UK Broadband Speeds = Lies, Damn Lies August 03, 2007
Read more Broadband , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Online , PC
I realise that the idea of advertisers lying to us consumers comes as a big surprise but, according to Which? Online, there is a huge gap between advertised broadband speeds and those you actually get.
In as survey of 300 people that signed up for 8Mbps broadband, the average speed came out as 2.7Mbps. The maximum speed reported was 6.7Mbps while the slowest speed was just 0.09Mbps, which is as close to dead as broadband can get. Which? Online Editor Malcolm Coles said:
"It’s shocking that Internet service providers can advertise ever-increasing speeds that seem to bear little resemblance to what most people can achieve in reality. If it’s unlikely you’ll reach the advertised speed it should be made clear up front, so that you know with some certainty what you’re buying. Do your research to check what speed you’re likely to get before upgrading, and if you think what you’re getting differs vastly from what you’ve paid for, speak to your provider – or if they won’t help, report them to Ofcom."
Should broadband companies still be allowed to use the phrase ‘up to’ when disguising dismal average speeds on high-speed packages?-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
keep in mind those seem like ADSL results which was always dependant from distance from the exchange. Cable broadband, which operates differently, doesn't have any company offering 8Mbps.
i get 7.4mb on my 8mb line :-)
My ISP, Orange, charge me for an 8mb service. The tech support on a recent phone convo said I'm receiving 5mb. The actual amount I'm getting is just under 2.5mb - figure that one out, lol.
300 people? Which are calling that a thorough survery? 300 people out of the total number of broadband users is hardly concise.
Plus its from Which - a company that makes you pay to access information you could find scouting a few forums.
I recently moved to the UK and was amazed at how far apart the performance was from what was advertised. After calling in for tech support, I was appalled at the lack of help I was getting. In the end, I had to learn a bit about ADSL and had to troubleshoot it myself. I even tested continuity on wires they installed. Luckily, I am a little bit tech savvy and can only imagine what a horror this would have been for someone who expects to "plug and play". I went through these lengths because they threatened to charge me if they determined it was not there fault. The fact that they earlier attributed my problems to my machines didn't leave me feeling they would be willing to take any blame in the issue. I was also given the exchange distance line, but my neighbour is not seeing these issue (and I do not think I am "far" from an exchange). Even more appalling was there response when I said I will be looking to discontinuing my contract - "We're sorry to hear that." So in my opinion there are two broader issues here (at least with my provider): 1) tech support seems to be incapable of narrowing in a the root cause of performance issues and 2) customer services very lack-lustre. I wonder if they even care if they are coming anywhere near advertised speed once they have you locked into a contract and have your money.
By the way, any good service providers people can recommend? I just want a dependable - performance, tech support, and customer services.
Welcome to Britain, where all companies are in a cartel of poor customer support. If they all give out no help, they will all get business. And how do they get away with it? Taking advantage of the British national proclivity to not complain. Seems to me that we therefore need to legislate in this area.
From the number of ISPs I've been with for broadband. I'd say we're pretty poorly served in the UK. I've troubleshooted most problems myself (lets face it most tech lines will start with check cables) but I've been cut off a few times because the ISP has screwed up my payment! It's as if they conspire to drive you away.
For broadband in the UK I'd shop around for the cheapest deal - at least that way you're getting what you pay for!
Maybe a case for advertising standards
I use virgin net with an 8Mb/s ADSL service in the UK and I live within 1km of my exchange. I connect at the full 8Mb/s with a healthy noise margin. I get a throughput of a good 7.1Mb/s off peak times, but in the early evening (my preferred browsing time) I'm lucky to get a few 100kb/s.
Its not all about distance. Don't forget contention ratios in the exchange's DSLAMs and the possibility of piss-poor capacity in an ISPs network. Bandwidth provisions are oversold everywhere!
The last time I looked at changing, all the comptetitors were only offering a 2Mb/s service. BT Wholesale won't answer to the customer and the ISPs won't do anything to compromise profits.
Oh, and if you think that's bad, try finding out how mobile networks (GPRS, 3G etc.) bill per MB of traffic. What layer in the protocol stack do they bill at? Do they charge for packets coming into the network or packets delivered? I've had 75% packet loss on pings and wondered if they bill for dropped packets and also for retransmissions. Any one got any ideas about this?
I dont know how far I am from the exchange but with tiscali I get 4/5mb at night or in the morning but when it hits 4-7pm I get wait for it.. wait for it... around 200kb/s
Tiscali is good though but I would recommend it. ISP in england need to get their act together.
exept cable no one can give 8mb on bt phone line, anyone with a little knowledge of networking know that.
So, looking for 8mb on bt line is leading a life on mars in UK.
I have SKY broadband on my BT line and I routinely get 8MB dl speeds, especially if I'm downloading via ftp.
I do think that it depends on the quality of the phone line connection. I just got mine installed
No one can get 8mb on a BT line eh? You havent heard of Be then :P Advertised 24mb/s I get consistent 20mb/s and there are some who do get the maximum advertised speed. It is however very reliant on distance from exchange, so not for everyone :)
I work for a UK ISP and can say from experience that the line speeds quoted by ISPs are always over-optimistic. This is because ISP's who provide ADSL on BT lines will use a line-speed checker provided by BT (and we all know how reliable BTs information is). Broadband speeds are not an exact science and are dependent upon factors such as line-length to exchange, equipment in the exchange and congestion in the exchange however, i agree that BT should be more conservative with their estimations so that broadband providers can be also. It is no fluke that quoted ADSL speeds are always over-optimistic and never conservative.
I replaced the free cable that came with my adsl router for a belkin `highspeed` modem cable. Got it in poundland! My speed doubled from 2mb to just over 4mb on TalkTalk. Worth a go if you can get one cheap.
I use BT on an upto 8Mb connection. I get 3Mb or just under.
In a recent test I had 20Mb Virgin installed. The most I got was 3Mb and at the worst 300k. When they test the line and modem, they get you to go to a website that downloads tiny files, and to click on the button until they get the results they want. Fluke !
On one tech call I was even told that I was getting a slow speed due to using a Mac. They said that to the wrong person.
I'm with Pipex and regularly get 4.6-5.2 Mb. I live 2 miles from the exchange. I would recommend Pipex for their service but not their price!
I'm signed up with a company which offers speeds well above 8Mb (24Mb). Of course I don't get near the quoted speed but I can hit over 16Mb if all is going well.
Britain is a crap country; it is cool when we can compare ourselves to other countries in such an objective way as internet speed. Pity such easy comparisons cannot be made for other necessities. When will we elect the House of Lords and have government that is accountable to all the people and not just to the knobs!