Siminn Speed Test — Iceland's National Telecom

Siminn (formerly Síminn, Iceland Telecom) is Iceland's largest and oldest telecommunications company, serving a population of just 380,000 people on a volcanic island in the North Atlantic. Running an ISP in Iceland presents challenges found nowhere else in Europe: extreme weather, geothermal heating that affects underground infrastructure, a population concentrated in the Reykjavík capital region, and complete dependence on submarine cables for international connectivity.

Your speed test tells two different stories depending on where the server is. Testing to a server in Reykjavík shows your local network performance. Testing to London or Amsterdam reveals the submarine cable latency that affects every Icelandic internet user, regardless of ISP or plan.

Siminn Broadband Plans

Siminn's ljósleiðari (fibre) plans are fully symmetrical and available throughout the Greater Reykjavík area and major towns. Rural Iceland — particularly the Westfjords, Eastfjords, and northern interior — may still rely on DSL or 4G mobile broadband.

The Submarine Cable Reality

Iceland is connected to the rest of the internet through underwater fibre cables crossing the Atlantic:

• DANICE — Iceland to Denmark (1,300 km)
• FARICE-1 — Iceland to Scotland via the Faroe Islands
• Greenland Connect — Iceland to Canada (via Greenland)
• IRIS — Newer cable to Ireland

These cables create a minimum latency floor that no ISP can eliminate. Even on gigabit fibre, your ping to London will be 20-40 ms and to US East Coast servers 50-80 ms. For Icelandic gamers, this means competitive online gaming against European players always comes with a small but real latency disadvantage.

However, traffic to Icelandic servers (streaming RÚV, accessing Icelandic government services, local multiplayer) will show extremely low latency — 1-5 ms on fibre.

Siminn Speed Test FAQs

Why is my ping to European game servers 40-80 ms? Iceland connects to mainland Europe via submarine cables (DANICE, FARICE-1, IRIS). The 1,800+ km physical distance creates a minimum latency floor of 20-40 ms to the UK/Denmark and 50-80 ms to the US — regardless of your internet speed. No ISP can fix this; it's physics.

What does ljósleiðari mean? It's Icelandic for "fibre optic." A Siminn ljósleiðari connection means you have FTTH (Fibre to the Home) — the fastest technology in Iceland with symmetric speeds up to 1 Gbps. Available in Reykjavík and major towns.

I'm in rural Iceland — can I get fibre? Most likely not yet. Rural areas (Westfjords, parts of the north and east) rely on DSL or 4G mobile broadband. Siminn is expanding fibre but geography makes rural buildout extremely expensive. Check coverage at siminn.is.

Is my speed test result different for Icelandic vs foreign websites? Yes. Testing to a Reykjavík server shows your local line speed (very fast on fibre, 1-5 ms latency). Testing to London or US servers shows the submarine cable bottleneck — your download speed may still be high, but latency will be 20-80 ms.

Does Siminn have data caps? Ljósleiðari (fibre) plans are unlimited. Some DSL and mobile broadband plans may have fair usage limits — check your specific contract on the Mitt Siminn portal.

Icelandic ISP Comparison

• Vodafone Iceland — The main competitor. Strong mobile and fixed broadband. Good fibre coverage in Reykjavík.
• Hringdu — Smaller alternative with competitive pricing and growing fibre coverage.
• Nova — Primarily mobile but offers fixed wireless broadband in some areas.

Siminn support: Call 800 7000 (þjónustuver). The Mitt Siminn self-service portal provides usage tracking, router diagnostics, and bill management.