Broadband Speeds Fail To Deliver

Ofcom has produced a damning report on the nation's broadband speeds, revealing that most of us receive less than half of the speed we pay for. We investigate further...

We've come a long way since the days of dial-up, when clogged-up phone lines and sluggish download speeds led to some seriously sloooooow surfing.

These days, not only has broadband freed up our phones, but the recent introduction of superfast broadband means in some cases you can download a movie in the time it takes to make a cuppa.

However, according to latest research from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, millions of Brits who fork out for so-called premium or high speed services are only getting half the speeds they are paying for.

Ofcom found that the average speed attained for customers with 8Mb broadband (subscribed to by 60% of the nation) was just 3.6Mbps - that's less than half the advertised speed, with one in five achieving a speed of under 2Mbps.

The news was a bit brighter for those on 2Mb packages, who on average were able to get speeds of 1.6Mbps.

Broadband by postcode

Where you live is an important factor when it comes to speeds achieved, and while London and Yorkshire and Humberside reported the best download speeds, surfers in North East England, Wales and Scotland has the slowest reported speeds.

In addition, when it comes to broadband, it seems the Noughties has created a new digital divide, with consumers living in urban areas achieving 15% faster speeds than those living further from the exchange in rural areas.

Ofcom also found marked variations in speed according to the time of day you surf. Speeds tend to be slower when more people are online, as users share the same bandwidth.

The regulator found that speeds at the peak hour between 5pm and 6pm on Sundays were over 30% slower than average speeds during the less busy hours of 4am to 7am.

On weekdays, there also is a sharp decline in speeds between the school finishing times of 3pm and 4pm (presumably after the school run), and were also slowest between 9pm and 10pm.

Speed up your surfing

So, two main factors: the distance you live from the exchange, and the time of day you surf can impact heavily on your actual speeds.

But short of moving next door to your local exchange or only surfing during the witching hour, what else can you do to bump up your broadband speeds?

Firstly, test your speed using a broadband speed checker, which will indicate if you're getting a fair deal or not. If your broadband speed is markedly below the advertised one, contact your provider to see if you can switch to a lower price plan, especially if you're paying a premium for an unachievable speed.

For those new to broadband or looking to switch, there's good news. In December, Ofcom launched a code of practice which covers 95% of broadband customers, and requires providers to give you an idea of the maximum speed you can achieve before you sign on the dotted line.

In addition, some providers such as O2 provide a cooling-off period, promising a 30-day money back guarantee if you're not happy with the service.

You can find more handy hints on how to tackle broadband connection problems in this handy guide by Ofcom.

Ditch copper for cable

A better solution for faster speeds is to switch to cable broadband. Unlike traditional copper wires, fibre optic cable is much less affected by the distance of your connection from the local exchange.

Cable provider Virgin recently announced the launch of 50mb broadband, which lets you download a whole music album in just 11 seconds. However, less than half of the UK can get cable broadband at the moment, with only 40% of these customers currently able to receive the faster speeds.

In broadband terms at least, Britain still lags behind the likes of Japan, Sweden and South Korea, where cable broadband has been the norm for some time - and the Ofcom report is simply an affirmation that us Brits have a lot of catching up to do.

For now, it's important to ensure you're getting the optimum speed for your cash. That way, even if you can't have superfast broadband, at least you'll know you're getting what you pay for.