5G now covers every ASEAN digital nomad hub, but Ookla finds quality margins narrowing

Speedtest Intelligence data from 13 ASEAN digital nomad hubs shows 5G availability climbing in every destination while 5G consistency slipped in seven of them.

5G availability rose across all 13 ASEAN digital nomad hubs measured by Ookla between the second quarter (Q2) 2025 and Q2 2026, but the quality of those 5G connections moved in the opposite direction in seven of them, according to a report the company published recently.

Ookla scores 5G connections against a floor of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, a bar set deliberately high given that the report cites Microsoft's guidance putting HD video calling in Teams at under 1.5 Mbps. The share of 5G samples clearing that floor fell in seven of the 13 destinations over the year, even as more users spent more of their time on 5G in every one.

The analysis drew on Speedtest Intelligence data covering destinations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, each of which operates a dedicated remote-worker visa, alongside Vietnam and Singapore, which do not. Bali is treated as a single destination covering the whole province rather than a city, because remote workers there are spread across several areas beyond Denpasar.

Median mobile download speeds rose in 12 of the 13 destinations. Da Nang led the group at 215.56 Mbps, ahead of Phuket at 167.62 Mbps and Bangkok at 167.27 Mbps, while Cebu ranked last at 55.48 Mbps. Bali recorded the steepest annual gain at 62.4%, followed by Hanoi at 61.0% and Jakarta at 52.4%. Da Nang was the only destination to post a decline, falling 17.7%, which the report attributed to a 41.0% increase in the number of 5G-capable devices observed there filling capacity built ahead of demand.

On 5G availability, which Ookla defines as the share of users with 5G-capable devices who spend most of their time connected to 5G, Phuket led at 83.8%, with Bangkok at 80.5% and Chiang Mai at 76.3%. Penang sat at the foot of the table at 40.0%, with Bali at 42.3% and Cebu at 44.5%. The largest increases landed in the markets that started furthest behind, with Jakarta adding 39.4 percentage points and Bali 25.0, while Singapore moved 0.5 points from an already mature 67.3%.

Da Nang also led on 5G consistency, with 95.7% of its 5G samples clearing the floor, followed by Bangkok at 93.6% and Hanoi at 91.8%. Cebu sat at the other end at 75.8%, with Metro Manila at 78.2%. Ookla put the spread at 19.8 percentage points, roughly double the spread on the lower 5 Mbps and 1 Mbps threshold that every destination clears on more than 87% of its samples.

The two thresholds moved in opposite directions over the past year. Consistency measured across all mobile technologies improved in nine of the 13 destinations while the 5G figure declined in seven, which the report attributed to operators moving more users onto shared 5G capacity and lifting the basic connectivity floor as a result.

Fixed broadband divides the ASEAN digital nomad hubs more sharply

Singapore led fixed median download speed at 447.75 Mbps, ahead of Bangkok at 317.02 Mbps and Ho Chi Minh City at 306.46 Mbps, the report said. Jakarta and Bali sat well below the rest of the group at 60.33 Mbps and 67.04 Mbps.

Those medians obscured wide variance in what connections actually deliver. Ookla found Chiang Mai paired a 258.50 Mbps median with only 65.7% of its fixed samples clearing the same 25 Mbps and 3 Mbps floor, the lowest consistency score in the group, against 94.6% in Singapore. The report suggested the gap probably reflects a mix of fibre in the city core with older copper or fixed wireless in surrounding districts, while noting that its data does not identify access technology directly.

Kuala Lumpur and Penang were the only destinations where fixed upload ran at under half of download speed, at 44.1% and 44.4% respectively, though the report noted their absolute median upload figures of 78.26 Mbps and 81.86 Mbps remain more than sufficient for video calls and routine remote work.

The widest gap in the study sat in venue Wi-Fi equipment. Singapore ran 34.4% of its reported Wi-Fi connections on Wi-Fi 7, roughly seven and a half times the 4.6% recorded in Bangkok and Penang, and no other destination in the study cleared 5%. Jakarta and Bali still carried 42.7% and 41.9% of connections over Wi-Fi 4, compared with 3.6% in Singapore. Ookla noted that a Wi-Fi 6 laptop connected to a Wi-Fi 4 access point performs as a Wi-Fi 4 device regardless of what the user spent on hardware.

Mobile jitter stayed below the 30 ms threshold Microsoft Teams classifies as poor in all 13 destinations, ranging from 7.3 ms in Da Nang to 18.5 ms in Cebu, although it rose in 11 of the 13 over the year. Ookla's figures are drawn from tests run voluntarily through the Speedtest app rather than a census of installed connections.

Which of the two connections is the more dependable fallback varies by destination. Chiang Mai cleared the threshold on 87.5% of its 5G samples against 65.7% of its fixed samples, making the phone the safer option there, while Cebu ran the other way at 86.1% on fixed against 75.8% on 5G. Across the 13 destinations, Ookla found mobile the steadier connection in seven and fixed in six.

Ookla said it will continue tracking the destinations as 5G capacity and venue equipment catch up with demand.