Category: Broadband Speed

  1. Homepage
  2. Broadband Speed
Broadband Broadband Speed Heatwave Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Advice Wi-Fi Help Wi-Fi Problems Wireless Network WLAN
Does Summer Heat Affect Your Wi-Fi? Your FAQ’s Answered

We’ve been enjoying much sunshine here in the South of the UK these last few weeks, complete with a mini heatwave back in April. Around that time some delightful media outlets were circulating articles, scaring internet users into thinking that the higher-than-usual temperatures were going to wipe out their Wi-Fi and block their broadband. So is this fact or fiction?

Despite the odd Spring rain shower here and there, we’re set for more warm weather over the next fortnight, so we thought it as good a time as any to set the record straight about Wi-Fi in hot weather and hopefully put your minds at rest by answering your frequently asked questions.  

“Will my broadband stop working in hot weather?”

The simplest answer is no. Hot weather is unlikely to disrupt your internet connection if you are exercising some common sense that you would extend to all electrical devices. In other words, if you keep your router out of direct sunlight then you’re not likely to run into heat-related problems. 

“Has a heatwave ever caused a Wi-Fi outage?”

Technically, the answer is still no. However due to an unprecedented and extreme (albeit brief) heatwave back in July 2022 where UK temperatures soared to 40 degrees for the first time, internet service providers did take measures to protect broadband cabinets. 

Over the course of 4 days, 2 of which recorded extreme temperatures, some ISP’s re-deployed engineers to monitor the cabinets and keep them as cool as possible. Hilariously, this included sheltering them from the sun with umbrellas and leaving the doors open to increase air flow. This novel approach in such unprecedented heat appeared to work, with no reported outages across various network providers.

“Can routers and other internet hardware overheat?” 

As we’re sure you are aware, most electronic devices emit at least a small amount of heat, and that includes your router. This means that theoretically, it is possible that your router could overheat in high temperatures. 

Thankfully, most manufacturers of said hardware take this into consideration when designing their devices, meaning that most are able to operate at temperatures of up to approximately 40 degrees (check with your manufacturer for specifics). 

There is a chance that devices and hardware could continue to function in temperatures exceeding their stated tolerance, but that is of course dependent on individual experience and will vary between manufacturers.

Let’s not forget that our broadband router isn’t the only device or piece of hardware that could struggle in high temperatures. Smartphones, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices could also experience problems if we were to experience a heatwave. 

“What happens if a router overheats?”

If a router becomes close to overheating or does indeed overheat, the first thing to happen will be an attempt to lower the heat output to protect itself from damage. This will likely lead to a degradation in performance instigated by the device’s processor and affect response times on the device’s user interface. This would likely then impact your LAN in terms of connection stability and Wi-Fi speed.

Most electronic devices, including routers, will restart themselves if they get too hot. Despite potentially causing your connection to drop, this should resolve itself quite quickly and cause minimal problems once it’s back online. 

Complete hardware failure due to overheating is rare, and certainly not something we would expect to see in temperatures sitting in the mid-twenties. We’ll check back in in July if we’re approaching 40 degrees again.  

Keep Your Connection Cool This Summer By Following These Warm Weather Wi-Fi Tips

Hopefully you are already in the Common Sense Club where you keep electricals out of direct sunlight and away from other sources of heat. Keep doing what you’re doing! 

Here are a few other tips to keep your Wi-Fi from wilting in the warmer weather.

  • Choose the coolest room possible to place your router. This is usually a room downstairs and with thick external walls. Of course, the coolest place in the house may not be the most conducive to a reliable, strong connection throughout your home so you will have to weigh up the pros and cons.
  • Locate your router on a surface that enables good air flow and the ability for heat to escape. Wall-mounted can be a great option, although do bear in mind whether the wall is south facing and radiating absorbed heat from outside.
  • If we were to experience a heatwave similar to the one in 2022, then purchasing a cooling mat for your router could be a useful option. An similar alternative would be to point a standard fan in the direction of the router to keep the air as cool as possible and improve air flow around the device.
  • Did you know that you can disable non-critical router services? If not then perhaps it’s best you don’t try. If yes and we’ve just reminded you, then you could try lessening the load, thus reducing heat output and hopefully increasing functionality in extreme hot weather.
  • If your router is overheating due to indoor temperatures and you don’t actually need it to be switched on, then consider turning it off for a while to cool down. We do not recommend doing this often (not more than once in a day) and especially not if you are on an DSL/ ADSL/ FTTC connection.
  • In general, older devices are less tolerant to heat and are more likely to overheat. It could be worth considering replacing an old router for a newer model if you encounter persistent connection problems in hotter weather. 

If the temperature outside is pushing 40 degrees like July 2022, then it’s likely you’ll be hanging out by the fridge door and/or dousing yourself in ice water. These might cool you down but are definitely not recommended for your router unfortunately. 

If your house is 40+ degrees and your router is struggling to function then it might be time to step away from the internet and go outside to find a shady spot with as much breeze as possible. 

