Responding to concerns about whether ADSL2+ products will deliver better service, one commentator has highlighted potential problems.

Michael Pollitt notes in the Guardian that for those living a considerable distance from the telephone exchange, ADSL services are often unable to deliver headline speeds.

He explains that this is because data transfer rates slow as information is passed down the cables, meaning that until infrastructure is improved, customers who do not live near the exchange will fail to benefit from high speed services.

What's more, he adds, new ADSL2+ technology fares even less well over distances than its older counterpart.

"One solution is to replace your copper telephone wires with fibre-optic cable," Mr Pollitt suggests, while micro-filters are unlikely to improve speeds for most users.

Meanwhile, IT Week responds to one of its readers by suggesting that when checking internet connections, an end-to-end speed checker will provide more accurate results than BT's Speedtester, which only measures the transfer rate between the home and the exchange.

Use our broadband speed test to find out the speed of your connection and compare potentially faster packages.