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Geekabit Deploys Wi-Fi Solution to New Gastropub in Historic Space in Farnham, Surrey

This week on the blog we’re excited to share the completion of a recent Wi-Fi project for a client over in Farnham, Surrey. 

Find out how our Wi-Fi engineering experts helped to transform this remarkable historic space into a well-connected Gastropub.

The Venue

Third Monkey is a new Gastropub, Restaurant and Cocktail Bar providing high-end hospitality and fun family dining in the heart of Farnham. 

The historic building was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the late 1800’s and whilst much of his original architecture will remain, the updated premises will boast 2 floors of buzzing atmosphere plus a roof terrace. 

The building has been used as The South Street Social Club in recent years, formerly known as the Liberal Club, but closed back in 2023 due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic as well as other factors. 

Now under new owners, Third Monkey and its Executive Chef are breathing new life into this notable building, bringing with it ‘refined yet relaxed’ vibes through its welcoming Gastropub on the ground floor, and a more elevated dining experience in the Restaurant and Cocktail Bar upstairs. And let’s not forget the Rooftop Terrace complete with weekend DJ’s providing a late-night destination venue for Surrey’s most sought-after town. 

You can find this exciting new venue at 46 South Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7RP.

Expert Wi-Fi Solution for Historic Premises Turned Gastropub

Wi-Fi Site Survey

As with all new Wi-Fi projects, we started with a Wi-Fi Survey. This is Geekabit’s key tool in analysing the performance of your network and helping to diagnose issues. 

As you can imagine, a historic building built in the 1800’s isn’t going to have been designed with Wi-Fi in mind! Unlike modern constructions, this type of building can present unique challenges for signal penetration and Wi-Fi infrastructure installation. Therefore, carrying out a thorough Wi-Fi site survey is vital.

Upon visiting, it was clear that the Third Monkey, was a completely fresh and new fit-out –
and we could get involved at the earliest stages to ensure that the possibilities for Wi-Fi
access point placement could work with the new building materials being used.

In this instance for Third Monkey, we used the information gathered during the Wi-Fi Site Survey to advise on the necessary networking equipment required as well as Fibre WAN providers. 

Wi-Fi Installation

Whilst some may think that installing Wi-Fi isn’t much more than sticking a box on the ceiling and plugging it in, there is actually a great deal more thought and expertise that goes into it if you want a successful Wi-Fi network. 

There’s little point in carrying out a Wi-Fi Site Survey to identify how to equip a historic building such as this with robust internet connectivity, if you’re not going to follow it up with expert installation.

For Third Monkey, Geekabit completed a full Wi-Fi Installation using one of our favoured brands Ubiquiti Wi-Fi and Ubiquiti network equipment. 

This Wi-Fi network deployment included:

  • Full data network installation
  • Network design
  • Data network cabinet installation
  • Termination of Cat 6 ethernet cabling
  • Setting up of network security devices
  • Commissioning of equipment, Wi-Fi configuration and optimisation, and post-installation Wi-Fi Site Survey

A big part of any Wi-Fi Installation also involves effectively co-ordinating with other suppliers and installers to enhance network efficiency and security. 

Of course, we round off any Wi-Fi deployment right back where we started – With a Wi-Fi Site Survey. This ensures we leave our clients with their optimum Wi-Fi network.

Our Wi-Fi engineers are also on hand to provide ongoing Network Support, Wi-Fi Management and Wi-Fi Guest Portal services. Another benefit of bringing in the expertise and knowledge of a Wi-Fi professional. 

Why Robust Wi-Fi is a Must for Hospitality Businesses

Despite the potential complexities that using a historic building for a modern use can have, this project shows that the two can indeed go hand-in-hand. 

We know how vital it is for hospitality businesses to have reliable Wi-Fi. A strong wireless network is not only essential for operational efficiency (ie. supporting POS systems and internal communications) but also in enhancing customer experience through Guest Wi-Fi. 

This particular hospitality venue is striving for a refined yet relaxed atmosphere, offering diverse customer experiences from casual dining to a late-night rooftop terrace. For this venue and others, seamless Wi-Fi connectivity underpins the ability to deliver high-quality service and attract a contemporary clientele, ultimately contributing to its success and reputation.

This Wi-Fi installation for Third Monkey demonstrates perfectly how you can take the charm of a historic building and bring it up to date with the modern amenities we come to expect from a high-end venue. Strong, reliable Wi-Fi is a must. 

