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Are connection speeds slower and latency higher with an Onomondo SIM?

Traffic from a device using an Onomondo SIM has to pass through the Onomondo Core Network to reach the Internet. Using a local SIM can pose a slight performance advantage, as traffic is routed locally.

Jakub Kubinski avatar
Written by Jakub Kubinski
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Environment

  • Type of SIM: applicable to all

  • Onomondo Core Network

Question

  • Are connection speeds slower and latency higher with an Onomondo SIM?

  • Why are connection speeds slower with an Onomondo SIM than with a local SIM?

  • There are differences in connection latency between Onomondo SIMs and a different SIM. Why?

Answer

Traffic from a device using an Onomondo SIM has to pass through the Onomondo Core Network to reach the Internet. Using a local SIM can pose a slight performance advantage, as traffic is routed locally.

This mostly impacts latency.

Cause

Even though both local and roaming SIMs allow the device to connect to the same local cell in country X (so the radio conditions are identical), the Onomondo SIM (foreign MVNO SIM) routes all user traffic back through our own core network and Packet Gateway — located hundreds or thousands kilometres away.

This “home routing” design means that every packet travels across multiple countries before reaching the public internet, which may result in slower speeds or less responsiveness compared to a local SIM that breaks out traffic directly in country X.

In addition, local operator's infrastructure design may be causing additional bottle-necks along the way, but this scenario can be highly-specific.

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