'Third of UK postcodes' have slow broadband speeds

bigjohnuk

'Third of UK postcodes' have slow broadband speeds

A third of homes in the UK have broadband speeds well below the national average, according to research from price comparison site uSwitch.


More on the BBC News Site http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17130367

londonTiger

well based on the law of average half will be below and half will be above the average.

surprised this is from the bbc and not the daily mail.

ginnym

Err, that's not actually the case with an average - it would be for a median!

It only takes a small proportion of people with superfast speeds for the average to be pulled upwards, leaving a core of people at the opposite end who are getting left behind in the technology stakes.

It would be interesting to hear what the median speed is for the UK but the providers won't use it as it could well be much lower than the average speeds we read about so often.

On a good day I get 1.4mbps, most of my neighbours get only between 0.4 and 0.7mbps and for some people dial up is still faster! It makes even basic things like downloading security updates a real challenge, not to mention accessing media services. For businesses it can be the difference between being able to compete or going out of business. We need to stop producing reports about the issue and do something practical to sort it out.

Leodogger

I am having real problems with my internet. During the day my speed is quite good (I am paying for 10mb with Virgin). The problem is at night after 5pm, I am typing this message and the words don't appear for at least 20 or 30 seconds. Also I can get thrown onto another website whilst typing, or the screen rolls upwards. The speed is so slow, whilst I am trying to load my internet banking screens, it takes so long it times out and the link gets dropped. I did threaten to cancel my virgin service and lo and behold the next night it was faster though I failed to get a reply from Virgin. A couple of days later I was back to a crawl. Different broadband test sites seem to give different speeds also.

I think I am getting a raw deal from Virgin, does anyone else experience these problems. :mad:

eljmayes

ginnym wrote: »

Err, that's not actually the case with an average - it would be for a median!

It only takes a small proportion of people with superfast speeds for the average to be pulled upwards, leaving a core of people at the opposite end who are getting left behind in the technology stakes.

It would be interesting to hear what the median speed is for the UK but the providers won't use it as it could well be much lower than the average speeds we read about so often.

On a good day I get 1.4mbps, most of my neighbours get only between 0.4 and 0.7mbps and for some people dial up is still faster! It makes even basic things like downloading security updates a real challenge, not to mention accessing media services. For businesses it can be the difference between being able to compete or going out of business. We need to stop producing reports about the issue and do something practical to sort it out.

I totally agree- it does seem to me that the BDUK money isn't being spent yet just because they don't have a viable plan. 4G may be the interim savour for rural communities when it's rolled out next year however.

Itismehonest

eljmayes wrote: »

I totally agree- it does seem to me that the BDUK money isn't being spent yet just because they don't have a viable plan. 4G may be the interim savour for rural communities when it's rolled out next year however.

Read this earlier. I'm not sure who will be blessing 4G & who could be cursing it - I'm no techie
Had to giggle at the "Slow Broadband" article, though. We're lucky if we get 500Kbps let alone Winchelsea's 1.1Mbps. No mobile signal either.

Iain_L

I admit I have to laugh when poor souls complain that they only get 6Mbps or so. Best I ever get is 500kbps; it would be great if the promised 2Mbps minimum speed by 2015 actually happens, but somehow I doubt it will.

At least having no mobile phone towers close to us we shouldn't have problems with 4g TV interference, but of course the down side is no 4g mobile internet either.

:cool:

dave_dph

JWhite wrote: »

I think I am getting a raw deal from Virgin, does anyone else experience these problems. :mad:

Try posting into the support forums here: http://community.virginmedia.com/

It usually takes a couple of days for a response in the broadband forum, but one of the tech guys will reply and do checks for you.

Iain_L

JWhite wrote: »

I am having real problems with my internet. During the day my speed is quite good (I am paying for 10mb with Virgin). The problem is at night after 5pm, I am typing this message and the words don't appear for at least 20 or 30 seconds. Also I can get thrown onto another website whilst typing, or the screen rolls upwards. The speed is so slow, whilst I am trying to load my internet banking screens, it takes so long it times out and the link gets dropped. I did threaten to cancel my virgin service and lo and behold the next night it was faster though I failed to get a reply from Virgin. A couple of days later I was back to a crawl. Different broadband test sites seem to give different speeds also.

I think I am getting a raw deal from Virgin, does anyone else experience these problems. :mad:

Just re-read your post; please don't think my comment at #7 was directed at you. Your problem does seem to be a technical issue rather than simply routine slow speed access.

:beer:

londonTiger

but you get what i mean, i wasnt going for the technically correct explanation, im on my iphone. so gotto keep it short.

still the title third of uk homes have bb speeds slower than average is a bit silly. however way you measure the average it will lie somewhere in the middle. dont agree with "certain super fast internet connection might bring the average up". im pretty sure there would be a bell curve distribution of internet speeds

ginnym wrote: »

Err, that's not actually the case with an average - it would be for a median!

It only takes a small proportion of people with superfast speeds for the average to be pulled upwards, leaving a core of people at the opposite end who are getting left behind in the technology stakes.

It would be interesting to hear what the median speed is for the UK but the providers won't use it as it could well be much lower than the average speeds we read about so often.

On a good day I get 1.4mbps, most of my neighbours get only between 0.4 and 0.7mbps and for some people dial up is still faster! It makes even basic things like downloading security updates a real challenge, not to mention accessing media services. For businesses it can be the difference between being able to compete or going out of business. We need to stop producing reports about the issue and do something practical to sort it out.

JC_Derby

depending how you measure the post codes ( ie first 4 digits?)the surely the large majority are going to have slower than average speeds as they are outside population dense areas