In addition, the new Ofcom regulations ensure that broadband providers advertise a minimum speed. What this means is that in future, any advertised speeds will be accurate representations of what you can expect when you actually use your internet connection: in the evening after work, when the entire neighbourhood is also online. We've emphasized the important bits in bold.
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Peak times will be measured as 8-10pm for residential services and 12-2pm for business services."īT vs Sky vs Virgin vs TalkTalk: Who has got the best broadband, phone and TV bundles for 2022? This speed will take account of the fall in speeds that occur during peak-time network congestion, and is more reflective of the speed a customer will receive at the point in the day that they are most likely to be using their broadband service. Under the new code, speed estimates provided to customers at the point of sale should reflect the speeds that they are likely to experience at peak times. "When you buy a broadband service (at the ‘point of sale’), you should be given some important information without having to ask for it. The official guidance on the subject reads: This accounted for fluctuations in service and protected against complaints from customers who sat at the lower end of the speed spectrum.Īs of 1 March 2019, however, Ofcom has introduced new regulation that dictates what broadband providers are allowed to advertise. Instead of saying, ‘you will have a broadband speed of XMbits/sec’ they’d word it as, ‘you could have a broadband speed of up to XMbits/sec’.
It used to be the case that many internet providers such as Sky Broadband, BT Broadband, and Virgin Media Broadband would avoid promising their customers a specific broadband speed. What should I do if my broadband speed is slower than it should be? However, you’ll need much more if you’re keen on the idea of streaming your gameplay to sites such as Twitch, while game downloads and updates will make you glad of a 20Mbits/sec or above connection.įor 4K video streaming, you’ll generally need something in the region of 15-25Mbits/sec, so you'll want to forgo a standard ADSL connection and opt for a fibre broadband package instead. Of course, it’s likely that you’ll also want to view HD streaming services, and will, therefore, need nearer 10Mbits/sec.įor online gaming, 5Mbits/sec should be enough for most games, as the ping – the delay between data leaving a server and arriving at your computer – is more crucial than absolute speed. At the bare minimum, you’ll need a 2Mbits/sec connection to browse the web, or a 5Mbits/sec connection to stream video at an acceptable quality. These days broadband speeds are measured in Megabits per second (Mbits/sec), with the headline figure (up to 100Mbits/sec) referring to the download speed. Broadband providers might try to entice you with promises of triple-digit download speeds but in reality, day-to-day internet usage doesn't require such astonishing numbers. Well, that depends on what you want to use your broadband for. READ NEXT: Best cheap broadband deals What is a good broadband speed? We'll also go over the recent Ofcom legislation that changed how you can deal with poor broadband speeds, and lastly, we'll be going over what the technical jargon actually means. To help make sense of the results you've just been given, we'll be explaining both what qualifies as a good broadband speed, and when you should consider making a switch. Hopefully, you've taken our broadband speed checker test by now.