Steve Cross, Director at Geekabit, comments: 

“We’ve been impressed by the team at the Third Monkey, who have been passionate advocates for ensuring they work with specialists in each field to create a high quality fit-out and venue that really raises the concept of the gastropub and restaurant. From an initial site survey visit, through to the entire Wi-Fi and network installation, we’ve been able to support the transformation of an historic space into a great addition to the Surrey town of Farnham.”

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Broadband Performance: A Must-Have for Estate Agents to Showcase Dream Properties

A recent survey highlights the critical importance for estate agents to offer broadband performance reports when marketing properties, particularly “dream property” offerings.

Recent research suggests that Estate Agents should be focusing on providing home buyers with broadband performance reports if they want to meet the criteria of buyers dream homes. 

The top ranked factor for the ‘dream home’ wish list when looking for a new property was reliable internet.

UK based platform Compare My Move assists home buyers, sellers, landlords and movers with the whole property buying process. They commissioned research with Front Door Comms and OnePoll, creating an online survey of 2,000 adults based in the UK, naturally representative of age, gender and region. 

62% Brits Looking for Decent Wi-Fi When Looking at a Potential New Property

The survey found that 62% of survey respondents put decent Wi-Fi as the number one feature they would want in their realistic dream property. Strong Wi-Fi came above a private driveway and a walk-in wardrobe. 

This would appear to highlight a shift away from fancy frills, instead favouring functional living and everyday essentials when looking for a new property. 

If you’ve ever had your internet go down for a significant length of time then you’ll know how much you rely on that connection. From the obvious things like logging onto your laptop to work from home, to the more taken for granted things like asking Alexa for a timer whilst cooking dinner or trying to listen to music – Having no Wi-Fi is excruciatingly frustrating. 

Since the pandemic when the UK was plunged into the world of working from home and home learning, Estate Agents have seen a dramatic increase in questions about reliable broadband when prospective buyers are looking at new property. 

So it’s little wonder that prospective home buyers want to know exactly what kind of broadband connection they could expect from a potential new home – And if Estate Agents want to make a sale, and Estate Managers want to find a tenant then they need to be providing information that shows the available broadband for that property. 

Reliable Broadband for High End Estate Agency

High End Estate Agents aren’t just matching High Net Worth Individuals with their latest luxury home – They need to give their buyers confidence that they will be moving into a well connected home with strong, reliable broadband. 

Co-founder and MD of Compare My Move says it himself – The results show that “people are prioritising convenience, comfort, and connectivity in their everyday lives. While high-end extras might look impressive on paper, it’s the things we rely on daily – like Wi-Fi and a driveway – that really make a place feel like home.”

And thus, this needs to be reflected in the way that Estate Agents (including High End) and Estate Managers are marketing their properties. 

Is Slow Internet the Dealbreaker That’s Losing You House Sales?

The survey reported above supports previous research from a few years ago when it was found that 20% of people would not buy a property if it had slow internet speeds. 

Similarly, the lack of super-fast internet is often a deal-breaker when it comes to house hunting with many prospective buyers viewing the Wi-Fi connection more important than the number of bedrooms. 

Whilst the size of a property is still important, Estate Agents must now recognise that for many house hunters the quality and speed of the internet is now on par with other deemed essentials. In Scotland and the Southwest, some prospective house buyers value the availability of high-quality broadband above everything else – Even house size. 

Estate Agency and Estate Management clients are least likely to compromise on high-quality broadband when looking for a new home. Decent Wi-Fi was deemed more important than local amenities and space. 

In addition to this, homes for sale that had a worse connection could see Estate Agents selling at approximately £5K less, based solely on whether a home had access to a 300Mbps connection or not. 

How Many Homes Have Access to Full Fibre? 

According to Ofcom, 20.7 million UK homes, or 69% of the total, have access to full-fibre broadband. This represents a significant increase from 17.1 million homes (57%) in September 2023. 

Specifically, Ofcom’s Connected Nations report in July 2024 showed that:

  • Full-fibre coverage has expanded to 69% (20.7 million) of the UK’s 30.1 million homes. 
  • This is an increase of 12 percentage points (3.6 million premises) since September 2023. 
  • Full fibre is more prevalent in urban areas (71%) than in rural areas (52%). 
  • Gigabit-capable coverage, including full fibre and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) cable, has reached 83% (25 million) of UK homes. 
  • Northern Ireland leads the way with 93% of homes having access to full fibre. 

