Broadband Speeds in the UK

Ofcom recently released a report which represents the most thorough examination of broadband speeds ever performed within the UK.

The data they collected was taken from over 60 million speed test results accumulated by 1600 broadband customers and it paints a relatively bleak picture of the UK broadband market as it stands today.

The findings basically revealed what many people already knew to be true, that broadband speeds vary wildly depending on a number of factors and in the most part the actual speed attainable by any one customer will be significantly lower than the speed that the broadband providers claim they will be able to attain.

As a result of these tests ofcom has demanded and indeed received a pledge from 37 of the main broadband providers to offer more clarity to customers when it comes to advertising their speeds and while in the most part this new found honesty will be a good thing, avoiding deception of the customer, it still doesn`t solve the problem of why our broadband speeds are so low.

The average speed for a UK customer is just a hair over 4Mbps, which is at odds with the common claim that ADSL broadband will run at `up to` 8Mbps. But what`s the cause of the huge discrepancy between the promised speeds and the ones we receive from day to day?

Well, the main cause of slower average speeds is because of the limitations of ADSL broadband, which is the most common type in the UK as it uses existing BT copper landlines.

Because of the nature of copper wire, over long distances the broadband signal deteriorates and so the speed slows. This means people who live in rural areas who are far away from their local telephone exchange experience comparatively slow speeds compared to urban dwellers.

However, in urban areas there`s another problem which affects broadband speeds: congestion. Because during the peak evening periods of the day so many people are trying to use their broadband connection, customers can expect to see their speeds reduced by around 25% compared to their average speed during other times of the day.

This is all down to the number of other people who are using broadband via your local telephone exchange and it seems like this is always going to be a problem, like rush hour.

So what`s going to be the solution to our slow broadband blues here in the UK?

Well, the Ofcom report ultimately revealed that though ADSL customers are receiving the short straw in terms of speed, Cable broadband customers have much higher speeds which more closely reflect the speed that their service is advertised at.

If you already live in a cabled area you`ll be able to access the more consistent broadband on offer today.

If you`re still stuck with ADSL, don`t worry as BT are upgrading their exchanges nationwide in order to offer 20Mbps services.

For now using a broadband speed test will help you choose a new provider.

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