But for the time being, let’s enjoy these comfortably warm mid-twenty days with a strong, steady Wi-Fi connection in one hand and a cold beer in the other.

by admin
9 Views0
Broadband Broadband Speed ISP Opensignal Report
How Does Your Broadband ISP Rank by Quality and Speed? 

Internet benchmarking firm Opensignal, the internet benchmarking firm, has published their “definitive” 2024 Fixed Broadband Experience report this December. The report looks at various UK internet service providers and then separately across 12 of its regions (inc. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), judging them in terms of performance indicators.

With people all over the country potentially relying on a strong, reliable broadband service to connect with family and friends this Christmas – Which broadband provider came out on top for 2024? This latest Opensignal report found Virgin Media to have the top performance scores on a national level. 

However, when looking at individual regions, the results differed.

How do Opensignal collect their performance data?

The data used in December’s Opensignal round-up of 2024 report uses crowdsourced data collected via their benchmarking app and services by end-users. It was collected between the 1st July and 28th September 2024. 

It’s worth noting that the following things could also affect any testing of broadband performance:

  • Poor home wiring (ADSL and FTTC lines)
  • The end-user’s choice of package (e.g. 1Gbps could be available, but people may pick a slower option)
  • Local network congestion 
  • Slow home Wi-Fi 

Interestingly, the report also includes data from some mobile broadband providers and satellite broadband services, providing notable comparisons between the more traditional broadband providers and the alternatives for places where they don’t work so well. For example, the report has data from users utilising Three UK and Starlink mobile and satellite broadband services. 

How does the Opensignal report on UK broadband categorise user experiences? 

The report categorises user experience of broadband performance based on different measurements:

  • Consistent Quality
  • Download Speed
  • Upload Speed
  • Video Experience 
  • Reliability Experience

Which ISP’s have provided the best broadband this year?

As we said at the start of this article, Virgin Media came top overall, rating the best user experiences across all 5 of the above categories. 

In simple terms, out of all of the UK’s broadband providers, users with Virgin Media during the last quarter of 2024 had:

  • The best available experience when streaming video
  • The fastest average download and upload speeds
  • The most reliable connection
  • The most consistent fixed broadband experience

If we take a look at 2 of the categories that are perhaps most of interest – Consistent Quality and Download Speeds – We can compare and rank the UK ISP’s. 

Consistent Quality
Virgin Media90.4
Vodafone88.4
Plusnet87.1
BT86.6
EE83.1
TalkTalk82.6
Sky Broadband76.9
Three UK72.3
Download Speeds Mbps
Virgin Media157.4
Vodafone77.5
BT62
Three UK54.8
Sky Broadband52.5
Plusnet52.4
TalkTalk48.8
EE45.9

It’s worth pointing out that almost all of the customer base of Virgin Media are in urban areas and are on broadband lines of 100Mbps or faster, which helps massively in this type of study. 

At the opposite end of this, providers that have connections from varied broadband technologies (ADSL, FTTC, FTTP) with a mixture of slower and faster lines are going to be at a bit of a disadvantage. 

What do Virgin Media have to say about being awarded ‘best’ ISP for 2024 by Opensignal? 

Their Director of Connectivity, Gareth Lister, said:

“We’re committed to providing our customers with fast and reliable connectivity, so being recognised by Opensignal as the best performing provider across all five categories is fantastic news. It is testament to our ongoing investment and hard work to give our customers the best broadband experience possible.”

Regional data shows smaller ISP success

When looking at the data with a more regional focus, we start to see more of the smaller UK internet service providers and alternative networks securing wins across the different categories we mentioned earlier. 

Networks like:

For the London area, CommunityFibre is a strong choice for consistent fixed broadband experience. Up in Scotland, the winner of the most performance categories was Hyperoptic broadband. And in the north of England it’s YouFibre that outperforms the other ISP’s. For Wales and Northern Ireland, Virgin Media were once again the most awarded provider. 

As much as we would love to lay out all the results by region for you here, it would take us all day! But you can have a read of the full report here, where you can check out your local region and see which broadband providers are successful in your area. 

by admin
24 Views0
Broadband Broadband Speed Home Network Home WI-Fi
Are You Paying for Broadband Speeds You Don’t Actually Need? 

According to GoCompare, you could be one of 9.5 million UK homes that are paying for broadband speeds you don’t even need. 

34% Paying for Broadband Speeds They Don’t Need

Comparison website Go.Compare have recently shared a new survey where data gathered from YouGov and some other sources claim to show that 34% of respondents are paying for broadband speeds that they don’t actually need. This equates to 9.5 million households, with an estimated £53 million spent each month on “unused speeds” – That’s £637 million per year!). 

These findings appear to show that most British households are paying for some of the fastest broadband speeds. 34% have speeds exceeding 150 Mbps, when only 21% of internet users actually need broadband as fast as this. 

27% are paying for broadband speeds of between 51 and 100 Mbps, when actually only 12% of internet users are thought to need speeds in this range. 