SpeedScore from Geekabit Wi-Fi Experts

With over a decade of experience providing connectivity solutions to UK markets, Geekabit saw how house buyers, tenants and hospitality customers are getting more tech savvy and starting to ask Estate Agents and Estate Managers questions about internet speeds and reliability.

Thus, we launched our innovative Internet Connectivity Measurement Platform – Geekabit SpeedScore. 

This gives Estate Agents and Estate Managers a variety of tools to help provide an independent certification of internet speeds and connectivity. Ideal if you’re trying to make a sale by proving the speed and connectivity of a property’s internet. 

Whether it’s a high end luxury property or the dream home of the average buyer, a clear, concise and accurate presentation of a property’s broadband could be the leverage to close that sale. 

You can read more about SpeedScore here. 

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New Rules on Misleading Use of ‘Fibre’ Broadband 

Ofcom, the regulator for telecoms and media here in the UK, are beginning the enforcement of new rules regarding how Internet Service Providers use the words ‘Fibre’ and ‘Full Fibre.’ 

ISP websites and contracts listing terms like ‘Fibre’ and ‘Full Fibre’ will only be able to do so if their service network actually brings their fibre optic cables into your home, under the new rules. This means FTTP, FTTH and FTTB services. 

In the past, many ISP’s have misleadingly used terminology like ‘Fibre’ to describe a wide range of internet connection technologies. This has included hybrid or part-fibre solutions involving some copper wiring (like FTTC) or even services using wireless connectivity to cover the final part into homes. 

These technologies can actually be a lot slower as well as less reliable than the more modern full-fibre (FTTP) services. It’s these services that take an optical fibre cable all the way into the home. 

Network operators, ISP’s and consumers have argued about fibre descriptions for quite a while. And with the roll-out of FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines over the past few years, capable of multi-Gigabit speed, this has only increased. 

If a consumer believes that they already have fibre, even if it’s only via a FTTC (VDSL2) line that is a lot slower, that consumer is more unlikely to consider upgrading to FTTP. 

This isn’t the first time the distinction between ‘fibre’ services has tried to be corrected. The Advertising Standards Authority attempted a review, but it was ineffective. CityFibre also attempted a court challenge, but this also failed. 

Then in 2021, GigaTAG (the Gigabit Take-Up Advisory Group) made a proposal to change several things, one of which was the clearer labelling of broadband packages. This was so consumers could better understand the differences between technologies, and this was successfully adopted by Ofcom at the end of last year. 

As of today, 16th September 2024, the new guidelines for residential and small business services have been formally introduced and enforced by Ofcom. Better late than never!

It’s important to note that this doesn’t yet apply to advertising. Ofcom doesn’t cover advertising, as that is the remit of the Advertising Standards Authority. So let’s hope the ASA follows suit.  

Ofcom’s New Guidelines on Fibre Terminology

The below are a summary of points from Ofcom’s website. 

  • Providers should give a short description of the underlying network technology of each broadband product using one or two terms that are clear and unambiguous, such as ‘cable’, ‘copper’, ‘full-fibre’ or part-fibre’. These descriptions should be offered at point of sale on the website, and before the final purchase in contract information, and in the contract summary;
  • The term ‘fibre’ used in isolation is ambiguous, so it should not be used on its own to describe the underlying broadband technology. This would mean, for instance, that ‘full-fibre’ (or a similar term) is only used to describe networks which use fibre-optic cables all the way from the exchange to the home. Similarly, ‘part-fibre’ (or a similar term) would describe those services with a fibre-optic connection from the local exchange to the street cabinet and then usually a copper wire connecting the street cabinet to the customer’s home; and
  • Providers should give a more thorough explanation of the underlying broadband technology – for example through a link – so that consumers can understand in more detail what it means for them. This information must be provided in an accessible form that is easy to understand.

Underlying technology information should be given to consumers irrespective of how they sign up for a service. Under Ofcom’s new guidance, those signing up online will be given this information on the broadband provider’s website. Those purchasing a service over the phone or face-to-face will be provided with this information in the Contract Summary and in the contract itself. A Contract Summary with key information on the service must be provided before the customer confirms the purchase.

Ofcom have concluded that this is the most proportionate approach to ensure appropriate information is provided to consumers and reduce customer confusion, while limiting the costs of implementation.

9 Months to Welcome Change

Ofcom announced this change back in December of last year, giving ISP’s plenty of time to implement changes. 

Thankfully, a good chunk of the telecoms industry, noticeably the more alternative full fibre networks, have welcomed this change. 

