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back to article You may not have noticed, but 'superfast' broadband is available to 94% of Blighty

Superfast internet speeds are within reach of nearly 94 per cent of the UK, according to figures compiled by Thinkbroadband. The research, which covered the three months to September, found that 93.9 per cent of premises in Blighty have access to 24Mbps. That is an increase from regulator Ofcom's figures, which pegged …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Watevvvaaaa...

    I am waiting for the stock of Puma based bugware in NTL warehouse to run out. Then, and only then, I am upgrading my 120 (which I hit nearly all the time) to 200.

    BT Openreach should really stop asking the Union does it like it with ice cubes or hot coffee and stop fluffing the copper. They probably have not realized that the job of a fluffer has been obsoleted by technology.

    8 4 Reply
    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Watevvvaaaa...

      Fluffers aren't obsolete. London Underground still employ loads of them!

      4 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Watevvvaaaa...

      "I am waiting for the stock of Puma based bugware in NTL warehouse to run out. Then, and only then, I am upgrading my 120 (which I hit nearly all the time) to 200."

      I assume you mean Virgin Media. NTL were bought out many years ago...

      A quick check of my quality monitor on Thinkbroadband still shows ongoing packet loss and constant latency peaks of >140ms. So it's not been fixed yet - even though a fix was coming "soon" back in July! Anyone know anything?

      Incidentally I have always wondered how they get away with describing their broadband as "fibre broadband"?!. It's delivered to the premises by coax cable.

      0 0 Reply
      1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: "Anyone know anything?"

        A class-action lawsuit in the US over the issue (v Arris, IIRC) was settled v recently. A big bunch of CVEs were assigned to the Intel chipset bugs (pretty much all denial-of-service). We'll do another followup soon.

        C.

        1 0 Reply
        1. TheVogon
          Reply Icon

          Re: "Anyone know anything?"

          "A class-action lawsuit in the US over the issue "

          Thanks. Is it actually fixable in firmware? Or they will need replacing?

          0 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Warning : the below may contain irony....

    "out of the £1bn bribe"

    Bribe? Bribe? Surely, 'DEAL to ensure strong and stable government'. Not sure you are aware of this, but 'bribe' might be interpreted in the pejorative.

    20 0 Reply
    1. wolfetone Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Warning : the below may contain irony....

      I tried to make a deal with a policeman once, offered him £50 to not give me a speeding ticket.

      Turns out it's bribery.

      19 0 Reply
      1. Voland's right hand Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Warning : the below may contain irony....

        I tried to make a deal with a policeman once, offered him £50 to not give me a speeding ticket.

        That is the problem, you did not wait for his offer. You have to wait until he starts lamenting about how many Euros per hour are you doing above the speed limit.

        9 1 Reply
      2. 9Rune5
        Reply Icon

        Re: Warning : the below may contain irony....

        Sounds like PEBCAH to me (Problem Exists Between Cheek And Helmet).

        I mean, if you were really driving too fast, the guy would not have been able to catch you, no?

        1 1 Reply
  3. 8Ace

    Just FYI

    Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland and as such it includes parts of the Republic of Ireland.

    Northern Ireland is geographically correct, Ulster is not.

    12 5 Reply
    1. AndyS
      Reply Icon

      Re: Just FYI

      Aye, whatever. Fivemiletown is is in Tyrone, which is in Ulster.

      Sadly Dundrod (Antrim, Ulster) chugs along at a regrettable 600kb/s or so on a good day.

      5 1 Reply
    2. OwenMc64
      Reply Icon

      Re: Just FYI

      Aye indeed - whatever about the sub-heading, the expansion to:

      "Fivemiletown in Ulster, Northern Ireland" really displays astounding ignorance.

      Written from Hampshire in Europe, England.....

      5 1 Reply
      1. AndyS
        Reply Icon

        Re: Just FYI

        Fivemiletown is in Ulster. And it is in Northern Ireland. That's OK.

        Donegal is in also Ulster, in the bit that is in Republic of Ireland. That's also OK.

        I know people love to get offended, but this is more than a bit silly.

        Still, the Reg has removed all references to Ulster, so I guess everyone can put away their pitchforks until something else offends us all.

        15 0 Reply
        1. wolfetone Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: Just FYI

          "Still, the Reg has removed all references to Ulster, so I guess everyone can put away their pitchforks until something else offends us all."

          El Reg says No.

          2 0 Reply
  4. Gio Ciampa

    I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

    Not that I can check, as there seems to be no link to the report.

    5 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

      Yep. FTTP is available here, but as FTTP on demand. i.e. £1000 installation, £300 a month fee, if you want service from an ISP who is prepared to offer it. Errm, no thanks, but then again FTTP@330Mbps is apparently Ultrafast, not superfast, so what is 1Gbps, ludicrouslyfast?

