If you are visiting Laos for the first time, or maybe relocating there, you might wonder how the Internet speed is in the country. Here is what you need to know.
Laos, a crossroad for overland fiber connectivity in the region
The world’s Internet infrastructure relies mostly on submarine cables. Laos being a landlocked country, this does not play in its favor, which can explain that the country is not really up to par with its neighbors such as Thailand or Vietnam.
Laos has developed a network of land fiber cables with every single neighbor. Some of these cables are used for transit (for example between China and Thailand) and some are used for local distribution. Laos’ strategic position in ASEAN makes it a crossroad for overland transportation but also for overland data transit, which ultimately benefits the country.
A solid power infrastructure
One of the pillar of a reliable internet is a robust electric grid. The Internet infrastructure is not passive. A power failure on the transmission or core internet network can have a disastrous impact on service availability.
Luckily, the power availability in Laos is excellent. Laos generates electricity with hydropower, reselling most of its capacity to its neighbors. But the local distribution is decent, blackouts and brownouts are not frequent in the country.
Who likes fiber spaghetti?
Laos is not densely populated, even in major cities such as Vientiane, Savannakhet, or Luang Prabang. This makes fiber maintenance much easier than in mega-cities such as Bangkok or Hanoi.
Fast enough for day-to-day activity
Regarding speed, we have to separate mobile and fixed technology.
Mobile Internet in Laos is powered by 3G, 4G, and a little bit of 5G.
According to Ookla 2022 report, the median mobile internet connection speed via cellular networks in Laos is 23.71 Mbps.
Even though this type of speed is nowhere what you can experience in developed markets such as Singapore or Hong Kong, it is still fast enough for your everyday internet browsing including watching YouTube or Netflix in HD.
Looking for a SIM card in Laos? Check out our guide Laos SIM Card for Travelers.
In terms of fixed Internet, DSL or Cable are not available in Laos, ISPs are all using fiber which is the best medium for Internet both from capacity and latency perspective.
According to the same report from Ookla, the median fixed internet connection speed in Laos is 28.84 Mbps.
Once again, this type of speed is good enough even for a big household with multiple devices connected at the same time.
When it comes to latency, telecom operators in Laos host Facebook, Google, or Akamai cache servers. This helps to speed up the loading of static content such as videos and images.
As for gaming, there are little to no game servers in Laos. The closest servers are hosted in Thailand and Vietnam which are 15-20ms away from Vientiane. This could make a difference for hardcore gamers.
Modern games are also quite avid in updates that can consume several gigs of data. With Lao connection speed, this translates into 30mn to 2 hours of waiting time to start playing, which could be frustrating.
Internet in Laos, good value for money?
Laos has not the cheapest Internet in the region but still, both mobile and fixed internet is pretty affordable and can be considered good value for money.
For example, it will cost you to date $10 per month for a home broadband service with 30mbps Internet speed and an unlimited volume of data. For this price, you have a reliable service that can support a household of 4-6 people with 5-7 devices connected at the same time.
Conclusion
There is still room for improvement for the Internet in Laos, like everywhere else in the world. But the progress that has been made over the past decade is already amazing. It is really hard to face spotty, slow connections in Laos’ main cities these days.
The areas of improvement remain:
- The rural connectivity
- Mobile coverage on the main transport routes (Lao China Train, Lao China highway)
- Fiber Broadband availability in the countryside
- Development of locally hosted content to improve loading time and user experience
I’m afraid the internet in Laos is extremely lousy. I you want to stream football, forget it. Also, if you work online, be prepared for constant interruptions, as the ping is rarely constant. Uploads are a nightmare, WordPress uploads cut out all the time. However, if you only want to watch Netflix, then no problem – thankfully Netflix servers are excellent.
Hi Michelle,
I believe it depends on your provider as well as your location. I stream football games every weekend and I can watch entire games in HD with minimum buffering.
We do manage multiple WordPress websites from Laos (including this one) and no issue as well with uploading media files.
I would recommend you challenge your ISP about your poor service or switch to another one.
Which is the best ISP in laos?
Hard to say but Unitel and Best Telecom have pretty good reputation.