But is it too late to make a difference? The terms ‘Fibre’ and ‘Full Fibre’ have long been dished out by ISP’s – Will the new change from Ofcom actually change the perspective of consumers? Years and years of misuse of these terms will mean that it’s entrenched in the subconscious mind of consumers – Can it be changed and will we see a positive impact? 

Some ISP’s have already adjusted their approach to communicating their broadband services with consumers. Let’s remember that many if not most consumers pay a lot of attention to service speed and price, and less to what is seen as industry jargon. 

One example of the changes being implemented is from Sky Broadband who have re-labelled their packages according to the new rules. Their broadband packages are now described as:

  • Copper (ADSL)
  • Part Fibre (FTTC/ G.fast)
  • Full Fibre (FTTP)

Who will be next? 

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68% of UK Premises Now Have Full Fibre Available 

Full Fibre broadband is now available for 68% of UK premises. 

Over recent years we’ve seen steady growth when it comes to the number of premises having Full Fibre broadband available to them, as you can see illustrated in the graph below. 

However, when we look at smaller increments of time, some commenters are frustrated at the length of time it is taking, willing it to be faster. The increase from 67% to 68% has taken just over a month (34 days to be precise) which is slightly longer than the usual time we would expect for a 1% increase. To put it into context, the fastest 1% increase that has been recorded is almost half of this. 

So does this mean that the speed and intensity of Full Fibre rollouts are diminishing? Are they a disaster and starting to slow down, rather than sprinting to the finish – A target of 85% coverage by 2025 and national coverage (99.9%) by 2030?

There are several complex factors that can account for the apparent slowing of Full Fibre broadband rollout. 

Factors Affecting Full Fibre UK Rollout:

  • A large influencing factor for the latest % rise taking longer than expected is the overlap between the different networks, in particular nexfibre and CityFibre rollouts.
  • Another factor to consider is that not every % increase is the same – There seems to be an ebb and flow with Openreach and their rollout where we see a couple of mediocre months in terms of volume, and then a big month. It’s expected that Openreach FTTP will be increasing in volume over the next few weeks.
  • Remember that Full Fibre broadband availability is not the same as take up. Once it is available, providers obviously want customers to take it up in those areas. This means that some providers temporarily pause their rollout in order to spend time focusing on the take up.

Which parts of the UK have the least Full Fibre availability? 

There are still many local authority areas that have low availability of FTTP (Fibre to the Premises). 

The 10 local authorities with the lowest availability can be found below. 

Local Authority% Premises FTTP Available% Increase
Na h-Eileanan an Iar6.39No change since 15/3/24
Shetland Islands5.81.35 increase since 7/6/24
Isles of Scilly9.49No change since 15/3/24
Orkney Islands11.941.11 increase since 7/6/24
Harlow District13.70.01 increase since 7/6/24
West Dunbartonshire14.740.71 increase since 7/6/24
Argyll and Bute16.950.04 increase since 7/6/24
Perth and Kinross20.311.22 increase since 7/6/24
Telford and Wrekin23.310.35 increase since 7/6/24
South Tyneside District25.272.48 increase since 7/6/24

Where in the UK has the best FTTP coverage? 

Unfortunately, there is quite a gulf between the worst areas of the UK for Full Fibre (see above table) and the best. 

The top area of the UK for FTTP coverage is Kingston upon Hull, with a whopping 99.75% of premises having access to Full Fibre availability. 77% of these properties even have the choice of two or more networks when it comes to connecting to Full Fibre broadband. 

We’re excited to see how Full Fibre broadband coverage continues to increase over the coming months and years as the UK moves towards its target of 85% coverage next year. 

We’d love to see more of the least covered local authority areas increase their FTTP availability during that time too so that even more of the UK is covered. 

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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. 

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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
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5G AFC AI AR / VR Connectivity Fibre Broadband Gaming / Video IoT Devices Matter ML NaaS OpenRoaming Technology TIP OpenWi-Fi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi 7
The Wireless Broadband Alliance’s CEO Makes 10 Wi-Fi Predictions for 2024

The WBA (Wireless Broadband Alliance) has recently released their latest Annual Industry Report (you can read it here). WBA CEO Tiago Rodrigues has subsequently revealed 10 predictions about how wireless technology will be used by communities and businesses across the globe in 2024 and beyond – From improved connectivity to new consumer experiences. 