On the other end of the scale, only 3% are settling for the slowest speeds of 15 Mbps or less, but for 13% of users this would actually be enough. 

So how much are people overpaying by? 

Go.Compare suggests that those who are indeed overpaying on their broadband speeds, are spending an average of £5.58 more per month on their broadband than they really need to. Over the course of a year, that’s £66.96 wasted. That’s enough to cover a standard Netflix subscription, or buy the family a couple more Christmas presents!

Users on that lower end of the scale, who are only needing 15 Mbps, tend to be the ones that are overpaying the most (only 4% of those that need just 15 Mbps are actually only paying for the amount). 

1 in 10 of these particular users said that they pay for some of the fastest speeds at over 150 Mbps – Even though their usage would be fine on the slowest offerings. In these cases, the over-spending a month is around £9 – That’s a waste of £113 per year!

What are these findings based on?

To be able to estimate the number of Brits supposedly overpaying for their broadband speeds, Go.Compare first needed to identify the speeds needed by different groups of internet users. They did this using a YouGov survey. 

To identify these groups, respondents were asked what they used their broadband for and how many people were in the household. These responses were then compared to the internet speeds required to meet these needs. 

The data for this isn’t something we ourselves can see, so we can’t actually check it. 

Each of these groups were then asked what internet speeds they were paying for, to enable them to identify how many of the respondents were overpaying for their broadband. 

This number was then applied to the overall number of broadband users in the survey to estimate the percentage of broadband users overpaying. This percentage was then applied to the estimated number of UK households using broadband to estimate the number of households overpaying.

Are there problems with the approach used to reach these findings?

There are a couple of issues which could potentially affect the reliability of these findings. 

85% of UK home premises are now within reach of a gigabit-capable broadband network. The entry level speeds for these are approximately 100 Mbps. There are slower options available, but these are usually in non-FTTP areas. The price difference is often small, and copper-based packages like FTTC or ADSL2+ aren’t vastly cheaper. 

Now let’s talk about how we define ‘need.’ On a day to day basis, you might not necessarily need a 500 Mbps+ download or upload speed. However, one day it snows and you can’t get to work so you’re working remotely and now need to transfer a large backup file. Or perhaps a new video game is released and your teenager absolutely must have it now, within seconds, or minutes maximum!! Not a slow download over many hours. Suddenly, the prospect of getting these things done quickly holds a lot of value. So whilst on a general day-to-day basis you could very well get by on a slower broadband speed, a faster one could come in very handy every now and then, potentially making the cost of that faster connection worthwhile. 

So perhaps paying for that faster speed wouldn’t necessarily be viewed as overpaying – But ensuring you have a reliable, better quality broadband delivered to home if and when you need it most. 

What do you think? 

by admin
15 Views0
4G Mobile Broadband Broadband Broadband Speed Digital Infrastructure Rural Broadband Satellite Broadband Starlink Wi-Fi
Broadband Boost for 300K+ Rural Homes with £800m Government Pledge 

If you live or work in a remote area in England, Scotland or Wales then you may unfortunately know all to well that many remote areas across the UK are left with slow internet speeds, causing a digital divide between rural and urban areas. 

The UK Government aims to tackle this problem that 312,000 rural homes face, by investing £800 million in upgrading broadband infrastructure for those affected. 

The Government’s digital strategy is to achieve full gigabit broadband coverage across the UK by 2030, of which this investment will be a part. 

Rural Regions Struggle to Connect

The CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, Elizabeth Anderson, has spoken about how millions across England, Scotland and Wales are still struggling to access even some of the basic online services due to poor connectivity. This is especially prevalent in rural areas. Anderson is pleased to see ‘the government’s renewed push to roll out improved broadband.”

Strong, reliable internet isn’t a luxury or a ‘nice to have’ commodity. In today’s digital world, broadband internet is a necessity and should and is considered to be an important utility, just like electricity and heating. 

Anderson says, “Connectivity must be viewed as a core part of modern life in the digital age…, and continued investment such as this project is needed to ensure millions aren’t left digitally excluded.”

Gaps in coverage must be addressed so that rural communities have the same access to online services as those in urban areas. Nowadays, many essential services such as healthcare and education are moving online so having the necessary connectivity to reach these services is vital. 

High-Speed Connections Must Be Affordable

Making sure rural properties have accessible high-speed internet connections isn’t the only hurdle that digital poverty work needs to tackle – It’s the cost too. 

Once these connections to high speed broadband are made available to those in more remote areas of England, Scotland and Wales, the Government must also ensure that the monthly costs of having these connections are affordable. 

We continue to be in a cost-of-living crisis, and it’s important that costs of high-speed internet doesn’t inhibit connecting people in rural areas. 

Rural Areas Left Behind in Digital Revolution

It’s clear that harder to reach areas in rural are remote locations across England, Scotland and Wales have been somewhat left behind when it comes to digital revolution and the Government is aiming to rectify this. 

