| UK broadband customers are getting less than half the | | | | Firstly, there is a wide gap between the slowest |
| broadband speed they expect. In this special report, | | | | (Demon at 1.08 Meg) and fastest (Be Unlimited at 9.19 |
| we give an objective analysis of broadband speeds | | | | Meg). Both providers provide products with similar |
| and show the top 5 fastest providers for April 2008. | | | | pricing. |
| During April 2008, users ran 8,766 speed tests across | | | | It is noteworthy to see Virgin Media in just third position |
| 15 of the best known UK broadband providers. | | | | bearing in mind it's recent advertising campaigns |
| Results Summary | | | | promoting fast "fibre optic" broadband and speeds up |
| - Average download speed across all providers is | | | | to 20 Meg. Clearly, it has a way to go to catch up with |
| 3.62Mbps (Meg). | | | | its next rival (O2 Broadband) on LLU exchanges. |
| - Average upload speed across all providers is | | | | Lastly, there are several large providers that did not |
| 445Kbps. | | | | make it into the top 5. Some examples are:- |
| - Fastest average download speeds (9.19 Meg) were | | | | - TalkTalk - 3.01 Meg. |
| from Be Unlimited. | | | | - Tiscali - 2.67 Meg. |
| - Slowest average download speeds (1.08 Meg) were | | | | - Orange - 2.21 Meg. |
| from Demon. | | | | - BT Total Broadband - 2.21 Meg. |
| - The most tested provider is Virgin Media. | | | | Conclusions |
| The Top 5 Fastest Providers | | | | Many large providers provide broadband "up to" 8 Meg |
| Based on averages taken from user speed tests, the | | | | with several claiming speeds in excess of 20 Meg. As |
| results are as follows:- | | | | shown from empirical data from speed tests during |
| | | | April 2008, most customers are nowhere near these |
| 1. Be Unlimited - 9.19 Meg. | | | | advertised speeds. The average speed across all |
| 2. O2 Broadband - 6.5 Meg. | | | | providers is just 3.62 Meg and is less than half the "up |
| 3. Virgin Media(Cable & non cabled products | | | | to 8 Meg" claims of providers. |
| combined) - 4.89 Meg. | | | | It's obvious from the results that it pays to shop around |
| 4. Sky Broadband - 4.31 Meg. | | | | if you want a decent connection speed. Products with |
| 5. Zen Internet - 3.55 Meg. | | | | similar prices vary tremendously between providers in |
| Observations | | | | terms of speed. We would assume that the |
| There are some interesting issues raised from the | | | | differences are down to the quality of the providers |
| results. | | | | technical infrastructure. |