What will 2024 have in store for the world of Wi-Fi? Here are the 10 Wi-Fi predictions made by WBA CEO for next year and beyond

  1. Prevalence of Gbps, fibre broadband and Wi-Fi 6E/7 to increase

    Moving forwards, speeds of 10 Gbps will become more prevalent. The deployment of fibre broadband will continue in most developed and developing markets. This will in turn create a need for home networks to make upgrades in order to utilise this increased bandwidth with their devices. The knock on effect of this will lead to a rapid adoption of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7. The new ability to access additional spectrum in the 6GHz band will also drive the adoption of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 as countries open the band.
  2. Wi-Fi 7, gaming and video

    With Wi-Fi 7 comes increased capabilities for advanced gaming, video content and immersive experiences. It’s forecasted that video game revenue globally could increased by 50% over the next 5 years. Network equipment will be as vital to gaming as the gaming rig itself. Wi-Fi 7 will be the driving force for the speeds needed as well as near-to-zero latency.New immersive experiences will see game developers breaking barriers. We’ve already started to see Wi-Fi 7 devices with Qualcomm chipsets this year and this will continue into 2024.
  3. OpenRoaming, 5G and IoT networks

    The growth of OpenRoaming is set to continue into next yet, extending further in order to integrate with private 5G and IoT networks. By 2026 it will have reached a critical point of exponential growth with the enabling of tens of millions of hotspots. PassPoint OpenRoaming deployments continue to rise, with more brands and identity providers recognising the value, enabling seamless connectivity across different networks.
  4. Co-existence of 5G and Wi-Fi 6E / Wi-Fi 7

    The integration of 5G services and Wi-Fi will progress, with the expectation that network engineers will deploy both Wi-Fi and cellular in the coming years. For example, using Wi-Fi 6E/7 for indoor, on-campus, fixed network situations and 5G in outdoor, off-campus, mobile environments. The Wi-Fi community is working to coexist with 5G, especially in identity management, authentication and policy management cases.
  5. Network as a Service

    NaaS is currently seen in managed Wi-Fi services in multi-apartment units and will continue to spread beyond these early adopters. Traditional enterprises will acquire NaaS for networks in cloud-first, software-defined, application-centric environments. Why is NaaS attracting customers? Because not only does it accelerate the deployment of devices but it also simplifies it. It also improves security with continuous security updates that prevent and reduce outages and breaches. 
  6. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

    The role of AI and ML cannot be overemphasised. Adaptive AI is predicted to rapidly increase on networks. Not only will it enable Automated Frequency Coordination, it will also be able to predict network resourcing needs. We will also see AI help enterprises and Internet Service Providers accelerate troubleshooting and streamline monitoring as well as proactively anticipating outages, equipment failures, and performance degradation.
  7. Outdoor Automated Frequency Coordination and Rural Connectivity

    In countries that have opened large parts of the 6GHz spectrum to Wi-Fi, rural connectivity will find success with outdoor AFC. The rapid growth of 6GHz low-power indoor (LP) devices with an average transmit power of 24 dBm is expected for indoor applications such as residential mesh, indoor public venues, and high-density enterprise networks. The adoption of 6GHz very low-power indoor (VPI) devices with 14 dBm maximum transmit power is also expected for short-range indoor applications such as AR/VR/XR, streaming, and gaming. Users of these devices do not require Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC).
  8. Unified connectivity with IoT tech and Matter

    Smart home users will transform their experience with new IoT technology, helping to unify connectivity across multiple devices within the home. Matter will also provide a reliable, secure connection across multiple device manufacturers. The adoption of Matter certified products is expected to grow exponentially in the next 3 years, largely due to the brands involved in manufacturing the devices, like Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung to name but a few. This adoption of Matter enabled devices in the Smart home will further validate Wi-Fi’s role as being central to the smart connected home.
  9. TIP Open Wi-Fi to rapidly increase

    Community-developed, disaggregated Wi-Fi software system TIP Open Wi-Fi will rapidly grow through further pilot projects and trials in developing countries and price-sensitive markets. This is due to its cost-effectiveness and the benefits offered by an open disaggregated model. The more well-established WLAN vendors will also continue to try and be more cost-effective in these markets by investing in ML and AI as well as offering integrated Wi-Fi and 5G to enterprises.
  10. Prevalence of augmented and virtual reality will increase in homes and workplaces

    Our day to day lives at home and work will start to see a larger share of augmented and virtual reality. This in turn will mean that indoor broadband networks will be required to adapt and improve in user interfaces and network capabilities, particularly when catering for larger groups of users.  By 2025, it’s expected that the metaverse’s economy will generate $800 million (and $2.5 trillion by 2030). Thus, big brands are investing in this technology as the universe of the future. 