The digital inequality between rural and urban areas is set to be reduced, ensuring that all parts of the country have access to and can benefit from high-speed internet access. 

In some of these more remote regions, online access has been hindered by outdated infrastructure. In real terms, this means that residents in rural areas face difficulties when trying to perform the simplest of online tasks, for example, streaming video, taking video calls and downloading large files. Things many people in urban areas very much take for granted. 

The Government’s initiative and investment will look at targeting these affected regions to bring them faster internet access. 

We’ve already said how essential it is for communities to have access to fast broadband in today’s digital world, and these new upgrades will make sure that rural communities will gain access to faster, more reliable broadband. 

Wales Set for Large-Scale Broadband Upgrade

This project has highlighted that Wales, for the first time, has the lowest percentage of gigabit coverage in the UK. Rural regions like the South Wales Valleys, Exmoor National Park and the Forest of Bowland are set to benefit from a large-scale broadband upgrade, with significant improvements reducing the digital poverty gap with more urbanised areas.  

This will mean that millions more people will have access to affordable, fast broadband. Rural communities shouldn’t have to struggle with second-rate broadband infrastructure just because they don’t live in an urban area. They still need to access vital online services and require the digital infrastructure to do so. The good news is, the technology required to power fibre broadband, intelligent software and adapting demands by both residents and businesses is more affordable and accessible than before. 

The Government has taken a good step forward with their digital strategy and £800m pledge, but we also need the telecoms industry to take some responsibility to help reduce the digital divide. 

Thankfully, there is good motivation industry-wide for committing to the efficient deployment of networks in rural areas. 

The crux of the matter is, as a nation we need higher bandwidth to keep up with what work and education expects of us from home and in the office. This needs to be widely available across both rural and urban areas, as well as being affordable for all. 

We have high hopes that combining industry collaboration with government funding and digital strategy will provide great outcomes for rural connectivity across England, Scotland and Wales. 

Geekabit Can Help with Rural Connectivity

It’s fantastic that better, faster broadband connectivity is on the way for rural residents and businesses. But what about those of you who need a strong, reliable, fast internet connection now? 

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get online and constantly find that you’re dropping out or buffering. 

Our team of Wi-Fi engineers here at Geekabit have various options when it comes to rural connectivity. We’ve helped countless clients connect their remote, rural business premises to more reliable internet via Starlink satellite broadband and mobile broadband options. 

If you are interested in how our Starlink and 4G installation services could help your business, please do get in touch with our friendly team today. We cover Wales out of our Cardiff base, the South Coast of England from our Winchester base and of course London. 

4G mobile broadband or Starlink satellite internet could be just the alternative to fibre that your business needs. 

by admin
4 Views0
Broadband Broadband Speed Connectivity Fibre Broadband FTTP IoT Devices Superfast broadband Ultrafast broadband
Confusing UK Broadband Terminology Found By ‘4th Utility’ Survey

Internet Service Provider 4th Utility published results of a new survey last month, reporting that among the 2000 respondents there was a major lack of understanding of vital broadband terms amongst consumers. 

4th Utility is an ISP who is currently in the midst of deploying a gigabit speed FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) network to large residential buildings and UK homes. Despite the fact that the term ‘full fibre’ is widely used and that the service is ‘being used by most UK households’, surprisingly their recent ‘Great British Broadband Survey’ found that just 1 in 5 residents actually know what that means. 

What Does ‘Full Fibre’ Broadband Mean?

Just in case you’re one of the 1 in 5 who aren’t sure what full fibre broadband refers to, full fibre broadband means that your home is directly connected to the exchange using fibre optic cables. 

Standard fibre cables are connected to your home via a street cabinet (so fibre cables from the exchange to the street cabinet and then different cables from the street cabinet to your home). This service uses older copper cables to connect to your home, which are an older technology and less reliable than fibre cables.  

28% Have Adopted Full Fibre Network, Ofcom Says

Whilst 4th Utility claims that full fibre is ‘already being used by most households,’ Ofcom says differently. 

Full fibre might be available to most UK households, but not all those who are able to adopt the service have done so. According to Ofcom, only 28% of households able to get a full fibre network have adopted the service. 

Coverage is not the same as take up! 

Is Broadband Baffling?

Despite the slight confusion about full fibre coverage and take up, the fact remains that many consumers are bewildered about broadband terms.

Some respondents said they still weren’t sure what full fibre meant, even after they had had it explained to them. 20% of the 2000 people surveyed said they weren’t sure whether they had the service in their home after having it explained to them, 25% said they didn’t have it and the remaining 45% said they did have full fibre in their home. 

Let’s run through some of the other terms that the respondents found confusing, as well as their meanings.

What is Bandwidth?

Only 9% of the respondents knew what bandwidth means. Network bandwidth is a measurement indicating the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to transmit data over a network connection. 

Bandwidth specifically refers to the capacity at which a network can transmit data. For example, if the bandwidth of a network is 60 Mbps, it implies that the network cannot transmit data faster than 60 Mbps in any given case.

