p-i-n photodiodes comprising dense arrays of InGaAs quantum dots (referred to as quantum well-dots) were fabricated, and the basic physical processes affecting their high-speed performance were studied for the first time by measuring the frequency response under illumination with photons absorbed either in the quantum well-dots (905-nm illumination) or mainly in GaAs layers (860-nm illumination). A GaAs p-i-n photodiode of similar design was also measured for comparison. A maximum −3 dB bandwidth of 8.2 GHz was measured for the 905-nm light illumination, and maximum internal −3 dB bandwidth of 12.5 GHz was estimated taking into account the effect of RC-parasitic by the equivalent circuit model. It was found that the internal response is mainly controlled by the carrier drift time in the depletion region; this process can be characterized by a field-dependent effective velocity of charge carriers in the layered heterostructure, which is approximately half the saturation velocity in GaAs. The carrier escape from the InGaAs quantum well-dots was found to has less effect; the escape time was estimated to be 12–17 ps depending on the reverse-bias voltage applied.