What does Tiago Rodrigues have to say?

“There has never been a more exciting time for Wi-Fi with technologies such as OpenRoaming more widely available than ever and addressing the challenges in areas including Guest Wi-Fi provision, IoT deployments and private cellular networks. The HaLow program is creating huge interest in low-power extended range Wi-Fi and we are looking forward to working with the Wi-Fi ecosystem to develop industry trials for Wi-Fi 7 during 2024.”

CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance

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Fibre Broadband Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Speeds
Watchdog Bans ‘Fastest Wi-Fi’ Advert from Virgin Media

Is Virgin Media Wi-Fi really faster than its rivals like its advert claims? Touted as misleading customers, their advert making this bold claim has been banned in recent weeks. 

Virgin Media claimed in their advert that they had the ‘fastest Wi-Fi guarantee of any major provider.’ 

Understandably, this ruffled a few of their rivals’ feathers leading to Vodafone making a complaint to the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority).

The watchdog agreed that the information presented by Virgin Media was misleading, by leading customers to believe that Virgin’s Wi-Fi was faster than that available from other providers. 

Virgin were left feeling rather baffled by the decision, insisting that they did indeed offer a faster minimum speed (guaranteed) than its competitors.

The advert was supposed to communicate the message that Virgin customers are guaranteed a minimum Wi-Fi download speed of 30 Mbps. This guaranteed minimum speed is faster than the minimum speed offered by other providers. If Virgin customers find that their minimum download speed was not met, they would then be given a credit towards their bill. 

In comparison to Virgin’s minimum guaranteed download speed of 30 Mbps, Vodafone’s equivalent is 10 Mbps. Hence the claim in their advert, albeit a potentially misleading one. 

Despite Virgin’s explanation, the ASA upheld the complaint from Vodafone and agreed that the information presented in the advert was misleading to customers. 

There is a subtle difference between ‘guaranteeing the highest speed and offering a guarantee which promised action by the advertiser if a minimum speed was not met’ which led to the ASA’s decision to ban the advert. 

They weren’t convinced that the majority of potential customers watching the advert would have understood the actual meaning by the headline claim, but instead would assume it meant that Virgin offered (and guaranteed) they had the fastest Wi-Fi service of all the major broadband suppliers. 

In the ASA’s eyes (and likely Vodafone’s) the claim was not substantiated, therefore leading to the conclusion that the advert was misleading. 

Virgin were told that they could no longer run the advert, and were not to imply that they could guarantee that they offered the fastest Wi-Fi service of all major broadband providers unless of course that was the case. 

Originally appearing on their website on the 3rd July presenting their Wi-Fi guarantee, Virgin further specified that it only applied to customers with access to fibre optic broadband and those opting for their M50 broadband package in which they offer an average download speed of 54 Mbps. 

The guarantee was a promise to give the customer a £100 credit if they didn’t get at least 30 Mbps in each room of their home, following up to 3 Wi-Fi signal boosters to help achieve that minimum speed. 

Virgin remained adamant that their customers would understand the meaning behind the claims in their advert and were both disappointed and surprised that the ASA ruled it as misleading. 

Virgin insisted that they are not the only major broadband provider to promote Wi-Fi guarantees to their customers and even managed to support their claims that consumers understood the meaning of the advert with an independent poll reflecting that the majority did indeed correctly understand what was meant by the guarantee. 

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Broadband Fibre Broadband FTTP Openreach Openreach Advanced COnnection
Jan 2024 – FTTP Broadband Advanced Installs Launching from Openreach 

From the 2nd January 2024, those ordering an Openreach FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) broadband ISP product will be able to get their new ‘Advanced Connection’ service.

This service will be leaving its pilot phase and launching fully on the 2nd January, providing an option for situations where installation is a bit more complex than usual.  

Although this has already been implemented on other broadband products, this ‘Advanced Connection’ option from this operator is quite a recent addition. 

This ‘Advanced Connection’ on FTTP lines has been piloted by Openreach since July last year, and is now ready to launch at the beginning of January to the wider public. 

How much does an Openreach installation cost?

Did you know that an Openreach installation costs from £114.78+VAT? There are a couple of options available when installing a FTTP broadband connection..

Standard Openreach Installation

On a consumer broadband line, the Standard FTTP Openreach installation will generally cost a one-off price of £114.78+VAT*. 

This only covers the basics.  

