Telekom, Vodafone and O2 at Warentest: Which Internet provider really delivers?

Fast line – right?
Many internet lines are slower than advertised – Warentest reveals who really delivers

If you believe the advertising, every internet connection is incredibly fast. According to Stiftung Warentest, things look different in practice. The current test reveals who can keep their promises – and what you should really pay attention to.

For years, internet providers have been outdoing each other with promises about how fast the internet can be at home. The important addition is often “up to” – because only a fraction of customers receive the full service. A new comparison from Stiftung Warentest now shows what you should pay attention to in detail.

The evaluation is based on over 300,000 measurements from the Federal Network Agency (BnetzA), which were made available to the product testers. The data paints an unpleasant picture of the providers tested: “None of them reliably delivered even three quarters of the maximum speed promised in the tariff,” according to Warentest. Vodafone was tested, Telekom, 1&1 and O2 as well as six local providers.

Stiftung Warentest: These providers really deliver

The three quarters of the maximum speed were defined as a benchmark in order to have a comparison value alongside the top speed. Why this makes sense can be seen when you look at specific figures: Telekom delivered the standard speed defined in this way in 68 percent of cases – but only around 40 percent of customers received real full performance. Vodafone, on the other hand, was more convincing: 73 percent of customers received the standard value, and 58 percent of customers even received the full service.

1&1 was also convincing: at 72 percent, almost three quarters of customers achieved standard performance, and 46 percent had maximum speed. At the bottom is O2: The standard could only be achieved in 57 percent of the measurements, and full speed was only achieved in 39 percent.

The fact that Warentest does not want to award real ratings is due to two factors. On the one hand, it is only a cross-section of the measurements; the actual performance at a specific location can vary greatly. On the other hand, there is still a noticeable gap between town and country: At Telekom, city customers surf at top speed almost as often as rural customers only reach the standard value. The evaluation should therefore be understood as a guideline, says Warentest.

“Normal performance” of the Internet line: The devil is in the details

But there is still a very specific tip for customers: According to the product testers, the so-called normal performance is usually more exciting than the full-bodied promise. While the maximum speed is a theoretically achievable value, the normal performance is what customers can actually expect. The value is not used for advertising, notes Warentest, but it must be noted in the small print.

This means: If you are looking for a new tariff, the normal performance is actually the more meaningful information. Normal performance is usually 85-90 percent of peak performance, but can be as low as 60 percent for slower tariffs. The clear advice: “Ask about it before you sign the contract.”

You can find the complete test for a fee at test.de.