| When you signed up for your broadband | | | | Computeractive magazine has taken a petition |
| package, the chances are you were told you | | | | to Downing Street to try and prevent |
| would get speeds of up to 8MB, 16MB, or 24MB. | | | | misleading advertising by broadband |
| You were probably also told that this speed | | | | providers, in a bid to get the word 'typical' |
| may not be achievable due to the distance you | | | | on the adverts, in much the same way credit |
| live from the exchange. You probably weren't | | | | cards advertise 'typical APR'. |
| told that this speed is nigh on impossible to | | | | |
| get, regardless of where you live. | | | | Surprisingly, price isn't necessarily a |
| | | | factor in determining bandwidth. A cheap |
| Shocking discoveries have been made as a | | | | broadband package can be just as slow or fast |
| result of broadband users taking online speed | | | | as a more expensive one. Sometimes switching |
| tests, which is an internet tool that checks | | | | your provider can help, but it can be costly |
| the speed of your connection by downloading a | | | | and stressful, especially if you're trying to |
| 10MB file roughly 19 times. | | | | end a contract early. |
| | | | |
| These results showed that when bandwidth is | | | | Check all your connections and wires first of |
| advertised at up to 8MB, for example, the | | | | all, and if you can't see a problem with |
| actual speed received can be as low as 2.2MB, | | | | those, contact your provider to see what they |
| regardless of your distance from an exchange. | | | | suggest. You may need an upgrade on your |
| One user who lived close to an exchange | | | | modem, or maybe even a new PC. |
| received just 9 Mbps of the advertised 16 | | | | |
| Mbps. The lowest speed recorded in these | | | | Bear in mind that certain times of the day, |
| speed tests was a meagre 0.09Mbps, which | | | | the internet is slower for everybody. Peak |
| isn't much faster than dial-up. | | | | times in the UK tend to be between 4 and 6pm, |
| | | | when people tend to log on at the same time, |
| Unfortunately, there is little the consumer | | | | thus clogging up the exchanges. |
| can do to gain faster broadband speed. | | | | |