How fast can you go in the Klang Valley?
TUESDAY, 13 AUGUST 2013 17:19

The Mobile World speed test team is in home ground in this final segment of our extensive expedition to check out real life mobile data speeds across Malaysia. In three previous issues, we reported the results of speed tests that we carried out in our trips to the South, East Coast and the North. The speed test results in JB, Penang and Kuantan showed that data speeds have improved across the board in all three regions compared to our earlier speed tests in 2011. Fast 3G speeds are the norm rather than the exception in the 2013 edition of the Mobile World Speed Tests. But the same results also confirmed that one thing remains unchanged: Maxis is still the undisputed king of speed whether in the South, North or in the East Coast.

Still, the Klang Valley is where it really matters. Klang Valley residents have got to be among the most connected people on earth. Malaysia shows up regularly in lists of countries where top apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are popular. We apparently spend an above average amount of time on social media as well as sites such as YouTube. Even on the list of Waze users, Malaysians rank very high up there. The bulk of these connected Malaysians are to be found in the Klang Valley. There must be something like a million to two million smartphone users in the Klang Valley. To every one of them fast mobile data speed has become a necessity.

This fact raised the stakes in our Klang Valley speed test. The winner can justifiably market itself as the mobile service provider one should choose if speed and stability is a prime consideration. What made it even more interesting is the fact that LTE services have been switched on in many areas in the Klang Valley. That being the case, and in keeping with our premise of determining real life data speeds, we decided to use LTE enabled phones where possible. By now, large numbers of mobile users in the Klang Valley have experienced what an LTE experience feels like as LTE enabled phones have sold well here. We discovered that LTE enabled phones can get speeds of up to 45 Mbps in the Klang Valley with only one caveat: they had to be on the right network. Which one, you ask? Read on and find out who is the Speed King of the Klang Valley.



The results

On second thoughts, let us not drag the suspense any longer. Maxis mobile broadband subscribers in the Klang Valley are getting blistering speeds on their mobile devices. In the five locations that we carried out the tests using dongles or MiFi devices, Maxis users could get speeds between 23 Mbps and 45 Mbps in four of those locations. Maxis subscribers in SS2 are probably the most satisfied mobile users in the whole country; our speed test showed 45 Mbps there. Maxis smartphones users are one happy bunch too. We got speeds between 12 Mbps and 22 Mbps at most of the locations.

Celcom registered decent speeds too at most locations though not as high as Maxis in most places. On the mobile broadband side, most locations registered speeds of around 8 and 10 Mbps. We did get above 20 Mbps speed in the Cyberjaya location but that result was not replicated in other locations. Speed tests on smartphones were also in the same range.

DiGi and U Mobile were left trailing in the Klang Valley. If we could use the analogy of an actual F1 race, both DiGi and U Mobile would have been lapped a few times by Maxis.



Overall Speed King

Maxis swept the Klang Valley just like how it won in the other three areas. Looking back at the results in JB, Penang, Kuantan and Klang Valley, we found that Maxis was consistently ahead of the rest. In some areas, the margins were narrow but in other locations, Maxis was miles ahead. Our speed tests confirmed that Maxis remains the speediest mobile operator across the nation. Till the next time we organise nationwide speedtests, Maxis can be crowned Mobile World Speed King of Malaysia.