Broadband speeds quadrupled since 2003 – but it’s still not good enough
27th February 2007
According to research undertaken by thinkbroadband.com, the average speed at peak time (6pm to 10pm) for all broadband providers combined is 2079 Kbps (2.03 Mb/s). This is compared with similar figures in 2003when the average was just 500 Kbps.
However current speeds are often slower than people expect as many people are signed up to 8Mb/s speeds that are promised by providers but may only get 2Mb/s. The speed of the broadband can vary depending on the time of day and more importantly how far the area DSLAM (see broadband jargon) is from your house.
The information was taken from over 365,000 users from the start of October 2006 to January 2007, with an average of over 500 tests for each provider.
It is important when signing up to broadband that you know realistically the speed available to your home (check our postcode checker). It’s important not to be mislead into buying up to 8Mb when realistically only a service of 1Mb is applicable.
Also Andrew Ferguson, the editor of thinkbroadband.com points out the impact IPTV will have on broadband speeds, as this will make networks busier due to increased demand. We will have to wait and see how much of an impact IPTV has and whether ISPs cope with the added influx.
Use our broadband speed test to check the speed of your connection and compare potentially faster packages.
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