Vietnam Internet Speed: What to Expect on a Trip

You plan to work from a hotel in Da Nang, or call home from Hanoi, and you want to know if the connection will hold. Good news first. Vietnam internet speed is high by world standards.

Ookla's Speedtest Global Index for August 2026 put Vietnam's median mobile download at 219.93 Mbps, ninth in the world. Fixed broadband, the line behind most hotel Wi-Fi, reached 301.48 Mbps, eighth in the world. Viettel, Vinaphone, and MobiFone all run 5G.

A national number is not a promise for your phone, though. Opensignal found that 5G phones on 5G plans spent only 10% to 14% of their time on 5G in spring 2026. And when undersea cables fail, foreign sites can crawl while Vietnamese sites stay fast. Plan around 4G and you will be fine.

In short:

  • Ookla, August 2026: 219.93 Mbps down, 40.45 up, 19 ms latency. A year earlier the download figure was 150.01.
  • Vinaphone is fastest on 5G. Viettel has the widest coverage: nPerf found 4G in 97% of the places its users go and 5G in 53%.
  • Apple lists 5G for iPhone 12 and later on all three carriers.
  • 4G is plenty for maps, ride apps, and video calls. Moosetrip's Vietnam eSIM starts at $4.50 for 1 GB over 7 days, on 2026-10-30. We do not promise 5G on it.
Vietnam eSIM from $4.50Install at home, connect when you land.See plans

Moosetrip sells eSIMs, so keep that in mind as you read. We have not tested these networks ourselves. The figures come from Ookla, Opensignal, nPerf, and Vietnam's internet center, based on tests run by ordinary users.

What the Ookla numbers show

Ookla builds its index from user speed tests over three months. The August 2026 edition covers June through August.

The climb was bumpy. The median fell to 151.78 Mbps and 29th place in the March edition, then rose to 205.58 and 10th in July. Upload went from 33.27 to 40.45 Mbps over the year. Latency stayed near 18 to 19 ms.

5G is behind the gain. In the first quarter of 2026, Ookla measured a 5G median of 392.70 Mbps against 55.96 on 4G, about seven times less. Among the 10 Asian markets in that report, Vietnam ranked second on 5G behind South Korea. The share of tests on 5G rose from 44.1% to 58.9% in a year.

Which carrier in Vietnam is fastest

Speeds below are download and upload in Mbps. Ookla reports medians. Opensignal and nPerf report averages. So compare carriers within one row, not across rows.

Source and periodViettelVinaphoneMobiFone
Ookla, 5G, Jan to Mar 2026382.13 / 52.24483.39 / 42.66314.34 / 36.34
Opensignal, 5G, Apr to Jun 2026247.5 / 26.3339.2 / 29.4320.0 / 31.9
nPerf, all networks, Apr 2025 to Mar 202676.48 / 19.8886.24 / 22.7587.27 / 21.11
Opensignal, all networks, Apr to Jun 202656.7 / 14.454.6 / 14.955.4 / 15.5

Vinaphone led on 5G download in all three sources. nPerf also ranked it the top network for the fifth year running. Ookla named it the best 5G network of the second half of 2025, with a score of 83.60 against 81.03 for MobiFone and 80.79 for Viettel.

Viettel is steadier. In Opensignal's tests, its network was good enough for a video call and photo uploads without clear delay in 78.8% of cases. MobiFone reached 77.4% and Vinaphone 68.6%. Viettel also had the best 5G upload on Ookla and the lowest 5G latency on nPerf, at 38.17 ms.

MobiFone had the highest average download on nPerf, though its latency was the worst of the three at 56.74 ms.

Across all networks, Opensignal's averages sit within 2.1 Mbps of each other. Speed will not decide this for most travelers. Coverage will. nPerf found 4G in 97% of the places Viettel users go, 91% for Vinaphone, and 89% for MobiFone.

Is there 5G in Vietnam?

Yes, on all three big carriers.

ViettelVinaphoneMobiFone
5G launchOctober 2024December 2024March 2025
5G frequencies2500 to 2600 MHz3700 to 3800 MHz3800 to 3900 MHz
Places with 5G, nPerf, Sep 2025 to Aug 202653.46%29.11%25.95%
Weighted by population74.32%49.38%50.04%
Time on 5G, Opensignal, Apr to Jun 202613.7%9.9%10.7%

Vietnam's telecom department said that by the end of March 2026, 5G covered 91.9% of the population, with more than 40,000 stations and over 22.4 million subscribers.

Big cities do better than the national time-on-5G figures suggest. Ookla's second-quarter 2026 report counted the share of 5G phone owners who spent most of their time on 5G: 66% in Ho Chi Minh City, 64% in Hanoi, and 53% in Da Nang.

Will your phone get 5G in Vietnam?

iPhones are simple. Apple's carrier page, dated September 14, 2026, lists 5G on iPhone 12 and later for Viettel, Vinaphone, and MobiFone.

On Android, look up your model's 5G bands. Under the 3GPP standard, Viettel's frequencies fall in band n41, Vinaphone's in n78 and n77, and MobiFone's only in n77.

