Broadband Speed Test allows you to calculate the probable download and upload speed of your connection at a given time. This speed can vary based on a lot of factors. The tool below is designed to check the speed in which the data travels between the computer and the broadband provider using wired or wireless connection.

How to Test your broadband Speed

1. Click on the button- "Click here to start speed test".
2. The tool would start calculating the download speed with a message- "Download test in progress" or "Preparing Download Test".
3. Once it has calculated the download speed of your connection it displays the actual download speed received at the moment and displays a message- "Download test Complete".
4. Now the tester starts calculating the upload speed with a message that states- "Upload Test in Progress" and upon completion you will see the upload speed with a message- "Upload Test Complete".
5. The speeds will be displayed in Kbps. For easier calculation 1024Kbps = 1Mbps.
6. If you find that the tool displays a speed which is not even 50% of your broadband plan says, then try testing at least thrice and calculate the average speed.
7. If it's still not the actual speed of your broadband plan, then you might be receiving a slow internet connection.

Broadband Speed Stats in UK

A number of statistics predicts that the overall broadband speeds have been slow in the UK and the US when compared to the likes of South Korea and Japan. But never mind, the upcoming internet services are promising.

To begin with, let us see how UK has grown over the years in the field of broadband. The statistics below clearly suggests UK's growth in the past ten years.

Followed by statistics on the number of users, here is a brief comparison on the different service providers in the UK, the maximum speed offered by them and other details you need to know.

Facts about UK Broadband Providers

Country-wise Statistics of Broadband Users

Compare UK Broadband Speeds

Virgin Media

Virgin Media offers the fastest broadband speed among all the providers in UK. While they promise a maximum speed of 100 Mbps, some of their contracts are as low as 9 months. Users can make unlimited downloads and Virgin Media's average download speeds are reported to be as high as 15.71 Mbps.

BE Broadband

BE Broadband's 24 Mbps (max speed) is followed by unlimited download allowances. It offers a minimum contract period as low as 3 months. The average download speed of BE Broadband is studied to be 8.63 Mbps.

BT Broadband

With unlimited usage offers and promised speeds of up to 20 Mbps, BT was tested to be yielding an average download speed of 7.48 Mbps. BT packages offer a minimum contract period of 18 months.

O2 Broadband

O2 offers a maximum speed of 20 Mbps with unlimited usage and a minimum contract period of 12 months. The average download speed of BT was tested to be 6.42 Mbps.

Plusnet Broadband

Plusnet offers a speed of up to 20 Mbps with 10 GB download allowance (max) and a minimum contract period of 12 months. The average downloading capacity of Plusnet is tested to be 5.77 Mbps.

Talk Talk Broadband

Again, this service provider promises a speed of 24 Mbps with unlimited download allowances. With minimum contract period of 12 months Talk talk's average downloading speed is 5.55 Mbps.

Sky Broadband

Sky promises a maximum speed of 20 Mbps with unlimited download allowances. While their contract period is as low as 12 months, the average download speed is 4.43 Mbps.

3 Mobile Broadband

With a maximum promised speed of 24 Mbps, 3 Mobile offers 10 GB download allowances. Its minimum contract period is 18 months and average download speed is 4.62 Mbps.

Orange Broadband

Orange promises a maximum speed of 20 Mbps with unlimited download allowance and a minimum contract period of 12 months. The average download speed of this ISP is observed to be 3.78 Mbps.

AOL Broadband

With a promised speed of 24 Mbps, AOL has a maximum download limit of 10 Gb. The minimum contract period of the service provider is 18 months and its average download speed is 3.2 Mbps.

Vodafone

Vodafone offers a top speed of 7.2 Mbps with a minimum contract period of 18 months. The ISP also offers unlimited download limits.

Al-Waleed bin Talal (CEO of Kingdom Holding Company) says "Nowadays, anyone who cannot speak English and is incapable of using the Internet is regarded as backward". Though many would pretend not to agree with the point, the more number of times you think about it, the more convinced you become about it. With nothing that can escape the jaws of the mighty internet, it is always interesting to compare and know the latest developments, which has the best offers and so many other things as internet gets faster and faster and more and more accessible.