Broadband gets faster but advertising continues to mislead

Ofcom has reported that average UK broadband speeds have increased by 10% in the last six months and now stand at 6.8Mb. However, the gap between the actual speed experienced by consumers and the advertised speed has also increased.

Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch.com, says: "While it's great to see British broadband get steadily faster, the key issue is still that customers are signing up to one service and receiving another. At 15Mb, the average advertised speed is more than double the average speeds that people are receiving. It's like signing up to a Porsche and ending up with a Robin Reliant.

"We support Ofcom's recommendation that adverts should show the range of speeds delivered to at least half of customers and hope that this will be finally approved by the ASA in the autumn - this issue has been going on for too long.

"In the meantime, the actual speed that customers will experience depends on factors such as the quality of their line, and the distance they live away from the exchange. We advise any customers who are concerned to run a speed test and discuss the results with their provider."

uSwitch.com speed stats - based on 72,000 speed tests over last 30 days

Number of tests: 72,310

Average speed: 8.57Mb

Fastest provider: Virgin Media