Is your broadband speed fast enough & are you getting the internet speeds you are paying for?
If your broadband seems slow or constantly buffers we recommend testing your broadband connection. A broadband speed test can identify any problems or ongoing issues with your home broadband or business broadband.
Broadband speed is increasingly important as we stream and watch more TV and HD content over the internet at home. Use our broadband speed test to check your internet speed for free.
Test your broadband speed here:
Test provided by Meter.net
Just hit the button above to test your broadband speed in a few seconds.
How to get accurate broadband speed test results
- Plug directly into a data port on your router if you are able to, this method will eliminate any issues causing interference with wireless signals in your home or building.
- Make sure you are connected to the internet correctly. Temporarily disable your mobile data/network to make sure you are only testing your home broadband.
- If you are connected wirelessly try to ensure your connection is as strong as possible (full signal bars), move closer to your router or modem if the signal is weak.
- Ensure there are no devices streaming or online gaming while you are running a test.
- Make sure there are limited background apps running and that no updates are downloading on the device you are using to run the test.
Do you know what broadband speed you should be getting?
Check your broadband agreement, or on a recent bill. On average you should get a broadband speed equal to or better than the advertised speed. If your broadband speed is consistently slower than the advertised speed, something could be wrong with your connection, or your broadband provider might have you on a slower broadband connection to the one you signed up for.
What broadband speed do you need?
You don’t need the fastest broadband speeds to play HD or UHD content, most services recommend a minimum internet speed of 25 Mbps to 30 Mbps for 4K streaming. However the more devices you have connected simultaneously and streaming HD video, HD Television or online gaming, the more data throughput required per second. If you are experiencing issues with buffering or screen freezing perhaps it is time to look for a better broadband deal with faster speeds.
What can influence broadband speed?
Broadband speed varies across the UK, the broadband network is usually upgraded earlier in larger towns and cities, so larger population areas tend to have better accessibility and access to the fastest internet speeds. Small villages and remote, rural locations often have lower accessibility and speed via fixed line broadband. In remote locations satellite broadband services and 5G broadband services on the mobile network can offer super-fast internet connectivity.
In reality actual speeds are often a fraction of the best achievable speeds, the speed of internet services can be affected by a number of factors, including:
Traffic volume, time of day
Internet speeds can slow down at peak times, especially in densely populated areas, when everyone wants to stream content at the same time. Peak loading on local broadband networks is usually in the evenings from 6pm – 10pm.
Distance from the local exchange
ADSL connections work best the closer you live to an exchange, if you are on ADSL and live a few miles from the nearest exchange you will probably have a slower connection than those living a few metres from the exchange. Moving to a fibre connection will eliminate many issues associated with ADSL.
Local Faults
Although rare, sometimes local faults on the network can cause your internet speed to slow. If you notice slow speeds over a number of days, perform some speed tests. If speeds remain slower than you have been used to in the past, contact your broadband provider and notify them of a potential fault. If there is a local fault they will probably already know and be working to fix it.
If your broadband provider is unaware of local faults they will usually ask you to perform some more speed tests and they may get you to check your router and settings. Sometimes taking you through some router tweaks can be all that is needed to improve your speed.
Router & Router Settings
Some routers are better than others, most routers supplied by ISPs are adequate for the average home, however if you are running a business from home, if there are lots of devices connecting to the internet, all at the same time, you might want to consider buying a premium router and setting it up to better suite your needs.
Router settings can affect broadband speed, many routers now operate with dual-band, wifi outputs at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. If you have all your devices connected to one output and nothing connecting to the other you are not using your home network efficiently. As a rule of thumb its best to connect low bandwidth devices to the 2.4GHz band and high bandwidth devices like smart TV’s and games consuls to the 5GHz band. If you haven’t already, you can split your router bands in your router settings, so that each band is broadcast separately, this will allow you to easily select which band you connect specific devices to.
Viruses / Spyware / Malware
If you don’t have adequate antivirus and online security protection, your devices and network are at risk of getting infected with viruses, spyware & malware. These can affect the speed of individual devices and even your whole home network, if your modem or router gets infected.
Ensure you have up to date premium antivirus and online security apps installed on each individual connected device.
Fed up with slow, expensive broadband?
If you are fed up with persistently slow broadband and feel you are paying too much for your broadband, check out the best broadband offers in your area >
Best broadband speeds in the UK
Research by Ofcom the UK’s telecoms and communications regulator reported the median connection speed of UK home broadband was 59.4Mbps (March 2022). The difference between urban and rural download speeds has increased by 16% from the previous year, with average urban speeds at 62.1 Mbps and average rural speeds at 39.4 Mbps.
Cable internet services saw the biggest increase in speed from 2021 up 88.1 Mbps to a median average of 199.3 Mbps by March 2022.
Average median speeds for fibre to the cabinet broadband services rose 7.6Mbps to 50.2Mbps, while full fibre services (fibre to the premises) were recored at 147.3Mbps.
Statistics company Fair Internet Report have been tracking speeds across the UK for a number of years, more in depth analysis and statistics can be found at fairinternetreport.com
5G broadband on UK mobile networks
Global research group Opensignal monitor the UK 5G broadband network. Results show 3 Network has the best 5G download speeds, THREE 5G broadband speeds average at 228.4Mbps, THREE 5G broadband is 97.9 Mbps or 75% faster than second place EE, EE 5G broadbands average speed was 130.5Mbps, Vodafone 5G broadband was 105.2Mbps and O2 5G broadband was 92.3Mbps.
