This topic

Reduced available broadband speed for my household

NicS71 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 10:48:44 GMT

Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade my broadband connection. I'm currently on the standard broadband and checked various broadband providers for faster speeds. They all show that I'm receiving the fastest possible, however, if I check the available broadband speeds for my neighbours then it shows that they can get superfast broadband

Why can both of my neighbours get superfast broadband (51 - 74 Mbps) whereas I am reduced to getting 24 Mbps maximum?

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

chrisjp — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:01:30 GMT

What does your contract with BT promise you on the broadband speed?

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

NicS71 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:05:20 GMT

Hi Chris,

Currently do not have a BT contract but I am looking to switch providers

My question is more the fact that I'm offered a lower speed to others in my area - is this due to a problem with my infrastructure or connection to the network?

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

chrisjp — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:49:35 GMT

Ahh...so BT isn't currently providing your broadband service?
In that case BT, along with other broadband providers that you are checking, is probably quoting you the minimum speed you can expect - which may be below what you'll actually get if you set up a contract with them. They do this to cover themselves.
What speed are you actually getting with your current provider?

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:49:39 GMT

Use the address checker here & post the results.

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

iniltous — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 12:05:56 GMT

Who is currently providing your broadband ? , if you are on Openreach it’s quite possible that an issue with your ‘line’ is causing it to underperform , that issue could be in the external in the Openreach network, or internally within your property .

As an example, say you and your neighbours all were a similar distance to the FTTC ‘cabinet’ on the same type of infrastructure, ( served from the same distribution point ) and in general were predicted to get around 60Mb , and most get that , but one ‘line’ had an unreported fault on it that was causing the line to underperform and actually deliver 40Mb ….because there is ‘real’ data showing the line is providing 40Mb ( even though in good condition it would do 60Mb ) the estimates on checker sites etc are based on the real data , not a mathematical model , hence why some near neighbours can have different estimates speeds , if the underperforming line gets its fault fixed , the actual speed improves , and the real data shows this , and that flows through to the estimates sites that show the increase too.

Post your router connection stats , they may show an issue , but obviously if you have a fault ( that you may be unaware of ) it’s your current provider that would need to get it looked at , not BT .

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

NicS71 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 12:59:20 GMT

Results from Address Checker:

and my stats from my router (sky):

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

NicS71 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:00:16 GMT

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

imjolly — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:01:24 GMT

although checker shows you can get faster speeds than you have it looks like you have selected a SKY package with max 40mb connection speed you could upgrade and get faster

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:20:56 GMT

@imjollywrote:
although checker shows you can get faster speeds than you have it looks like you have selected a SKY package with max 40mb connection speed you could upgrade and get faster

Or you're paying for a higher speed but on the wrong profile...

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

NicS71 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:36:04 GMT

from a quick chat with my current provider (Sky) it turns out that even though I can get superfast broadband from my exchange, Sky are actually limiting the speed in my area as theyre not set up for the faster speeds yet (their words). They advise that I switch provider if its a faster speed I need for home working

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

imjolly — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:41:13 GMT

as I posted you are getting max for you package really surprised SKY not selling the faster up to 80mb in your area - your estimated speed was between 74/55

Re: Reduced available broadband speed for my household

iniltous — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 13:58:53 GMT

Sky are either telling you a load of nonsense or you have misunderstood what they have said ,

Openreach FTTC comes in 3 speed profiles 40Mb , 55Mb , and 80 Mb , even though you line is apparently capable of around 75Mb , for whatever reason Sky have only put you on the 40Mb profile, so Sky are limiting you by virtue of purchasing the 40Mb profile from Openreach for your broadband account with Sky , if a neighbour ( for example ) was with BT and they were paying for ‘Fibre2’ , that’s the 80 Mb profile, although unlikely to get to 80Mb , it probably would provide 75Mb , as would your line if Sky put you on that profile.

However , Sky only taking the 40Mb profile shouldn’t affect your the estimated offered by other providers, they should be offering speeds in the range 65-75 Mb maximum, with a minimum speed probably in the high 50’s

There is no reason why Sky would limit you to their lower tier speed unless they have a capacity problem within the Sky network ( not Openreach ) and to save congestion reports they will only sell 40Mb in your area , but that’s extremely unlikely, although that does seem to be what they are saying the issue is ,

personally I think they have either knowingly or not knowingly put you on 40Mb even though 80Mb profile is available….simply switch to BT and take ‘Fibre 2’ , as you have posted on here I have assumed it’s BT you will use as an alternative to Sky , otherwise why post on the BT forum .