Broadband Guide

24Mb broadband

Updated: Tuesday 04 January, 2011

By Editorial - news@consumerchoices.co.uk

24Mb broadband is the fastest speed available over the copper wire ADSL network, and using ADSL2+ technology and BT’s 21 Century Network, more broadband providers now offer packages with speeds of up to 24Mb.

24Mb broadband providers

The first ISP to offer speeds of up to 24Mb was Be Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk), and its first connected customer received a superfast average speed of 18.5Mb.

Since, others have followed suit. TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) deliver download speeds up to 24Mb across it's Essentials and Plus packages. Eclipse Broadband (www.Eclipse.net.uk) also offer speeds of up to 24Mb across its residential packages.

It's important to bear in mind that top speeds will depend on your line, and location. ADSL broadband speeds tend to fall the further away you live from the phone exchange. The number of people in your neighbourhood going online at the same time will also impact speeds.

What about 20Mb broadband speeds?

Although 24Mb is the fastest possible speed over the ADSL network, many providers choose to advertise speeds of up to 20Mb instead, offering a more achievable headline speed for customers.

O2 Broadband (www.O2.co.uk)which shares its network with BE, offers speeds of up to 20Mb across all of its packages - as does Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com).

BT upgraded its packages to speeds of up to 20Mb for around 10 million homes in summer 2009 - representing around 40 per cent of the UK. This upgrade was free for existing customers, though you did have to recontract with BT to qualify for the speed boost. Orange Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk), Plusnet Broadband (www.Plus.net) and Zen Internet (www.Zen.co.uk) all boosted their packages to speeds of up to 20Mb in October 2009.

Using its cable network, Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) offers the UK’s fastest broadband at speeds of up to 50Mb as well as 10Mb and 20Mb packages.

24Mb broadband availability

24Mb broadband is not currently available to the whole of the UK. Your local telephone exchange will have to be upgraded to the latest ADSL2+ technology in order for you to receive such fast speeds.

Compare broadband providers at Broadbandchoices.co.uk to see if 24Mb or 20Mb broadband is available in your area.

However, BT has said that if demand for its faster speed packages is high enough, it will extend its 20Mb network to around 55 per cent of homes and businesses by 2010.

Will I really get 24Mb broadband?

As with all broadband packages, factors like distance from the exchange, congestion, traffic management and your contention ratio will all affect your broadband speed and slow down your downloads.

Also, some providers, like BT, have been accused of throttling access to peer-to-peer networks like the BBC iPlayer on its cheapest broadband package, while providers like Be Broadband promise not to throttle your connection and offer “unmetered, unrestricted and unchallenged broadband - at unparalleled value for money”.

Read our Complete guide to speeding up your broadband for tips on increasing your download speed.

What can I do with superfast broadband?

Speeds of up to 24Mb and 20Mb are great for heavy downloaders, online gamers and anyone who works from home. However, because you never get the full advertised speed on an 8Mb or 24Mb package, even people who just use their broadband connection for everyday activities like web surfing and sending emails will notice a real difference in their connection - and could discover a whole new world of high definition TV downloads, smooth online radio from Spotify and superfast uploads to Facebook.

Go even faster with 50Mb broadband

If 24Mb isn’t fast enough for you, then why not see if Virgin Media’s (www.Virginmedia.com) 50Mb XXL broadband package - the fastest in the UK - is available in your area?

Speeds of up to 50Mb would allow you to download a music track in less than a second and a full 15GB HD movie in less than an hour.