Internet Speed Test: 4G / LTE, and WiFi – Who Wins?
Wi-Fi is not always faster than mobile data. On paper both Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular reach hundreds of megabits per second or more, but in practice the less crowded network wins: a Wi-Fi network is shared with everyone else in the building, and a cellular connection with everyone else on the tower.
Speedify is an app for your phone, computer or tablet that uses Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular at the same time, so their speeds add together and you no longer have to choose. Below: what decides which connection is faster, what phone makers do about it, and how to use both at once. For wired versus wireless, see Ethernet vs. Wi-Fi compared.
Speedify combines every connection you have into one faster, steadier one
How do I use WiFi and 4G/5G cellular at the same time with Speedify?
Pick your two internet connections and your device below and we'll take you to the step-by-step setup guide.
Wi-Fi vs. Mobile Data Speed: Four Factors That Decide Which Is Faster
Apart from the obvious technology differences, four factors decide the speed you actually get from a Wi-Fi or 4G LTE connection:
- infrastructure: does it support the new technologies? Is it constantly being updated? How many simultaneous connections does it support?
- coverage: are there enough hotspots / cell towers to get good coverage?
- interference: from buildings, walls, other wireless equipment, etc.
- client usage: static or moving around? How many people are connected to the same hotspot or cell tower?
For example, say you commute to work by bus. You can connect to the bus Wi-Fi network, like every other passenger, or use your 4G LTE connection. On the move, your cellular connection will most likely be faster, because every passenger on the bus Wi-Fi takes a slice of its bandwidth.
At home, on a good router with few people connected, Wi-Fi is usually the faster of the two. On a crowded hotspot, a bus or a train, or far from the router, 4G/5G cellular often wins.
When Mobile Data Is Faster Than Wi-Fi: Crowded and Sticky Hotspots
A 2018 OpenSignal study [PDF] found that mobile networks are killing Wi-Fi for speed in at least 33 countries. That raises a fair question: why does a smartphone automatically assume a Wi-Fi network is faster than its 4G/5G cellular connection?
Wi-Fi is often slower than mobile data when your phone holds on to a bad (slow or broken) Wi-Fi hotspot instead of switching to 4G/5G cellular, a problem known as sticky WiFi.
WiFi vs Mobile Data Speed: What Smartphone Manufacturers Are Doing
Phone manufacturers keep trying to make phones smarter at managing connections. Features like iPhone’s WiFi Assist or Samsung’s Adaptive WiFi try to solve the problem, but they only switch between connections when hitting certain transfer or latency thresholds; neither uses both at once.
Picking whichever of Wi-Fi or mobile data is faster at the moment still leaves you on one connection. To get the fastest speed in any situation, use both at once: Speedify combines Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular into one connection.
Speedify Uses Wi-Fi and Mobile Data at the Same Time for Speed and Failover
Speedify is an app that combines Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, Ethernet, Starlink and satellite internet connections at the same time on your computer or phone, and encrypts your traffic like a VPN. Traffic is split per packet across every connection (see how combining internet connections works), so you can combine connections at once instead of picking one.
Install Speedify, then turn on both Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular on your phone (Mobile data on Android, Cellular on iPhone). Speedify uses both connections at once to give you the best speed and reliability for what you are doing.
Real world situation: if the Wi-Fi connection is bad or drops, Speedify will intelligently route traffic through 4G/5G cellular, and when Wi-Fi comes back, Speedify starts using it again.
Because Speedify encrypts traffic like a VPN, it also protects your private data from hackers and snoops. Everything is encrypted, and Speedify keeps no record of the sites you visit.
You do not have to choose between Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular for speed: Speedify uses both and combines their bandwidth. Download Speedify and create a free account to get 5 GB per month free on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
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Speedify combines Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, Ethernet, Starlink and satellite into one faster, more reliable internet connection. Free to try: 5 GB a month with a free account. No credit card required.
🚀 Speed
Faster uploads and downloads, because Speedify uses all your internet connections at once.
📶 Stability
If one internet connection drops, Speedify moves your traffic to the others in milliseconds.
🔒 Security
AES-256 encryption on every internet connection, on any network you join.
15M+ downloads worldwide. 75K+ five-star reviews on iOS and Android.