Premium Openreach Installation

For more choice, the Premium Openreach installation gives consumers more options when it comes to the connectivity inside their home or premises. 

Things like: 

  • Router repositioning
  • Wi-Fi analysis
  • More extensive testing

These options help to optimise the connectivity. 

This Premium option costs £154.78+VAT*.

What if it’s a difficult Openreach install?

The new ‘Advanced Connection’ installation provides an option for more complicated setups where a standard Openreach install isn’t an option for that property. 

The cost of the new ‘Advanced Connection’ will cost ISP’s £289.78. As this is quite a significant cost, this is likely to be passed onto the customer. 

This new option for more complicated Openreach installations is most likely to be useful for businesses and public sector users. The cost for these types of premises have a much higher connection charge. 

Some homes that are particularly tricky may also benefit from this new ‘Advanced Connection’ option. 

ISP Charges

As Wi-Fi engineers ourselves, we think it’s useful to know what the charges are to the actual ISP, so that consumers can better understand the costs that they then are quoted for Wi-Fi work. 

Especially when it comes to an Openreach difficult install or people wanting to move their BT master socket. 

* The price charged by ISP’s may vary to those quoted, as there are often discounts and other considerations. Some ISP’s offer the standard installation option free of charge. 

What Are The Capabilities of the ‘Advanced Connection’ Openreach Installation? 

Available from the 2nd January 2024, this new ‘Advanced Connection’ option from Openreach will offer wider capabilities compared to the Standard and Premium installations. 

‘Advanced Connection’ Openreach connection benefits:

  • From where the Openreach network connects to the premises, up to 100 metres of internal wiring is offered
  • The option for more complex cabling for example, through multiple walls, or new cable trunking
  • Utilising existing horizontal or vertical cable trays 
  • Ability to go through ceiling or floor tiles (that are accessible and removable)
  • Utilising in-situ structured cabling to provide the service
  • The option to connect to existing structured cabling in the building, with a preference for NTE (Network Termination Equipment) or ONT (Optical Network Terminal) install location, for example in the comms room
  • Where installs require more than the 100m of internal wiring that is included, an installation with Excess Construction Charges can be applied to pay for the additional work required
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4G Broadband Cable Fibre Broadband FTTP Mobile Broadband Ofcom Project Gigabit Router Universal Service Obligation USO Wi-Fi
Average UK Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 69.4Mbps, Ofcom 2023 Study Finds

This month, Ofcom published their last report into ISP performance in terms of UK fixed line broadband. This report revealed that the average download speed has risen from 59.4Mbps (last year) to 69.4Mbps now. Upload speeds also increased from last year’s 10.7Mbps to 18.4Mbps now. 

However, there is unfortunately still a gap between broadband speeds in urban and rural areas. 

Ofcom 2023 Study on UK Broadband ISP Speeds

Study data was collected during March of this year using custom routers and ISP supplied routers installed inside customer’s homes. It’s a highly accurate method of data collection, and gathers information at router level during idle periods of usage. For these reasons, it stops the influence of slow Wi-Fi and local network congestion. 

It’s worth noting that this research focused on the larger ISP’s, restricted by the small sample size. Also, don’t forget that speed test results don’t automatically equal network availability! 

For example, currently:

  • Fixed line ‘superfast broadband’ (30Mbps +) are available to almost 98% of the UK
  • ‘Gigabit capable’ networks (1000 Mbps +) cover over 76% (using both full fibre FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coax lines) or 56% with just FTTP.

Let’s not forget about ADSL

ADSL is still used by up to 3 million lines. Although this is mostly in areas where there are few other alternatives, FTTC still remains very popular (15.6 million active lines) in locations where there are gigabit-capable connections available. 

In reports like this one from Ofcom, speed testing figures can be dragged down by customers still using slower copper-based ADSL2+ and FTTC lines (up to 20-24 Mbps and 40-80 Mbps respectively). 

Whilst the take up of faster connections is increasing, there are some customers who will be reluctant to to upgrading. This could be due to:

  • Cost of upgrades to a faster connection (faster services are quite often more expensive)
  • Not knowing that there are alternatives available
  • Fees for exiting a contract
  • A fear of switching

What are the UK Median Download and Upload Speeds?

In 2023, the average download speed was 69.4Mbps and upload speed was 18.4Mbps.

