What is the difference between real and advertised broadband speed?

What is the difference between real and advertised broadband speed?

Broadband speed affects how quickly you can look at web pages, download images, or watch movies online. The slower your speed, the slower your downloads will be. The advertised speed that customers sign up for doesn't always reflects the actual speed they receive - which is why you'll see speeds advertised as 'up to 8Mb' etc, the 'up to' being crucial in this context.

According to uSwitch.com research, a quarter of customers have broadband speeds of 4Mb or less and 45% are not happy with their speed.

Ofcom used mystery shoppers to find out what different broadband providers tell their potential customers about speed when they sign up. It found that 74% of customers were not told that the maximum speed that they could possibly get on their line would probably be higher than the actual speed. The research also found that although 85% of people were told what the speed on their line would be, 42% of those people had to ask the broadband providers' staff to give them that information.

There is currently a voluntary code of practice on broadband selling, which states that broadband providers have to tell potential customers what speed they might be able to get and any issues that might slow down their connection. However, Ofcom is now proposing stricter rules, including the possibility that customers would be able to leave a contract if the speed they get is much lower than they were quoted when they signed up.

The actual speed of your broadband depends on a number of factors, such as:

• the distance you live from your local telephone exchange - the closer you live to the exchange, the faster the connection
• whether you live in an urban area - service in the countryside may be slower
• quality of the modem - if your modem is outdated, you may be able to get a replacement from your provider
• whether you're using it at peak hours - it may be slower between 6 and 11pm
• the number of connections in your home - the more connections, the slower the speed

If you want to know how fast your broadband is and whether you're getting the speed you're paying for, try our broadband speed test. 

Once you are monitoring what speed your broadband is running at, there are several self-help measures you can take to help make it run faster. Find out more with our article on how to speed up your broadband.