Broadband customers not up to speed

Only one in five (21 per cent) of broadband customers achieve the speed they signed up for, according to new research.

A survey of over 43,000 broadband users by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com shows providers repeatedly fail to deliver the speeds used in their advertising to lure in customers, with 44 per cent only getting half the speed they want.

Even the package most likely to deliver the speed offered (of up to 2Mb) only has 48 per cent of users getting that speed.

Of the 16 per cent of Sky customers on its ‘up to 16Mb’ package, only six per cent get near this speed with 78 per cent only achieving speeds of up to 8Mb – half the speed of what they have paid for. Over half of Talk Talk (61 per cent), Orange (57 per cent) and BT (51 per cent) customers on an up to 8Mb deal only get speeds of up to 4Mb.

Jason Lloyd, head of broadband at moneysupermarket.com, said: “Line interference, the quality of wiring into and around your home, its distance from the telephone exchange and the number of people sharing the same provider connection in your area at the same time affect broadband speed. Providers don’t expressly give you these details when you sign up, instead putting it the contract small print.

"With 44 per cent of people barely getting half the speed they signed for, it may be worth opting for a package twice as fast as you want to reach your desired speed.”

Most damning for providers is 30 per cent of broadband customers feel misled now they know what speed they actually get.

Lloyd said: “I urge all people to check what deal they are on and then ask their broadband provider for a free upgrade, so they may actually get a noticeable increase in their speed. Providers are aware in many cases they don’t deliver the speed they promise and so will be keen to appease unhappy customers wherever they can.

"It makes you wonder why providers are so keen on developing super fast connections when they can’t deliver on the ones they have.”

To support the research, moneysupermarket.com commissioned broadband data specialist and founder of Sam Knows - Sam Crawford to create a ‘Broadband Speed Map of Britain’, which has illustrated the growing divide between urban and rural areas.

Sam Crawford, broadband data specialist, said: “The map shows people living in urban areas often get the fastest speeds and the best deals. This is because of the reach of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) and the penetration of the cable companies. If you live in a more remote part of the country, the reality is you will often be paying the same price as your urban counterpart but receiving a slower speed.”