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Speed test results by speed category
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New look speed test results
Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk
The BroadbandChoices.co.uk monthly speed test results have changed. Providers will now be rated by speed category, ranging from those offering speeds of up to 2Mb to the heavy weight packages offering speeds of more than 16Mb (19-05-08).
Karoo (www.Karoo.co.uk) came top of the Cruiser Weight 8Mb category - the UK’s most popular broadband package - with customers enjoying an average of 48.2 per cent of their advertised speed.
O2 (www.O2.co.uk) came a close second with 44.9 per cent, while Eclipse (www.Eclipse.net.uk) came in third with 40.9 per cent reliability.
Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) topped the Welter Weight category of providers offering speeds of up to 2Mb with customers enjoying a whopping 82.9 per cent reliability in April.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “It’s much easier for providers to deliver on lower speed packages and all of the 2Mb providers that we rated delivered at least 65 per cent of their advertised speed last month.”
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"It’s much easier for providers to deliver on lower speed packages"
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Orange (www.Orange.co.uk) came in second with 69 per cent and Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com) took third place with 68.1 per cent - both respectable speeds but still a far cry from Virgin Media’s cable network.
“The higher up the speed scale we get, the harder it is for providers to deliver those speeds,” continued Phillips. “On average last month, broadband customers on ‘super fast’ packages received little more than 7Mb - if lucky.
“ISPs should consider rethinking the way that they advertise the speeds on these packages, especially with the launch of BT's (www.BT.com) 21 Century Network which will see speeds of up to 24Mb advertised up and down the country,” he concluded.
In term of reliability, Virgin Media topped the Heavy Weight providers with 34.9 per cent, but it was Be Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk) that delivered the fastest actually speed last month with an average of 7.1Mb.
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