What does FTTP mean?

FTTP stands for fibre to the premises and is a type of fibre optic broadband. FTTP is supplied by fibre optic cables from your local internet exchange — a physical location where network providers transmit internet data — directly to your business’s premises.

What is meant by ‘Superfast’ broadband?

Superfast broadband is a broad category of speeds, running from 30Mbps to 100Mbps. The faster your broadband speed, the faster you can download files, movies and games.

Superfast speeds usually reach homes via a part-fibre broadband connection, which uses fibre-optic cables up until the local street cabinet, and then copper phone lines for the final leg of the journey to your home.

Some form of superfast broadband is available to 97% of the UK from the majority of internet service providers, and in many cases is actually more affordable than slower, old-fashioned ADSL connections, especially if you happen to be out of contract on an ADSL package.

Some full fibre deals will offer superfast speeds too, but they come with the capability to boost your speed much further – all the way up to 1Gbps.

What is ‘Ultrafast’ internet?

Ultrafast broadband is generally considered any broadband connection that supplies 100Mbps or faster.

The telecoms regulator Ofcom defines ultrafast as “broadband which offers download speeds of at least 300 Mbps”. However, some providers that use the ultrafast broadband term don’t offer those speeds.

Several broadband providers use the term ‘ultrafast broadband’ to refer to their top-end broadband packages. However, providers use different technologies to deliver their broadband services to your home, and as a result the speeds they can offer also differ significantly.

It can sound confusing, but the general rule of thumb is, that if a provider is labelling a package as ultrafast broadband, it’s one of the fastest packages they provide. 

The fastest broadband you can get might not necessarily be the fastest broadband available on the market. It might not even be the fastest broadband your next-door neighbour can get. If you’re not sure what types of broadband are available where you live, you can check to see what the fastest broadband in your area is with the Uswitch postcode checker.

What does Internet of Things mean?

Just 8% of the people surveyed knew what Internet of Things (IoT) meant. The term IoT, or Internet of Things, refers to the collective network of connected devices and the technology that facilitates communication between devices and the cloud, as well as between the devices themselves.

Key Findings of 4th Utility ‘Great British Broadband Survey’

Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting findings from 4th Utility’s recent survey. 

What utility nightmare do Brits fear the most? 

  • 30% feared a boiler breakdown as the biggest utility nightmare
  • 23% were worried about a water leak
  • 13% were concerned about a total blackout causing utility problems
  • 12% of those surveyed considered a broadband outage as a utility nightmare

Slow internet causing household arguments

20% of respondents reported having slow internet at least 3 times per month, and 1 in 3 said it happened twice a month. Over half of those surveyed (51%) said that slow Wi-Fi caused heated arguments in their household, happening to 3 in 10 people a few times a month, or more. 

Over 50% of those surveyed said that they have broadband speed issues, with 14% of those saying it was a weekly occurrence. However, the root cause of those speed issues seemed to be challenging to identify, with 7% of respondents saying they thought that not turning their router off at night was the reason for their problems…

What do UK residents pay for broadband?

Of the 2000 people surveyed, nearly half said they pay over £30 per month for their broadband connection. 1 in 10 people said their broadband bill came to £50 or more per month. The average price for broadband per month was £33.52 for UK households. 

Broadband Bewilderment is Nothing New

Here at Geekabit, we might be experts at all things Wi-Fi and wireless connectivity, but even we can sympathise with people getting confused over all the acronyms and terminology when it comes to broadband. It’s no wonder consumers feel a bit baffled. 

It’s not a new problem, and it doesn’t help that those in charge (regulators and government) seem to like to change the definitions of things fairly often. 

The threshold for ‘superfast’ broadband and download speeds has changed from 24 Mbps to 30 Mbps+ (to match with the EU). And with ‘ultrafast’ speeds on the scene, the speed of ‘superfast’ may be questionable anyways.  

Many in the Wi-Fi industry think of ‘ultrafast’ broadband as being 100 Mbps+, whereas Ofcom defines it as 300 Mbps+, so no wonder consumers feel confused at all the jargon. 

Often the best course of action is to look at what services are available to your premises, and then compare the advertised speeds from different providers. At the end of the day, even if you don’t know all the lingo, all you need to ensure is that you have an internet service that works, at the speeds you have been promised. 

New Ofcom Guidelines to be Introduced Later This Year 

Perhaps most annoyingly, some ISP’s use terms like ‘fibre’ broadband and ‘full fibre’ when it’s not strictly the truth. For example, using the term ‘fibre broadband’ to describe connections like FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) when it’s actually slower, hybrid-fibre connections. 

Ofcom’s new guidelines will mean that ISP’s will only be able to use terms like ‘fibre’ and ‘full fibre’ broadband when their network actually brings fibre optic cables all the way to your home (ie. FTTP/B). These new guidelines should help make things clearer for consumers, and will come in later in 2024. 

by admin
7 Views0
4G 5G Broadband Broadband Speed Fibre Broadband FTTP Mobile Network Wi-Fi
UK Broadband Speeds Vs The World – How did 2023 Compare to 2022?

