The download speed of your broadband connection is the rate at which data is sent to your computer. This speed is typically advertised in megabits per second. Depending on a number of factors, however, the actual speed you experience may be far lower than what an internet service provider promises.
Congestion during busy hours or distance from a telephone exchange can degrade the quality of your connection. As a single connection is normally shared between a number of households in the area, speeds can be particularly slow during the evening.
Downloads comprise the majority of data transfers on the internet. Whether it is streaming music, watching a video, or browsing the web, data is being sent through network channels to your machine. Although upload speeds are critical for services such as online multi-player gaming, file sharing, and video chat, most users rate their broadband providers based on their download speed.
The Speed of Your Broadband
News reports often list negative stories regarding broadband speeds, accusing the UK’s larger providers of giving customers slower speeds than promised. Most of these reports arise due to advertisements that belie what consumers can realistically expect from their broadband connection. For example, an advertised speed of up to 20 Mbps refers to download speeds in optimum conditions, with little to no degradation from congestion, distance, or old household wiring.
According to the Digital Britain report sponsored by the government, customers throughout the UK who signed up for the fastest broadband also tended to file the most complaints regarding speed. This was especially the case during peak times when the sheer number of users throttled traffic.
How To Check Your Download Speed
In order to determine whether your decreased speeds are the result of throttling or poor service, individuals can use a free broadband speed test at various times of the day. A speed test will measure how quickly data is being sent to your computer. By checking your speeds regularly, you can better narrow down the root of your bandwidth problems.
If the culprit turns out to be the internet service provider (ISP), you can contact them and request an engineer to visit your property to determine if anything can be done to improve the connection. Most ISPs are willing to provide this service in order to retain dissatisfied customers. If the ISP is unable to correct the issue, they should be amenable to lowering your monthly payment to compensate for the inferior speeds.
If the provider refuses, you can take the complaint to an independent ombudsman once you have a deadlock letter or eight weeks have passed. Switching is also far easier than it used to be. Since September 2024 the One Touch Switch process means you only need to contact the provider you want to move to, and they arrange the rest, including cancelling the old service. You no longer need a migration code from your existing provider. Our page on switching broadband provider walks through what to expect, and you can compare current deals before you commit to anything.
How much download speed do you actually need?
The honest answer for most households is less than they are sold. Download speed only has to be high enough to cover everything happening at once, and beyond that point extra speed changes nothing you can perceive. A web page does not load faster on a gigabit connection than on a 200 Mb one, because the bottleneck stops being your broadband.
As a rough guide, per activity and at the same time:
| Activity | Download speed |
|---|---|
| Browsing, email, social media | Around 5 Mb |
| HD video streaming | Around 5 to 8 Mb per stream |
| 4K video streaming | Around 15 to 25 Mb per stream |
| Video calling | Around 3 Mb, though upload matters more |
| Online gaming | Under 5 Mb, but latency matters far more than speed |
Add together whatever your household genuinely does simultaneously, then leave some headroom for background updates and devices you have forgotten about. Most homes land somewhere well under 100 Mb. Our guide to what broadband speed you really need works through this by household size.
Why gaming and video calls are the exception
Two common activities are barely affected by download speed at all. Online gaming sends very little data, but it is acutely sensitive to latency, the delay before data starts moving. A 1000 Mb connection with poor latency will feel worse for gaming than a 50 Mb one with good latency.
Video calls depend mostly on upload, because you are sending your own picture out. This is why a household with a fast headline speed can still have terrible calls. Our guide to broadband upload speeds covers what to look for.
Testing your download speed properly
One test tells you very little. To get a figure worth acting on, run a speed test several times across different days, including once between 8pm and 10pm when the local network is busiest. Run at least one of those tests on a device connected to the router with a cable, because a wireless test measures your wifi as much as your broadband.
Compare the result against the personalised estimate your provider gave you when you signed up, not against the advertised headline figure. The estimate, and the guaranteed minimum that comes with it, is what you can actually hold them to.