The ISPs
Virgin Media, which supplies broadband through its own fibre optic network, fared the best, with its up to 10 Mbit/s service delivering and average speeds of 8.4 Mbit/s.
"Today's report emphatically demonstrates that the ‘up to' marketing claims of most copper-based broadband providers are not to be trusted, with most major ISPs delivering less than half of what they promise," a Virgin Media spokesman told HEXUS.channel.
Here's a table summarising the findings, you can read the full 113 page PDF of the report here.
|
ISP and package |
Average speed |
|
AOL ('up to' 8Mbit/s) |
3.3 to 3.9Mbit/s |
|
BT ('up to' 8Mbit/s) |
3.8 to 4.2Mbit/s |
|
O2 ('up to' 8Mbit/s)* |
4.1 to 5.1Mbit/s |
|
Orange ('up to' 8Mbit/s) |
3.8 to 4.5Mbit/s |
|
Plusnet ('up to' 8Mbit/s)* |
3.8 to 4.9Mbit/s |
|
Sky ('up to' 8Mbit/s) |
4.0 to 4.7Mbit/s |
|
Talk Talk ('up to' 8Mbit/s) |
3.8 to 4.6Mbit/s |
|
Tiscali ('up to' 8Mbit/s) |
3.2 to 3.7Mbit/s |
|
Virgin Media ('up to' 10Mbit/s) |
8.1 to 8.7Mbit/s |
Source: SamKnows measurement data for all panel members with 'up to' 8Mbit/s or 'up to' 10Mbit/s connections in April 2009.
*Data for O2 and Plusnet should be treated with caution as sampled sizes were smaller than for other ISPs.
