1 in 6 not receiving Universal Service Obligation from broadband provider

The study highlights a widening gap between official availability data and the actual speeds customers experience in their homes.

The government defines a “decent” broadband connection under the Universal Service Obligation (USO) as having at least a 10Mb download and 1Mb upload speed.

However, Broadband Genie’s analysis of over 144,000 real-world speed tests reveals that 5.1 million households are currently falling below these minimum thresholds.

The impact of these sluggish connections is significant. A 10Mb download speed is the bare minimum for many daily tasks, falling below it makes high-quality 4K streaming impossible. Even more concerning is the 13% of households that fail to reach a 1Mb upload speed, effectively preventing them from working from home or even uploading a standard 1GB file in a reasonable timeframe.

Which customers are receiving the slowest broadband speed?

The research identifies a stark disparity among major providers. Mobile-based broadband services currently occupy the bottom of the rankings, with Vodafone (38.6%), Three (37.7%), and EE (31.7%) seeing the highest proportions of customers failing to meet the USO benchmarks.

Among fixed-line providers, EE’s flagship service performed the worst, with 28% of its customers failing to hit the USO targets. Other major names, including TalkTalk, Plusnet, BT, and Sky also appeared in the bottom ten list for performance.

Conversely, newer providers focused on full-fibre infrastructure, such as Zzoomm, Hey! Broadband, and Onestream, recorded the fewest performance issues, with failure rates hovering around or below 1%.

Says Alex Tofts, a strategist at Broadband Genie: “It’s unbelievable so many customers aren’t receiving what the government deems a ‘decent’ broadband speed. This is a low bar for providers to clear, but somehow they’re still failing customers.”

Tofts urged affected households to take action, noting that if a provider cannot resolve consistently slow speeds, customers may have the right to exit their contract early and without penalty, provided their provider is signed up to Ofcom’s Speed Code of Practice.

The full results can be viewed here.

How can I improve my broadband speed?

Restart your router

It’s a cliché for a reason. Restarting your router can fix various issues. Do it the right way by unplugging it for at least 30 seconds.

Move the router

Choose an open space, away from large pieces of furniture and thick walls, raise it about a foot from the floor and if possible place in a central spot. You’ll get a much wider and stronger radius around the home. If you find you have Wi-Fi dead spots, you can purchase Wi-Fi boosters or mesh kits to cover those hard-to-reach areas.

Cut out bandwidth hogs

If you need to focus on a task, close other apps or switch off devices that are using the network. Log in to your router; the details will be printed on the casing. From here you can see what devices are connected to your router. If there is anything you don’t recognise, you can remove it. After this, it’s best practice to change your password in case it was an unwanted visitor.

Switch to 5GHz frequency

Many routers are dual-band and have a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz frequency. 2.4GHz has a longer range but is slower. 5GHz supports faster speeds, but at a shorter distance. You choose between the two when connecting to the Wi-Fi from any device. Or you can disable a frequency from your router’s settings when logged in.

Update devices and software

Some devices may, and many routers will, do this automatically. But prompt a check to make sure you’re on the latest operating systems. This will help devices run faster and is best practice for security.

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