The magazine “Connect” has published the current network test 2022. In it, the performance and service of Internet providers in Germany were compared. Which provider is ahead?
Anyone looking for a new landline Internet provider usually wants two things: decent performance and reliability. Connect therefore looks at the offers of the major Internet providers in Germany every year and summarizes their results in the so-called network test. This year there were surprising winners in the 2022 network test, especially among regional providers.
These internet providers have been tested
For 13 years now, Connect and its partner zafaco have been collecting data on internet providers in their investigations. Data is collected in all possible areas, including the quality and reliability of the offers, the data throughput when uploading and downloading, and the use of web services. Connect differentiates between national providers, i.e. those who travel throughout Germany, and regional providers whose offers can only be booked in certain federal states. The following providers are participating in the 2022 network test:
National providers:
- Deutsche Telekom
- 1&1
- O2
- Vodafone
Regional providers:
- German fiberglass
- NetCologne
- M-net
- EWE
- pyr
FYI: Apart from DeutscheGlass fiber, all providers were already part of the Connect 2021 network test.
Also read: Big network test! Which mobile operator has the edge?
The results of the network test 2022
Unsurprisingly, Deutsche Telekom is at the top of the list of fixed-line Internet providers operating throughout Germany. With 932 total points (2021: 914 points), the gap to 1&1, O2 and Vodafone is significantly higher than in the previous year. While Telekom lost a point in the area of voice, i.e. telephony, it was able to increase its previous results in data, crowdsourcing and web services as well as web TV. The company achieved top results in the 2022 network test, especially in the area of downloads and uploads.
Second place is again 1&1 with 916 points. The Montabauer company was also able to improve on a number of points. In 2021 the result was still 912 points. 1&1 lost in the area of voice and web services, but the data connections have improved. Like Telekom, the landline internet provider achieved top download and upload results in the 2022 network test. According to Connect, the web TV offers from 1&1 have also made a good leap forward.
Telefónica/O2 is in third place this year, but was also able to improve from 859 points in 2021 to 910 points – a big leap forward. In terms of data, O2 achieved top results, as did Telekom and 1&1. The company was able to catch up a total of 20 points compared to the previous year. O2 has also improved in the areas of telephony, crowdsourcing and web TV. In the 2022 network test, only slow connection setup times and long voice delays in our own network were noticeable. There were cutbacks for the web services, which Connect rated worse compared to the previous year. Above all, the long buffer times when watching TV and the equally slow gaming pings should be mentioned here.
Both Deutsche Telekom, 1&1 and O2 achieved the result “very good” in the 2022 network test.
Unlike Vodafone – the company had a rather meager total of 785 points in the previous year, but was able to increase it to 808 points. However, the provider does not go beyond a “good”. Vodafone has become significantly worse in the area of voice and data connections, but the provider was able to improve web services. The download rates in particular were often below the contractually agreed values. Vodafone repeatedly had to struggle with overloaded networks, especially during Corona. In addition, there were regular outages, which are partly due to the network expansion that the company is pushing ahead with.
Also read: TV over the Internet – IPTV offers in comparison
The surprise winner German fiber optics
In 2022, German glass fiber will be part of the Connect network test for the first time. And right away, the provider of FTTH fiber optic connections got the highest score. With 939 points, the company even beats Deutsche Telekom, but is unfortunately not represented everywhere in Germany, even if it is quite large overall. Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen are missing on the List of states.
Compared to Telekom, the German fiber optics performs significantly worse when it comes to language. The Connect praises the very good voice quality during phone calls, but finds the connection times to be too long – especially for mobile phone connections. When it comes to data, web services and web TV, German fiber optics is about the same as Telekom. The crowdsourcing results are significantly better, where the glass fiber company is ahead and achieved 17 points more in the 2022 network test.
Incidentally, NetCologne, a regional provider in the Cologne area, is also a point better than Telekom. It scored 932 points in the test, which is mainly due to the very good data and web TV results. Compared to the previous year, NetCologne was able to improve by a total of 10 points. The competitors M-net in the Munich area (2022: 929 points, 2021: 921 points) and EWE (2022: 913 points, 2021: 901 points) also achieved better results this year.
Away from the other regional providers is the cable network operator Pyur, which is also active in Berlin. With 819 points, he comes to the result “good”, but is still 94 points behind EWE, but still 11 points ahead of Vodafone. Pyur showed major weaknesses in data, language and crowdsourcing.
All results at a glance
This is how the Connect tests
The network test by Connect and zafaco is one of the most important comparisons of Internet providers on the market. The test procedure is standardized, the measurements are automated and carried out with connections that customers can book in exactly the same way. For the 2022 network test, the two partners collected over 3.2 million readings between May 9 and June 5, including nightly maintenance windows to minimize errors caused by work on the network.