A mobile device is arranged to perform an adaptive speed data collection method. A host application running on the mobile device cooperates with a background service also running on the mobile device. The background service is arranged as a state machine. On each pass through the state machine, quality of service (QoS) data associated with a particular wide area network, such as a cellular network, is collected. Also on each pass through the state machine, a sample time value is calculated based on a plurality of asserted triggers and rules applied to the asserted triggers. An alarm is loaded with the sample time value, and the background service is suspended until the alarm expires or an interrupt is asserted. The asserted interrupt begins a new sequential pass through the state machine.