Vodafone speeds - how fast is 10Mbps and 100Mbps?

Vodafone handles its smartphone plan speeds differently to some networks. While some give you unrestricted 5G speeds as standard, Vodafone has three different tiers.

There are plans that top out at 100Mbps, unrestricted plans (generally described by Vodafone as ‘uncapped’), and ‘SuperMobile’ plans, which are both uncapped and prioritise your connection.

Until recently, Vodafone also offered 10Mbps plans, and if you’re an existing customer it’s possible you’re on one of these plans.

Below, we’ll explain which of Vodafone’s plans offer which speeds, and what you can actually expect from those speeds.

How fast is 10Mbps?

10Mbps speeds used to be the slowest speeds available on Vodafone. At the time of writing these plans don’t appear to be available anymore, but we’ve included this section for reference in case you’re already on such a plan.

In any case, with 10Mbps speeds you can load a web page almost instantly, download a song in under 4 seconds, and stream video in HD. So these plans are fine for music and video streaming if you don’t need the highest quality, and they’re also ideal for light web browsing and messaging.

The main limitations of 10Mbps speeds are 4K streaming (which is usually unnecessary on a phone anyway) and speedy tethering, especially if you’re connecting more than one device to your phone’s internet.

Of course, while most things will comfortably be useable at speeds of 10Mbps, the experience still won’t be as good in many cases as with unrestricted speeds – websites will load a fraction of a second slower, apps will take longer to download, videos will be displayed in lower quality, and the like.

Note also that with 10Mbps speeds you’re not even getting the full potential of 4G let alone 5G, so if you have a 5G phone it’s arguably worth having higher speeds just so you can properly take advantage of it.

How fast is 100Mbps?

With 100Mbps speeds (available on various Vodafone plans), you can comfortably do almost anything data related. 100Mbps is towards the low end of 5G speeds, but it’s a lot faster than typical 4G speeds, so you will get some benefit from 5G with this cap.

At this speed you could download a 30MB app in just 2 seconds, so even much larger apps and files shouldn’t take long. You can also load web pages and download songs near instantly.

Streaming video is possible in 4K, and online gaming becomes a lot smoother than at 10Mbps speeds.

100Mbps speeds also makes tethering a lot more viable – especially if you’re connecting multiple devices.

Uncapped speeds

There are uncapped versions of many Vodafone plans, available at a higher price. These place no limits on you, beyond what the network and your phone are capable of. So one of these (or a ‘SuperMobile’ plan, detailed further down) is what you’ll need to make the most of 5G.

How fast these plans actually are will depend in large part on whether you have a 5G phone and what the signal is like in your area, but for the most part everything should be fast, smooth, and easily achievable.

These plans are also ideal for tethering multiple devices, competitive online gaming, and super-fast downloads, and as Vodafone’s network improves, you’ll be able to take full advantage of those improvements.

Depending on your use cases you might not notice much difference between these speeds and 100Mbps – for example, if you’re mostly just web browsing the differences could be almost imperceptible. But everything should still feel just that little bit snappier.

Vodafone SuperMobile

At the very top end there’s what Vodafone calls ‘SuperMobile’, which is a selection of plans that all have the same uncapped speeds as above, but additionally give you access to ‘FastTrack’, which is a dedicated lane on the network that prioritises your connection.

This can come in handy in busy areas where lots of users are trying to get online – your connection will be kept separate to everyone who doesn’t have FastTrack, so there will be less congestion.

The result is potentially higher and more reliable speeds, with Vodafone claiming your speeds can be up to four times higher in high-demand areas, and the network also providing a speed promise of 15Mbps – if it drops below this in an area with 5G Standalone, you’ll be free to leave Vodafone with no penalties.