What broadband speed can I get?
For many of us, broadband connection speed is the deciding factor when choosing a broadband package. ", the most common question consumers will ask is "what broadband speed can I get?" With social distancing rules in place during the COVID-19 crisis, the demands placed on our home broadband are greater than ever. Finding out what broadband speed you can get could make all the difference when working from home, connecting with family and friends online and keeping yourselves entertained by streaming games and TV shows. Just because broadband providers advertise average speeds doesn't mean you're actually getting that speed. Speed tests are useful since many customers don't know what speed they are currently experiencing and therefore don't know what 8Mbps, 50Mbps or even 120Mbps actually mean in practical terms. You can test the speed of your broadband connection with our Uswitch broadband speed test, which can make a more informed decision when you come to compare broadband speeds and packages ahead of signing up. In order to get the most accurate reading, you should close all other programs, web pages and games before starting the speed test. Yes. If you use a wireless connection, you can try moving your router to a more central location in the house, or even changing the channels or broadcast type of your router. If you're feeling particularly ambitious, you can even forward your routers ports  this works very well for programmes, games and utilities, but it can't be done for internet browsers like Internet Explorer or FireFox. Within the UK, broadband speeds currently range very widely from 8Mbps to over 1Gbps, although the higher speeds aren't available everywhere, or with every provider, just yet. The speed of broadband that you can get depends mainly on where you live. Although superfast broadband is available to nearly 96% of the country, some people are still unable to get these speeds and will be limited to ADSL broadband. Although superfast broadband is available to nearly 96% of the country, some people are still unable to get these speeds and will be limited to ADSL broadband. Broadband is consistently faster in cities and larger towns, regardless of connection type. Broadband is consistently faster in cities and larger towns, regardless of connection type. The closer you are, the faster your connection. To see an accurate speed approximation for your home, try our network checker, currently in its beta stage, where you can find the broadband speeds your home has access to. This depends on your broadband needs. For those of us that use the internet for streaming content, a decent broadband speed makes life much easier. A good broadband speed for streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer is 1.5 Mbps and above for SD streaming, and 2.8 Mbps and above for HD streaming. However, this is just for one device  if you live with other people or run multiple devices at the same time, your households usage will quickly add up. How to find the best broadband in your area  To find the best broadband in your area, first, enter your postcode in our broadband deals page. If youre looking to get a faster connection, or simply a better broadband deal for the same speed, the more information you have at hand before you compare prices, the better. There are a few main reasons why your internet is slow, the most common being problems with your router, poor Wi-Fi signal, or too many devices running on a slower broadband connection. Try moving your router to a more open, central location within your home. Try moving your router to a more open, central location within your home. If its old or damaged the signal may be compromised. If its old or damaged the signal may be compromised. The speed of your broadband package  Check your current broadband speed to see if its sufficient to keep up with your household needs. If anyone in your house works from home, downloads large files or plays games online, thats likely to put a strain on slower broadband packages. This depends on the type of broadband you're using. ADSL broadband is a shared service. Therefore, the more people who are using it, the slower it will be. The amount of people using a broadband connection in an area affects what's known as the contention ratio, which is the number of people using the area's telephone exchange compared to the coping capacity the exchange has for those connections. Most people using broadband in their homes use their computers in the evening, so connections tend to be a lot slower at these peak hours (i.e. 8pm to 10pm). The best time to use broadband at its fastest is between 12am and 8am when most people are sleeping. FTTP broadband  Fibre broadband using fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology is unaffected by distance from the exchange since the fibre connection goes directly to your building or home. Not everyone has access to FTTP fibre, though  many users are still on fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology, which is still affected by your location and how far away you are from the "cabinet" on your street, but location affects cable connections less than ADSL connections. While both cable options are more consistent alternatives to ADSL, they are still impacted by the number of people using the service at peak periods. Take a look at our latest broadband deals