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We join ASDA Mobile on a SIM only bundle to test their 4G/5G coverage, speeds, customer service and benefits for real. Here's what we found. Lastupdated:3rdJuly2023.
How good is ASDA’s mobile network?
ASDA provide great coverage via Vodafone’s network
✔ Identical coverage to being on VodafoneUse coverage checker
at mobile.asda.com
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ASDAMobile piggyback off Vodafone’s network for signal, meaning when you join them, you’ll get signal in the same areas as Vodafone, with the same signal strength. We’ve confirmed this in our real life tests.
We tested our ASDA SIM against our Vodafone SIM in the exact same phone. Our tests showed no built-in coverage differences between the two (unless you’re on an ASDA plan without 5G). So what does that mean?
We set up a test to see if there were any differences in coverage being on ASDA vs being on Vodafone. To do this we put an ASDA SIM and a Vodafone SIM in a dual-SIM phone and tested them in the same locations.
No matter where we were we got the same number of signal bars on ASDA as on Vodafone. There was no evidence of any built-in handicaps on ASDA (which you sometimes get on smaller networks):
You can get 4G in some surprisingly rural areas on Vodafone, which you’ll also get with your ASDA SIM. However, data speeds and signal quality will be weaker in these areas.
ASDA’s indoor signal is usually good as well and in our tests we got signal throughout the house. But signal might suffer indoors if your nearest mast is obstructed, so use their coverage checkers before joining.
If you want widespread call signal then you’ll like ASDA. They use the joint-largest network for covering the UK’s landmass for call signal and provide it in the majority of places where people actually live.
They’re only behind EE (and the providers that use them) for 4G data signal (see 5G below). You’ll get 4G almost anywhere in urban areas and their rural 4G coverage is strong. But still, it’s worth checking coverage in your area.
Useful link: Check your ASDAMobile coverage now
5G is a strength but only comes on premium plans
ASDA Mobile get you access to Vodafone’s expanding 5G network, but only on certain plans. Their cheapest plans are 4G-only, while plans that are £10 or over generally get you access to 5G.
You can only get full speed 5G on these SIM only deals on ASDAMobile:
You’ll currently get 5G in 141+ UK towns and cities on ASDA. And while coverage is still on a street-by-street basis, they’re usually quite good at covering these locations for 5G.
Opensignal and Speedtest put typical speeds on ASDA between 105.2Mbps - 146.01Mbps, with peak speeds of 322.91Mbps. But bear in mind their unlimited data plans are speed capped.
We wanted to see if Opensignal’s report reflected the sorts of speeds you’d get in real life and to see if ASDA were any faster or slower than Vodafone. We tested speeds in different rural and urban locations.
Over 5G, we were actually able to go past the speed cap, but the average seemed to always level out to 150Mbps:
This speed cap was the only difference being on ASDA against being on Vodafone. We got faster 5G on a consistent basis with Vodafone:
It is worth noting that ASDA provide 5G abroad, which is something very few networks do. This can be handy if you can get it, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that most plans don’t get you the full 5G experience.
Useful link: Best networks for 5G coverage and speeds
Our coverage rating:
★★★★☆ (excellent)
Rank:
Joint 2nd
Not as good as:
EE
Better than:
Three
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4G speeds can be impressively fast or disappointingly slow
You might think you’d get inferior speeds on ASDA vs being on Vodafone directly because of ASDA’s budget prices. However, when it comes to 4G speeds we found no built-in speed differences between them.
According to independent network tests Opensignal you’ll get typical speeds of around 21.2 Mbps. They measure this using millions of volunteer phones up and down the country.
That’s similar sorts of speeds to what you’d get with mid-range home fibre broadband. Streaming HD video should go smoothly, without buffering. However, speeds depend highly on where you use your SIM.
With 4G we were getting the same speeds in the same locations with both networks. You can also sometimes get 4G+ on ASDA with speeds over 100Mbps:
But in the sticks we got speeds as low as 5 Mbps over 4G, which is slower than what you’d get on most other networks in the countryside. There’s a huge difference between rural and urban 4G speeds on ASDA.
Overall we can see how the speed results average out to get Opensignal’s results. If you’re rural based, then you might find ASDA a bit sluggish, but it’s still faster than being bumped down to 3G speeds.
While they are the third slowest for typical 4G speeds, they actually have the second fastest 4G speeds in urban areas (behind only EE). The speeds you get on ASDA depend highly on where you’re using your phone.
Useful link: ASDA’s guide to their speed caps
Our data speeds rating:
★★★★☆ (excellent)
Rank:
Joint 2nd
Not as good as:
EE
Better than:
Three (just) and O2
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ASDA’s WiFi/4G calling is a nice feature
ASDA provide excellent indoor signal via Vodafone’s network, but you may still run into blackspots at home if there’s any obstructions between you and the nearest mast. This is where WiFi calling is useful.
This lets you make/receive calls and send/receive SMS messages over WiFi or 4G signal if you can’t get conventional call signal. And ASDA include it on every plan at no extra cost.
Since you can call over WiFi or Vodafone’s excellent 4G and call signal, total blackspots are rare, short of being somewhere unusual. We still need to test ASDA’s WiFi calling in real life and we’ll update this bit when we do.
They share the same list of supported devices as Vodafone, meaning you might struggle to get it to work on older models, especially Android models. But if it does work then it’s a great feature.
Useful link: Guide to the best networks with WiFi calling
Our extra features rating:
★★★☆☆ (TBC)
Rank:
3rd
Not as good as:
Three, 1pMobile, EE, SMARTY, iD Mobile
Same as:
Vodafone, VOXI, Lebara
ASDA are a bit light on extra network features
✔ More info on their websiteRead FAQs
at mobile.asda.com
(opens in new window)
ASDA allow tethering on every deal. This lets you connect other devices to your phone’s data signal. There are no limits to how much of your data allowance you can use for this, even on their unlimited data plans.
You don’t get any free WiFi hotspots on ASDAMobile. These usually come in handy for saving you data on the go and staying connected in places you wouldn’t normally get signal, but ASDA offer none.
Call forwarding is not supported on ASDA either. Usually, this lets you divert incoming calls to another number but ASDA don’t let you do this.
ASDA also don’t offer visual voicemail, which is an iPhone feature that lets you sort through your voicemails one by one. Not many networks actually offer this, so it’s no surprise that ASDA don’t either.
Finally, ASDA don’t offer eSIMs yet. To be fair it’s mostly just the bigger UK networks that offer these right now, but we could see smaller networks like ASDA getting access to these sometime in the future.
Useful link: Our guide to the best networks for WiFi hotspots
Our extra features rating:
★★★☆☆ (TBC)
Rank:
3rd
Not as good as:
Three, 1pMobile, EE, SMARTY, iD Mobile
Same as:
Vodafone, VOXI, Lebara
Compare deals >
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