Is it even a new year if we’re not looking back over the previous one analysing every little thing? What was done well? What could be improved upon? What do we hope the new yera will bring? 

The tech world is really no different. We were interested to look back on how the UK performed in comparison with the rest of the world when it came to fixed broadband and mobile broadband (4G and 5G) speeds during 2023 and how that compared to the previous year. 

How does the UK compare to the rest of the world when it comes to fixed line and mobile broadband?

If you’re here for the fast answer: In a ranking of the top fastest countries, the UK was 51st (a fall from 44th during 2022) for mobile broadband and came 56th for fixed lines.

You can see the full report over at www.Speedtest.net from Ookla. This service benchmarks internet connections from around the world by publicly tracking the data available. 

Whilst it remains true that mobile and fixed line broadband can of course be affected by other factors within each individual connection (like slow Wi-Fi between the router and user device, local network congestion, package choice by individual consumers, the server performance of speedtest.net itself) this is also true for all the countries included so it shouldn’t be enough to affect the results significantly. 

FAQ’s on the Data

When is the speedtest.net data collected?

The data is collected in November each year. 

What average is used for the data speeds?

The figures are all ‘median‘ averages.

What is the main differentiator for speeds between countries?

The main differentiator for speeds between countries tends to stem from the balance between network availability and the take-up of faster connection types. 

Countries will rank highest in the table when they have a high coverage of gigabit-capable broadband networks and/ or strong 5G mobile services (with plenty of radio spectrum to harness).

How are the UK doing when it comes to mobile and fixed line broadband?

Over the past year we’ve seen a consistently strong improvement in terms of the availability of faster fixed and mobile networks here in the UK. 

It was recently revealed by Ofcom that 1Gbps capable fixed gigabit broadband networks had reached 78% (up from 70% in 2022), and full fibre / FTTP lines were at 57% (up from 42%).

5G mobile is now available from at least one mobile network operator in approximately 85-93% of UK premises (which is up from 67-78% in 2022). 

What Were the Top 50 Fastest Countries for Broadband in 2023?

During 2023, across the world we have seen a continued improvement in fixed and mobile broadband speeds.

Unfortunately, despite big improvements in the UK in terms of full fibre and 5G coverage, we are still quite low down on the rankings compared with other countries who are seemingly able to improve their real-world performance at a faster (or at least similar) pace. 

What’s the issue we’re facing in the UK? It could be partly down to the take-up of full fibre and gigabit-capable broadband lines in the UK. We are still in quite an early phase of adoption – Typically it takes 2-3 year for growth and adoption to stabilise for new networks. 

You might be interested in what country came top for fastest download speeds for fixed line and mobile broadband. The tables and charts below illustrate the ranking of the top 50 fastest countries in the world for fixed and mobile broadband. 