Two checks matter more than 5G before you fly. Your phone must support eSIM and be unlocked. Our phone checker helps with the first. Your carrier can confirm the second.

Vietnam internet speed by city

Median mobile download in Mbps, from Ookla and from VNNIC, Vietnam's internet center. VNNIC collects user tests by province, and its monthly numbers jump around. Viettel in Khanh Hoa ranged from 316 to 631 Mbps over a year.

CityOokla, Apr to Jun 2026, all carriersVNNIC, Sep 2026, Viettel only
Da Nang215.56501.43
Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa province)Not reported333.88
Ho Chi Minh City115.21189.09
Hanoi142.55170.80
Vietnam overall156.48119.49

Da Nang leads here. On Ookla, 95.7% of its 5G tests beat 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up, the best result among 13 Southeast Asian cities and resorts. Its median still fell 17.7% in a year, as 41% more 5G phones joined the network and used up spare capacity.

Hanoi gained 61% over the year. Ho Chi Minh City landed below the national median at 115.21 Mbps against 156.48. That is still fast enough for anything a traveler does on a phone.

Beach towns and islands get less attention from these reports. nPerf's regional data helps. Along the central coast from Hue to Nha Trang, 4G reached 97% of places on Viettel, 92% on Vinaphone, and 84% on MobiFone. In the Mekong Delta, which includes Phu Quoc, Viettel showed 5G in 56% of places and Vinaphone in 23%.

The signal drops in the northern mountains, where MobiFone's 4G reached 77% of places and Vinaphone's 82%, against 94% for Viettel. Going to Sapa or Ha Giang? Weigh that more than any speed figure. Spot-by-spot detail is in our guides to Phu Quoc and Nha Trang.

Why hotel Wi-Fi can be slower

A fast fixed line does not mean fast Wi-Fi in your room. Ookla found that about 22% of Wi-Fi connections in Hanoi and Da Nang in the second quarter of 2026 ran through older Wi-Fi 4 routers. A newer phone on one of those routers drops to Wi-Fi 4 speeds.

If you need to work, ask the hotel about Wi-Fi in your room before you book. Keep mobile data as your backup.

Why foreign sites can slow down in Vietnam

Vietnam reaches the world through undersea cables, and they break often. On August 25, 2026, the SJC2 and AAE-1 cables failed almost at once, while AAG and IA also had faults. That left four of Vietnam's eight cables with problems. One provider said up to 30% of international traffic could be hit.

During that outage, VOV reported that foreign social media, video, and games could slow down at peak hours, while Vietnamese services worked as usual. There have been almost 40 cable incidents since 2022, so it is worth planning for.

  • Download offline maps, tickets, and bookings before you leave the hotel Wi-Fi.
  • Book long video calls outside peak time. nPerf treats 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. as peak.
  • If a foreign site stalls, open a Vietnamese one. If it loads fast, your connection is fine and the slowdown is on the international link.

Is 4G enough, and how much data do you need?

Yes. Ookla's 4G median of 55.96 Mbps leaves plenty of room for maps, ride apps, and video calls.

Our cautious rule: 1 GB gives you about 5 hours of maps and taxi apps, or about 1.5 hours of video calls. If you stream video, save it for Wi-Fi.

Moosetrip Vietnam planValid forPrice on 2026-10-30
1 GB7 days$4.50
3 GB30 days$9.50
5 GB30 days$14
10 GB30 days$24
20 GB30 days$42

The eSIM is data only. You install it at home over Wi-Fi with a QR code, and your days start with your first connection in Vietnam. Your regular number stays on as a second line. If you run low, you can add data to the same eSIM. Plans are on the Vietnam page.

Do you need one at all? If your US plan already includes data in Vietnam, maybe not. Check your plan first. Local options are compared in our Vietnam internet guide.

Questions

What is the average internet speed in Vietnam?

On Ookla's August 2026 index, the median mobile speed was 219.93 Mbps down and 40.45 up, ninth in the world. Fixed broadband was 301.48 Mbps, eighth in the world.

Does Vietnam have 5G?

Yes. Viettel launched in October 2024, Vinaphone in December 2024, and MobiFone in March 2025. Coverage reached 91.9% of the population by the end of March 2026, but expect 4G in the mountains and in much of the Mekong Delta.

Which carrier is fastest in Vietnam?

Vinaphone on 5G: 483.39 Mbps on Ookla for the first quarter of 2026, against 382.13 for Viettel and 314.34 for MobiFone. Across all networks the three are nearly equal, and Viettel has the widest 4G and 5G coverage.

Will my iPhone work on 5G in Vietnam?

Apple lists 5G on iPhone 12 and later for all three carriers. On a travel eSIM, plan on 4G. We do not promise 5G on ours.

Why are websites slow in Vietnam?

Often it is the undersea cables. In late August 2026, four of eight cables had faults, and foreign social media, video, and games could slow down at peak hours while Vietnamese sites worked normally.

Is the internet in Vietnam good enough for remote work?

For most work, yes. Mobile speeds are high in Da Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. The weak spots are old hotel routers and cable outages, so keep mobile data as a backup and avoid peak hours for long calls.

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