How fast is your broadband?
The future, as we’re repeatedly informed, is very much online – with apps, documents, storage and even entire operating systems working almost exclusively from the internet. What if you have a rubbish internet connection though?
It’s all very well if you’re one of the population to enjoy blistering broadband speeds, but if you can cook a meal in the time it takes for the Gadget Show to load up, then online technology may be more than a little frustrating.
The average maximum broadband speed in the UK is 7.5Mbit/s. Edinburgh comes out the best in an Ofcom study, with an average maximum of 10.1Mbit/s. At present though, only 58 per cent of the UK can access superfast broadband, with 14 per cent of the country – some eight and a half million people – struggling to get 2Mbit/s at most.
This is in addition to service providers failing to deliver on promises – many offer unlimited broadband, for instance, only to cap it when you try taking full advantage. Not a problem if you’re just browsing Facebook each day, but majorly annoying if you enjoy streaming movies or video content.
We’d like to hear what you think though. Is your broadband fast and reliable enough to take advantage of all the cloud-based features, or do you find your gadgets struggling for speed?
Leave a comment and let us know whether you think the UK is ready for more Cloud-based services, or whether the infrastructure needs an overhaul first.
User comments (13)
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Mike08 July 2011
As one of the 8million people you mention, I can say that while cloud based media is an attractive proposition, it takes me long enough to sync my iTunes genius results to Apple's servers that I dont want to even consider syncing my music collection, games, films, pictures or documents. Maybe MAYBE I would be converted if I could get reasonable internet speeds however where I live, we have been told we will NEVER have broadband speeds over 1-2meg due to our street being a listed area! Apparently the only thing they can dig the street up for is to repair the victorian age water and sewage pipes!
Report as inappropriatesandeep09 July 2011
BAHAHAHAHA who actually gets 7.5mb's i live in a city and get 1.2mb/s infact my whole area is the same it's awful i cant play an online game or stream iplayer
Report as inappropriatet10 July 2011
11.9mb/s and i Iive in London. I also don't have fibreoptic broadband and i have a standard g router
Report as inappropriatesam thurlow11 July 2011
19.26mbps, @ 18:45 in the evening, with virgin fibre optic broadband
Report as inappropriatewwwwilliam12 July 2011
Average 26.7 over the last month, bt infinity
Report as inappropriatecarlbe12 July 2011
12/7/2011 19.22mbps, @ 11:12 in the morning with virgin fibre optic broadband
Report as inappropriategethin13 July 2011
Hi, I live in anglesey north wales and i only get 110kb on a broadband package of 24mb suppost to be but they say u only get 2mb but we dont.even get thats in fact 110kb really really slow, only wish we had fibre optic broadband.
Report as inappropriateDig18 July 2011
I get 248Kbps, and Xbox Live works flawlessly (most of the time). Updates render it useless for around 6 hours though, and streaming even a low quality video is unthinkable. All this cutting edge broadband for the measly sum of £17.99 per month, what a bargain.
Report as inappropriateDack21 July 2011
I get 47.8Mbs Download and 1.5Mbs Upload i do pay a hefty bill for that fibre optic rules ;-)
Report as inappropriateBurny22 July 2011
My true download speed can reach 290kb/s on a good day. Normally around the 180 mark. I can just about watch YouTube videos on a SD resolution setting, but any other form of streaming isn't even possible most of the time. I suppose I can't complain though, I do only pay £5 a month for Truly Unlimited Downloads and an "up to" 20mb connection. Thank you Sky!
Report as inappropriateRob Ellis26 July 2011
Bt infinity 25+ average, no complaints here :D
Report as inappropriatemartin31 July 2011
I live in a village just 35 miles from London. All overhead cables and copper wires. My broadband averages 3.1 and in addition endless problems with the local exchange that BT outreach seem unable to fix. Makes me laugh when I see the talk about high speed broadband. BT who maintain the network are hopeless. They should have been broken up by our useless telecoms regulators years ago
Report as inappropriateTony30 August 2011
0.2 Mbps fastest with talktalk plus. I have optimised my pc which is operating super-efficiently and fast, but the broadband speed is a joke. Can't get fibre-optics on my street :-(
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