Fastest 50 Countries for Fixed Broadband Speed (DL) in 2023
Country (2023)MbpsCountry (2022)Mbps
Singapore264.15Singapore219.57
Hong Kong (SAR)263.07Chile219.34
Chile248.65China203.5
United Arab Emirates235.72Hong Kong (SAR)198.24
China230.39Thailand196.46
Thailand218.94United States182.63
United States215.72Denmark174.67
Denmark206.8United Arab Emirates166.53
Iceland204.8Japan165.53
France200.99Macau (SAR)159.8
Romania191.36Spain157.31
Spain189.37Romania155.07
Monaco187.49Switzerland143.46
Switzerland187.48Monaco142.03
Netherlands177.88France139.73
Japan170.29New Zealand134.19
Canada165.67Canada127.54
New Zealand163.16Hungary119.36
Macau (SAR)160.52Taiwan119.03
Taiwan157.55Liechtenstein118.07
Andorra156.9Netherlands117.74
Kuwait153.58Portugal116.57
Liechtenstein152.22Andorra115.39
Portugal150.45Panama110.96
Hungary149.85Kuwait110.07
Panama148.76Norway106.3
Israel144.81Moldova105.22
Uruguay143.06Sweden105.01
South Korea139.83South Korea99.87
Brazil136.92Uruguay97.48
Poland133.35Brazil95.95
Sweden127.33Poland95.59
Qatar127.04Israel95.54
Norway123.63Luxembourg93.95
Luxembourg117.66Finland93.79
Colombia111.65Malta92.27
Malaysia110.8Lithuania91.5
Jordan109.58Malaysia90.24
Moldova108.2Saint Lucia87.67
Malta108.19Qatar87.33
Vietnam104.08Colombia87.24
Lithuania103.26Belgium85.31
Finland102.43Saudi Arabia85.1
Saudi Arabia102.41Trinidad and Tobago82.94
Trinidad and Tobago100.68Barbados81.92
Saint Lucia99.96Dominica79.83
Ireland94.62Vietnam78.87
Peru93.52Slovenia78.81
Barbados92.96Germany77.34
Philippines91.08Saint Vincent and the Grenadines76.86
Country (2023)MbpsCountry (2022)Mbps
United Arab Emirates269.41United Arab Emirates138.82
Qatar206.8Norway129.81
Kuwait191.74Qatar126.03
China164.14South Korea125.17
Macau (SAR)155.75China113.5
Norway146.02Netherlands109.45
South Korea145.25Denmark109.29
Denmark143.63Bulgaria106.88
Bulgaria142.07Kuwait102.73
Iceland139.52Saudi Arabia97.81
Netherlands119.34Brunei97.37
Saudi Arabia106.01Australia87.76
United States103.69Luxembourg83.14
Australia97.44Switzerland82.91
Bahrain97.19Bahrain82.67
Sweden97.07Sweden82.1
Finland95.48Finland76.27
Croatia89.51Canada74.77
Singapore89.45Croatia74.35
Switzerland89.45Singapore74.19
Canada87.85Macau (SAR)73.67
Luxembourg85.76North Macedonia73.62
Brunei85.13United States72.34
Lithuania84.8Lithuania67.1
France82.6Cyprus66.33
North Macedonia81.98Taiwan65.93
Austria78.92New Zealand63.15
India75.86Portugal62.19
Taiwan75.77Austria61.25
Portugal75.71Hong Kong (SAR)61.12
Greece72.45Maldives61.09
New Zealand72.32Greece60.57
Estonia72.07France60.54
Hong Kong (SAR)69.59Belgium59.68
Belgium68.54Estonia58.59
Maldives67.59Montenegro57.36
Cyprus67.37Germany57.27
Malaysia66.84Slovenia54.3
Oman66.02Malta50.68
Uruguay66Oman50.03
Germany64.74Serbia47.78
Latvia64.42Suriname46.09
Malta61.03Latvia45.99
Slovenia60.52United Kingdom45.57
Czechia56.11Slovakia43.95
Montenegro53.16Iran42.95
Serbia52.41Japan42.93
Romania50.95Czechia42.24
Albania50.06Hungary42.11
Brazil47.98Romania40.62
Performance Categories (Download)20232022
UK Country Rank for Fixed Line56th56th
Global Latency – Fixed Line9ms10ms
Global Upload – Fixed Line40.45Mbps31.16Mbps
Global Download – Fixed Line87.79Mbps72.40Mbps
UK Latency – Fixed Line13ms14ms
UK Upload – Fixed Line24.58Mbps18.55Mbps
UK Download – Fixed Line84.93Mbps69.76Mbps
Performance Categories (Upload)20232022
UK Country Rank for Mobile51st44th
Global Latency – Mobile27ms28ms
Global Upload – Mobile11.03Mbps9.05Mbps
Global Download – Mobile48.47Mbps33.43Mbps
UK Latency – Mobile34ms36ms
UK Upload – Mobile7.24Mbps7.33Mbps
UK Download – Mobile47.65Mbps45.57Mbps
by admin
11 Views0
4G 4G Mobile Broadband 4G Router 5G 5G Mobile Broadband 5G Router Broadband Broadband Speed Business Broadband Speeds Business Wi-Fi Connectivity Mobile Broadband Project Gigabit Satellite Broadband Satellite Internet Starlink Wi-Fi
Is Your Business the 1 in 5 with Insufficient Internet Speeds? 

Business leaders and decision makers from 160 UK companies were surveyed on their businesses broadband speeds during June 2023 by Neos Networks – 1 in every 5 were found to have broadband speeds that were insufficient. 

Furthermore, 42% of those surveyed planned to move to a higher capacity connection during the next two years as part of their key growth plans. 

Investment in Connectivity

Over the previous 2 years, 11.2% of respondents who had already invested in connectivity said it had a direct impact on their business profitability. 

And it’s not just profitability that’s impacted by good connectivity in business. 98.3% of surveyed businesses said it also impacted:

  • Productivity
  • Staff retention
  • Client collaboration

Why Are Businesses Prioritising Higher Capacity Connectivity?

Why might businesses prioritise higher capacity connectivity? Better performing broadband impacting many parts of the business, including:

  • Increased computer power (22.4%)
  • Operational development in terms of more data and higher capacity requirements (21.2%)
  • Greater device usage for each employee (11.6%)

With the prevalence of AI being used in business, this also influenced decisions to improve and increase connectivity with 1 in 10 businesses actively looking to increase connectivity in order to better integrate AI into their business processes.

What Is The Negative Impact of Insufficient Broadband Speeds in Business?

Poor internet connectivity, speed and/or reliability doesn’t just negatively impact employee productivity and retention, it can also cause businesses to risk losing a customer or client. 55.6% of businesses surveyed felt like they were at risk of losing custom down to poor internet. 

Has Project Gigabit Had A Notable Impact on Business Broadband?

The businesses being surveyed were asked if they felt their business had felt a notable impact from Project Gigabit, of which 52.5% said yes. 

