Broadband not up to speed

There’s a huge gap between advertised broadband speeds and the actual speeds users can achieve, shows research by which.co.uk.

More than a third of Which? members now have broadband packages offering speeds of ‘up to’ 8Mbps or faster. However a speed test found that customers promised up to 8 Mbps actually achieved 2.7Mbps on average, with the lowest speed achieved just 0.09Mbps.

The Advertising Standards Agency says that using the words ‘up to’ is acceptable if most people can get close to those speeds. But which.co.uk says that the advertised speeds can be misleading and wants Ofcom and Trading Standards to investigate providers’ claims.

The test results are published alongside which.co.uk’s twice-yearly ISP satisfaction survey, which shows that just 30 per cent of Which? members on average are very satisfied with their service. Smaller providers Global, Waitrose and Zen come out top, with big names AOL, BT and Virgin Media rated below average.

Malcolm Coles, Editor, which.co.uk, says:“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.”