Why is browsing the net faster on my laptop than my phone?

[AC Question]

My WIFI internet speed test results:

Laptop (i5 4GB ram running Win7, Chrome ) - 1.08 mbps download
ASUS ZF2 (2.3GHz and 4GB ram, Chrome ) - 1.3 mbps download

Even though the ookla speed-test numbers are similar, my laptop is markedly faster in loading actual websites and streaming videos, especially when using multiple tabs. Actually i find streaming HTML5 videos relatively slow on my phone especially the initial buffer period.

For example, my laptop will start playing a video as soon as I click on it, while a similar video will take at least 40 seconds to start playing on my phone. Worst still, if I seek a different time stamp, it will buffer again wasting my time and annoy the heck out of me. Streaming HD videos, naturally is out of the question.

Is this normal for an android device or is there something wrong with my phone?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Mobile browsers are inherently slower than laptop/desktop browsers. This is why I prefer a Chromebook to a tablet (even if it's a powerful tablet) for heavy-duty browser-based activity.

 

[Rukbat]

1. Speed depends on the path between the server you're downloading from (or testing on) and your device. That's why you buy "up to 20mbps" - if there's a busy spot in the path, you may even get 0bps and time out.

2. Run 10 tests on Ookla on each device, alternating them. Run the phone, run the laptop, run the phone, etc. Write down all the results, in 2 columns - one for the laptop, one for the phone. Average the 10 tests for each. Path speeds change moment by moment (even during a test), so a single test might be far different than your average speed.

And, as B. Diddy said, most phones have less power than laptops, so they download slower.