Project Gigabit is a £5 billion government broadband plan aiming to deliver next-generation gigabit broadband to over a million households and businesses across the UK. You can read about their progress here. 

Project Gigabit didn’t actually start to award contracts until August 2022, so it’s possible that the above percentage figure is reflective of respondents including other similar schemes (like the Gigabit voucher and GigaHubs Dark Fibre) or other commercial upgrades to broadband services. 

Let’s Focus on the Positives

It’s clear that businesses are seeking high-capacity connections to keep up with new technologies as well as support their employees and customers. 

Of course, businesses that are based in more rural areas may well be part of the 1 in 5 businesses without sufficient broadband speeds that need improved network accessibility to achieve better connectivity. Other means of connecting to the internet may be useful, such as mobile internet through the likes of 4G/5G routers or Satellite broadband like Starlink. 

But if 1 in 5 businesses don’t have sufficient broadband, that means that 4 in 5 do! Recent data from Think Broadband suggests that only 21% of UK premises are yet to be reached by gigabit-capable broadband. That means 79% of business premises in the UK are covered by a broadband connection that is gigabit-capable. 

By 2030, the UK government is hoping to reach their target of having nationwide coverage. Network operators are hoping for more support so that they are able to help businesses with poor connectivity sooner than that. 

Rural businesses may be able to improve their connection through AltNet options. AltNet are alternative network providers offering fibre broadband packages. Although smaller in scale, AltNets compete with the UK and England’s big brand internet service providers. AltNets offer their own full fibre connections and don’t rely on the Openreach network and can sometimes offer higher upload speeds in comparison to the major network providers.

This could mean that rural businesses in hard to reach locations could have access to better internet services sooner than the national telecoms provider can offer, giving them next generation speeds like 2.5, 3 and 10 gigabit services across certain networks before national providers have even started trials. 

Let’s also remember that even though 1 in 5 businesses are receiving insufficient broadband, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have access to it via other networks. There might be other options to the one they are currently using. 

The broadband demands of differing businesses also vary hugely. A graphic design studio or video editing company would need higher speed internet than a takeaway shop that could rely on a slower link. 

As always, these types of surveys should be taken with a pinch of salt. Whilst it is undeniable that there are 1 in 5 businesses with insufficient broadband, there should be options for them to explore like mobile broadband and satellite broadband like Starlink. 

Can we help your business improve its broadband connection?

If your business is struggling with a poor internet connection, then get in touch with our expert Wi-Fi engineers who will be able to advise if mobile broadband or Starlink satellite broadband could be a viable option for you. Give us a call or drop us an email today and let’s get it sorted. 

by admin
9 Views0
Broadband Broadband Speed Connectivity Download Speed FTTP
Fixed Broadband Speeds: Europe vs UK 

Opensignal, the leading global provider of independent insight and data into network experience and market performance, have recently released a new study looking at fixed broadband speeds across Europe (28 countries).

The data published in this research finds that the UK has placed quite poorly when judged against its peers. For downloads, the UK is around the middle of the table, but closer to the bottom for uploads. 

How do they collect the data?

The results collected are based on crowdsourced data (data collected from a large number of sources direct from customers), in this case from consumer speedtests. 

For this reason, they don’t necessarily paint an accurate picture of network capability or availability. However, as the data has been collected in the same way across all the countries looked at, the results can offer some insights into the speed of fixed broadband across Europe. 

The data set in this study was collected between the 1st April and 27th September 2023. 

How does the UK compare to Europe when it comes to fixed broadband speed? 

Download Speeds

Coming out on top with the best broadband speeds from the data collected, both France and Spain scored a median average download speed of 121 Mbps and 114.4 Mbps respectively. 

The UK sits in the middle of the table with a download speed of 66.1 Mbps.

Coming slowest was Greece with a slow download speed of 36.5 Mbps. 

Upload Speeds

Spain again topped the table for upload speeds with an average of 91.4 Mbps. They were closely followed by France with an average upload speed of 88.5 Mbps. 

UK were found towards the bottom of the table with an average upload speed of just 20.6 Mbps. 

Again right at the bottom of the table was Greece, with an average upload speed of 7.3 Mbps. 

Opensignal-UK-vs-EU-Broadband-Speeds-Q3-2023

With thanks to Opensignal for the imagery.

Why are UK download speeds slower than almost half of Europe? 

When looking at the results found, we need to consider that much of Europe is already using full fibre FTTP coverage. The UK is behind these European countries, which goes some way to explaining the results of this data set. 

Don’t fret though – There is good news! The UK are on the path to rapidly catching up with their European peers, but these things take time. 

Although Opensignal is one of the better organisations for collecting and analysing this type of data, remember that performance testing of this nature doesn’t always tell the entire story.

by admin
7 Views0

© 2019 GEEKABIT LTD | UK WI-FI CONSULTANT | WI-FI EXPERTS FOR BUSINESS | WI-FI HELP LONDON, CARDIFF, HAMPSHIRE | WI-FI ASSISTANCE HAMPSHIRE