UK Broadband Speeds

colirv · Feb 19, 2008, 17:26:33

I see ISPreview have an article on the above entitled "UK Broadband Speeds Average 2.95Mbps". In it they list the top ten ISPs for broadband download speed, from Be in 1st place with 6.07Mbps to Tiscali in 10th place with 1.72Mbps. I was surprised not to see IDNet there.

madasahatter · Feb 19, 2008, 17:30:14

That's probably because IDNet isn't even on their list of broadband providers - neither were quite a few other (to us) well known providers - that shows how exhaustive their research and tests were- NOT!!

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 17:30:24

Too small a customer base?

colirv · Feb 19, 2008, 17:35:09

I wouldn't exactly call Namesco or Madasafish large, but you're probably right.

colirv · Feb 19, 2008, 17:37:36

Quote from: madasahatter on Feb 19, 2008, 17:30:14
That's probably because IDNet isn't even on their list of broadband providers

Oh it is - although we've recently dropped from 8th to 9th place in their list of top ten landline broadband ISPs.

Simon · Feb 19, 2008, 17:37:49

From elsewhere:

Internet providers have been accused of misleading the public over broadband speeds, following the results of a survey of more than 18,500 customers.

Comparison site Broadband-Expert.co.uk claims that despite many ISPs promoting 8Mbps connections, UK broadband users only get an average download speed of 2.95Mbps.

William Harvey, technical director at Broadband-Expert.co.uk, said: "Despite ongoing pressure from Ofcom and various consumer groups, broadband providers are still misleading the public over broadband speeds."

"Current advertising campaigns like the one for Tiscali promise superfast broadband (download) speeds of up to 8Mb. Yet Tiscali came bottom of our test results with an average actual download speed of just 1.72Mb. Now that is not superfast by any stretch of the imagination and is over 1Mb lower than the UK average."

However, a spokeswoman for Tiscali has said the ISP is keen to see how Broadband-Expert.co.uk produced its data and how large its sample size of Tiscali customers was.

The spokeswoman said: "It is unfortunate that Broadband Expert decided to single out Tiscali for criticism, but their findings are not consistent with other recent (and sustained) findings. Two recent reports place Tiscali in the Top 5 for performance and both have reported Tiscali's prior consistency."

Last week, measurement company Epitiro released its latest rankings of ISPs in the UK monitoring factors such as ping rates, upload and download speeds and DNS (domain name server) performance. Tiscali ranked in the top five alongside BT, PlusNet, O2 and Orange.

For the results of the Broadband-Expert.co.uk speed test, click on the 'Speed Test Results' tab towards the bottom of this page.

SPEED TEST

I tried the speed tester and found it wildly inaccurate, so I don't know what that says about the rest of the site.

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 17:47:35

Once I see Expert and Comparison side by side, I tend to doze off.

madasahatter · Feb 19, 2008, 18:20:16

Quote from: colirv on Feb 19, 2008, 17:37:36
Oh it is - although we've recently dropped from 8th to 9th place in their list of top ten landline broadband ISPs.

that's wierd then - I looked at their "compare providers" list, and we were nowhere to be found unless I'm going blind as well as old (which quite possibly is the case

)

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 18:27:48

Well, to judge by your typing.

madasahatter · Feb 19, 2008, 18:46:49

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 18:51:34

Sorry, just couldn't help myself.

madasahatter · Feb 19, 2008, 19:07:39

It's this keyboard I tell you - never types what i want it to

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 19:13:13

I know the feeling - mine transliterates.

madasahatter · Feb 19, 2008, 19:14:21

Sounds painful - have you been to the doctors about that?

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 19:16:50

Yes, but it's incurable unless I have a finger transplant.

cavillas · Feb 19, 2008, 19:23:18

Just had a shock at my normal 3.5Mb speed when I ran this test. http://www.speedtest.net/result/236367683.png
Have IDNET improved my connection?

cavillas · Feb 19, 2008, 19:26:35

Just done another one. Things are improving.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/236369414.png Or not

Rik · Feb 19, 2008, 19:35:25

Ah, they've moved you onto a direct fibre to Telehouse, Alf.

kinmel · Feb 19, 2008, 20:04:37

Just ran their speedtest and they recommend I change to Tiscali or Talk-Talk

Lance · Feb 19, 2008, 20:05:16

That's even faster than the test I've seen from Simon D done on a server at telehouse!

ducky22 · Feb 19, 2008, 21:23:38

Quote from: Lance on Feb 19, 2008, 20:05:16
That's even faster than the test I've seen from Simon D done on a server at telehouse!

I'm going to try and beat it :-P.

ducky22 · Feb 19, 2008, 21:30:16

No chance it seems!

100mbit full duplex port in a commercial datacentre in Dallas, TX. Who know's what's going on with the download!

colirv · Feb 19, 2008, 21:58:38

Quote from: madasahatter on Feb 19, 2008, 18:20:16
that's wierd then - I looked at their "compare providers" list, and we were nowhere to be found unless I'm going blind as well as old (which quite possibly is the case )

Just look at the left-hand list on their home page.

madasahatter · Feb 19, 2008, 22:06:05

Ahhhhhhh - sorry Col - i was looking at an entirely different site for some reason

Ann · Feb 20, 2008, 13:45:07

Welll I did the speedtest from the site given by Simon http://www.broadband-expert.co.uk/broadband/speedtest/index.php, from work.. not IDnet, and it said that my download speed was 6.56. I then did a test with thinkbroadband and got 57.1. Back to try again with the first one and got 9.71 which may be their limit for testing but the first one was just silly.