Broadband providers mislead users

It has emerged that internet providers may be misleading us about the speed of their broadband.

Over 50 percent of us hooked up to the internet, are on packages which include broadband speeds of 10 megabytes per second (Mbps) or higher, but the average speed we actually receive is 6.8Mbps.

It is a rare moment when we aren’t bombarded with advertisements from companies claiming their internet is faster than their competitors’ broadband but a recent survey by uSwitch has revealed surprising results. If you’re surfing the net during peak times (7pm-9pm), you could be subject to much slower internet speeds. This decrease in speed can be as drastic as 69 percent, with the average decrease still being 35 percent.

The speed of your peak-time internet is also influenced by geography. Users could expect more significant drops in speed in Worcestershire or Western-super-Mare (69 percent and 64 percent respectively). Anyone browsing in rural parts of the country could see a slightly better service with only a 50 percent drop.

The report recommends 2am-3am as the best time to be online to get the highest internet speeds. As students, we can probably expect to be online at this time more than most due to our latest assignment/YouTube session/Facebook chat (delete as necessary), but this isn’t practical for the less nocturnal in our society.

According to new rules, soon to be implemented by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), internet companies will no longer be able to advertise their broadband speeds in such a misleading way. A minimum 10 percent of users on a provider’s package must receive the internet speed that is advertised to accompany that package. If many users don’t get the advertised speed, that must also be clear.

Can we expect a sudden decrease in advertised internet speeds or will companies actually provide users with the speed it was claimed we would receive? Only time will tell.