A new report from insights company Ookla has revealed that Adelaide has the fastest mobile download speeds in Australia.
Adelaide recorded a median mobile download speed of 155.65Mbps. Brisbane followed on 147.34Mbps and Perth came in third at 132.74Mbps.
| City | Download Speed (Mbps) |
|---|---|
| Adelaide | 155.65 Mbps |
| Brisbane | 147.34 Mbps |
| Perth | 132.74 Mbps |
| Sydney | 132.02 Mbps |
| Melbourne | 129.23 Mbps |
| Newcastle | 126.66 Mbps |
| Canberra | 124.73 Mbps |
| Gold Coast | 118.83 Mbps |
| Central Coast | 118.61 Mbps |
| Sunshine Coast | 111.89 Mbps |
Mobile networks aren't designed to prioritise performance in one city over another speeds vary due to the available amount of spectrum and number of people on the network at one time.
A Vodafone spokesperson told WhistleOut, "Mobile speeds can be impacted by how busy the network is at the time. If you’ve got similar capacity but fewer people online, your download speeds might increase. It’s a bit like driving on a highway with fewer cars on the road - traffic moves faster, and there's less congestion."
Looking at the Australia regionally, South Australia led again with a median download speed of 127.72Mbps.
Here's how the rest of the regions performed:
| Region | Download Speed (Mbps) |
|---|---|
| SA | 127.72 Mbps |
| ACT | 126.15 Mbps |
| VIC | 118.75 Mbps |
| QLD | 117.51 Mbps |
| NSW | 114.97 Mbps |
| WA | 109.03 Mbps |
| TAS | 98.86 Mbps |
| NT | 72.01 Mbps |
| Jervis Bay | 59.86 Mbps |
The report also looked at network performance based on Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data. Optus came first for best mobile network with a Speed Connectivity Score of 77.59, followed by Telstra (77.05) and Vodafone (76.09).
It was the same story when just looking at the fastest network with Optus, recording median download speeds of 124.34Mbps.
An Optus spokesperson told WhistleOut, "We welcome Ookla’s findings, that Optus is Australia’s best mobile network and the country’s leading 5G provider.”
Optus led again on Gaming Experience, while the rest of the results shook things up with Telstra leading on network consistency and Vodafone taking the number one spot for Video Experience. No provider took the top spot for Consumer Sentiment or Best 5G Availability, as there wasn't a statistically significant difference between the three network providers.
Here are the cheapest mobile plans with at least 20GB of data across each network:
Data for Ookla's report was collected between July and December 2025. View the full Speed Test Connectivity report for full breakdowns and to see the methodology behind the results.
Ookla's report also revealed which telco has the fastest internet speeds in Australia.
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Dylan Crismale
Digital Content Editor
Thousands of internet plans unpacked. All the facts. No surprises.
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