Cat 12/16 (3-4CA) | 600-979 Mbps | 80-300 Mbps | 20-50 Mbps | 15-25ms | 2017-current |
| 5G NR Sub-6 (NSA) | 1 Gbps | 100-400 Mbps | 30-100 Mbps | 10-20ms | 2019-current |
| 5G NR Sub-6 (SA FWA) | 2 Gbps | 200-600 Mbps | 50-200 Mbps | 5-15ms | 2022-current |
| 5G mmWave | 4+ Gbps | 1-2 Gbps | 200-500 Mbps | 2-5ms | Limited UK deploy |
Peak theoretical speeds assume perfect signal conditions, no congestion, and a device using all supported carrier aggregation combinations. Nobody gets these speeds consistently in real use. Real-world figures depend on: distance from the cell tower, number of users sharing the cell, building materials attenuating signal, and which frequency bands are in use.
For outdoor deployments with a directional antenna, you can get close to theoretical. For indoor use through walls with a standard device, expect 30-50% of theoretical in good conditions.
Raw throughput (Mbps) gets all the headlines, but latency - the round-trip time for a packet - determines how responsive a connection feels. A 50Mbps connection with 200ms latency (like early 3G) feels sluggish for browsing, voice calls and gaming. A 50Mbps connection with 20ms latency (LTE) feels snappy for everything except the most latency-sensitive applications.
5G SA targets sub-10ms latency as a baseline. For FWA applications, this means genuinely fibre-competitive performance - not just on throughput but on the user experience of using the connection.
| ADSL (copper) | 5-15 Mbps / 0.5-1 Mbps up |
| ADSL2+ (copper) | 10-24 Mbps / 1 Mbps up |
| FTTC / VDSL2 | 40-80 Mbps / 10-20 Mbps up |
| FTTP (entry) | 100-300 Mbps symmetric |
| FTTP (full fibre) | 1 Gbps symmetric |
| 5G FWA (Sub-6) | 200-600 Mbps / 50-200 Mbps up |
5G FWA now competes directly with FTTC and entry-level FTTP on speed. For most users, the bottleneck is not the access technology but Wi-Fi within the home.
The GlobeSurfer III (7.2Mbps) in 2007 was faster than the average UK broadband connection. By 2024, that speed is adequate only for basic single-user use. The GlobeSurfer III+ (21Mbps) remains workable for standard HD streaming and browsing. For anything more, 4G LTE or 5G FWA is the answer.
The SIM card affects which network and which frequency bands your router can access. For maximum 4G/5G speed in the UK, a multi-network SIM that connects to the highest-speed available signal is often better than a single-operator SIM. See multinetworksim.com and roamingsims.co.uk. For dedicated 5G FWA SIM options: 5gfwa.co.uk/sim-cards.