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Broadband too slow?

Our Broadband Expert says...

The majority of big broadband providers have upgraded their networks over the last year or so and advertised speeds of up to 20Mb and 24Mb broadband are now more common than 8Mb packages.

While this does signify great progress in the broadband market - the copper wire ADSL2+ technology used by these ISPs really does allow faster speeds, it also leaves greater room for disappointment in customers who now expect more from their broadband provider without necessarily being able to achieve massively faster speeds.

These broadband packages are still subject to the same factors as other copper wire connections and distance from the exchange, network congestion and traffic management, which means that it’s still almost impossible to achieve advertised “up to” speeds.

However, you should still see a significant improvement on your speed, because broadband speed loss is worked out in percentages over your distance from the exchange. For example, if you were on an 8Mb package and were getting around 4Mb - so 50% of the speed that leaves the exchange - and upgraded to a 20Mb package, you should in theory get around 10Mb before other factors like congestion are factored in.

Talk to you provider

If you’ve upgraded to a “faster” package but haven’t seen significant improvements, talk to your provider. There may be some technical changes that can be made, or they might be able to upgrade your router if you're using a very old model.

There has been a rash of broadband speed upgrades over the past year, some of which have been free, some of which required customers to recontract in order to get their speed boost. Other providers have simply introduced new, more expensive packages that customers can sign up to.

Your provider will be able to give you an estimated maximum speed for your home based on how far you live from the local telephone exchange. So if you’ve signed up to a new, more expensive package in order to improve your speed but don’t feel that the increase is worth the money, ask to be downgraded if you're ISP tells you that it can’t be improved any further.

Install an iPlate

iPlates aren’t just for people with painfully slow connections; even if you're receiving speeds of 6Mb or 7Mb, you could push this up by an average of 1.5Mb simply by installing an iPlate.

iPlates are very easy to install, and work by removing the electrical interference caused by the old bell wire in some home phone sockets. The bell wire used to send the old “ring ring” around your home but now it just acts as a conductor for electrical interference.

BT Broadband (www.BT.com) customers who would benefit from an iPlate can get the ISP’s own version, the BT Broadband Accelerator, for free and simply have to pay postage.

TalkTalk Broadband (www.Talktalk.co.uk) customers on its Pro package can also apply for one of its free TuneUp kits, which include an iPlate, a home phone socket filter and a book of tips on how to speed up your broadband.

Watch our video on how to install an iPlate.

Install microfilters

Each phone socket used in your home should have a good quality microfilter fitted. These small devices work by stopping different services interfering with your broadband. For example, if you have a home phone, fax, Sky box all connected to sockets around your home as well as your modem, these services could affect your broadband speeds.

You might have received a filter from your broadband provider but you might still be able to benefit from a piece of better quality hardware. You can pick up a cheap filter online for a few pounds but better quality ones might set you back around £10 each.

Get a new router

If you're using an old, out of date modem and router, you might be able to improve your download speeds by upgrading to a newer model.

The latest N draft routers are designed for next generation broadband access and are capable of handling the faster speeds that will become the norm in the future.

Switch broadband provider

If you still don’t see any improvements on your download speeds, it might be time to switch broadband provider.

Some ISPs do average better speeds than others, even if they're advertising the same top speeds. Telecoms adjudicator Ofcom looked at 8Mb and 10Mb broadband packages in 2009 and found that O2 Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) offered the fastest average speed for an 8Mb ADSL broadband provider, delivering 4.1Mb to 5.1Mb.

Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com) followed with an average of 4Mb to 4.7Mb, but it was Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) that stole the show. With its cable 10Mb package, Ofcom found that it delivered an average of between 8.1Mb and 8.7Mb.

O2 and Sky also offer packages with up to 20Mb broadband, while Virgin Media offers a 20Mb tariff and a superfast 50Mb broadband package - the fastest, widely available speeds in the UK.

NB Best buy tables (orange background) are always current.

Examples in the text of the article (white background) are correct at time of publication.

Ask us a question

If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at OurExpert@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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