The report from Ofcom shared data on real-world average speeds for different types of connection:

  • ADSL2+ – Average download speeds during peak times as well as across 24 hours ranged from 11.2 to 1.7 Mbps. 
  • FTTP – Average download speeds during peak times as well as across 24 hours ranged from 34.7 to 66.8 Mbps. 
  • Cable – Average download speeds during peak times as well as across 24 hours ranged from 134.5 to 1,137.1 Mbps. 
  • Full Fibre – Average download speeds during peak times as well as across 24 hours ranged from 74.8 to 919.8 Mbps. 

Remember that performance can be affected by a number of things. Connections that use copper wire (FTTC, G.fast, ADSL) suffer with signal loss over distance. Results can also be affected by things like:

  • Network congestion
  • Traffic management
  • Service Faults
  • Poor home wiring

FTTP May Not Actually Be Slower Than Cable

Although the figures from Ofcom’s report seem to suggest otherwise, Cable might not actually be faster than FTTP. 

Firstly, the ‘fixed superfast product take up’ reflects the percentage of UK customers that have chosen a package with download speeds of 30 Mbps or more. 

Gigabit ‘cable’ download speeds may look like they are higher than FTTP, but that could be down to the provider (Virgin) setting its profile speeds as faster than their advertised rates. 

Therefore, FTTP is not necessarily a slower technology than cable. 

Rural Connections Still Falling Short

Unfortunately some rural areas and even digitally disadvantaged urban areas are yet to be reached by ‘superfast’ connections. 

Sadly it is harder to make an economic case for the investment in remote rural areas, meaning that the commercial roll-out of gigabit-capable networks has been rapid in urban areas and at a much faster pace than rural areas. 

There is still a big gap between performance in urban and rural areas. This could be reflective of the influx of commercial FTTP builds within cities and towns. 

In Ofcom’s report, the data on this was limited as it only looks at the two most common rural broadband technologies. These are FTTC and ADSL. Unfortunately, copper ADSL lines in rural areas tend to be much longer than ones in urban areas, making them less reliable and more prone to signal attenuation. 

When looking at the peak times of between 8pm and 10pm, the report from Ofcom presented a difference of 26% between the average download speed in urban and rural areas (70.3 and 56 Mbps respectively). It’s worth noting that the average download speed has increased from last year for both rural and urban areas. In March 2022, there was a 585 difference between speeds, so perhaps the gap is slowly closing. 

Could the Universal Service Obligation Help Rural Wi-Fi?

The Universal Service Obligation (USO) sets a minimum download speed of at least 10 Mbps. Anyone who is not getting this could consider using the USO to improve their connection. This doesn’t happen automatically unfortunately – It needs to be requested. 

Interestingly, provider BT/EE are using 4G devices to help tackle anyone not achieving speeds in line with the USO. Whilst it can be transformative for some connections, it doesn’t work for everyone so an alternative may be needed. 

One possible option would be FTTP, however this is often too expensive to deploy under the USO and still won’t solve the issue in that last 1% of premises. 

How Will Project Gigabit Help Rural Areas?

Project Gigabit is a £5 billion project from the government, ensuring that ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband services (1 Gbps +) reach at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025. The aim is to have nationwide (99%) coverage by 2030. 

Much of this funding is being used on that final 20% of premises in hard to reach rural and semi-rural areas. Great news, but it will take time to deliver and see the benefits. 

How Can You Resolve Broadband Speed Problems?

Unfortunately, sometimes broadband speeds do fall below the initial estimates for your line. But did you know that Ofcom’s Voluntary Code of Practice for Broadband Speeds can help you to resolve any problems with internet speeds that arise and are not in line with the estimates a member ISP provides on connection performance during the order process. 

Which ISP’s are Ofcom members of the Voluntary Code of Practice for Broadband Speeds? 

  • BT
  • EE
  • Plusnet
  • NOW TV / NOW Broadband
  • Talk Talk
  • Utility Warehouse
  • Sky Broadband
  • Zen Internet

When you are in the ‘sign up’ stage, you can use the code to obtain more information on connection speeds. If these then fall below what was guaranteed and expected, it can help you to exit that contract if things don’t improve. ISP’s are allowed one month to resolve the issues, and if at that stage there is still a problem then the customer can walk away from the contract with no penalties. This ‘right to exit’ can also apply to phone and TV bundles that were purchased along with the broadband.  

You’ll have noticed that only the larger ISP’s are members (apart from Vodafone which is noticeably absent!). Many of the smaller ISP’s don’t sign up due to the costs involved with adapting to Ofcom’s code being too high. 

If you want to read more and see the data in full, you can find the full Ofcom Report for 2023 here. 

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