      7 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

        > Average speed take-up in the UK is 16.51Mbps, ranking us at 31st in the world.

        This could mean "most Brits who have a choice between ASDL and FTTC are too tight-arsed to pay the extra £5-£10 per month for FTTC"

        4 4 Reply
        1. AndrueC Silver badge
          Reply Icon
          Meh

          Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

          This could mean "most Brits who have a choice between ASDL and FTTC are too tight-arsed to pay the extra £5-£10 per month for FTTC"

          And it would be correct. There are plenty of people who can't see any point paying extra for FTTC. And even amongst those who have opted to upgrade most choose the lowest package. The same thing happens with cable. The top tier package has the fewest subscribers. Last I heard even in cable areas BT-based ISPs have the most subscribers. I've not seen figures since 2015 but it says a lot when crappy wet-string copper has more users than coaxial cable where both are available.

          The truth is that people who want the fastest possible connection are in the minority. Most people want the cheapest possible connection as long as it's adequate and for most residential properties anything above 30Mb/s is adequate. At the moment.

          18 0 Reply
          1. Anonymous Coward
            Reply Icon
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

            "... it says a lot when crappy wet-string copper has more users than coaxial cable where both are available."

            In my case (outside the UK), I'll take the copper to avoid dealing with the ISP who has a monopoly on cable in my area, and the business ethics of an alley cat.

            2 1 Reply
          2. SImon Hobson Bronze badge
            Reply Icon

            Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

            The truth is that people who want the fastest possible connection are in the minority.

            In the same way that people wanting to pay for the fastest possible car are also in the minority ! After all, for many people, some small, low powered car that would struggle to hit 90 is more than adequate to go to the shops in town where the highest speed limit between home and shop sis 30 or perhaps 40 mph.

            1 0 Reply
        2. Aitor 1
          Reply Icon

          Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

          They demand more money for a cheaper to run service.

          Wait no, they decided to use fttc so no that much cheaper.

          0 2 Reply
      2. Chloe Cresswell Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

        So far, I've only had prices from BTB for FTTP on demand. No decent ISP appears to offer it.

        (any news on decent ISPs that do will be happily accepted!)

        0 0 Reply
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

          > So far, I've only had prices from BTB for FTTP on demand. No decent ISP appears to offer it.

          Here's an explanation from one very decent ISP:

          https://www.aaisp.net.uk/broadband-FP.html

          "Note that there is an option of FTTP on demand shown on availability checkers. This is a service which we are not selling because of the unreasonable costs and terms."

          Specifically, the FTTPoD product charges a monthly wholesale rental of £99+VAT - for a service which costs OpenReach *less* to maintain than a copper pair. This means that the retail price of any service based on FTTPoD would need to be at least £150 per month.

          This is on top of the high initial connection cost, which means you've already paid for the cost of pulling or digging the fibre into your building.

          0 0 Reply
          1. Anonymous Coward
            Reply Icon
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

            "Here's an explanation from one very decent ISP:

            https://www.aaisp.net.uk/broadband-FP.html"

            But the speed for that service totally sucks. And they charge for amount of data! Standard 40Mb/s down, 10Mb/s up with an option for 80Mb/s down and 20Mbs/ up. Virgin Media already offer circa 300mbps/30mbps...

            0 0 Reply
    2. CowardlyAndrew
      Reply Icon

      Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

      Article has a link to the coverage report we publish each month.

      Fibre on Demand which is what is the name of the 'can pay extra for fibre' does not count towards the statistics, if it did then FTTP figures would be much higher.

      The article on thinkbroadband also has a link to a site that shows the data for different areas and is searchable by postcode.

      4 0 Reply
    3. illiad
      Reply Icon

      Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

      Well Thinkbroadband has is own odd view of it all. :/

      I suggest you try ispreview.co.uk for a bit of a wider view...

      1 2 Reply
      1. CowardlyAndrew
        Reply Icon

        Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

        Please explain why thinkbroadband has an odd view of it all?

        i.e. where is the definition of home passed by fibre to the home wrong?

        0 1 Reply
    4. Claverhouse Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: I assume Thinkbroadband are using the "can pay extra for fibre" definition of ("has access to"?

      Well, every driver has access to £500,000 automobiles if they just pay for them, according to thinkbroadband's logic: the fact they don't all have them is down to their own lack of will.

      0 0 Reply
  5. localzuk Silver badge

    Great

    10Mbps USO, just in time to be left behind by the rest of the modern world as they speed ahead with 100Mbps... :)

    3 0 Reply
    1. illiad
      Reply Icon

      Re: Great

      The problem with '100M' is that many websites do not go that fast... :/

      Even youtube limits its bandwidth to stop fast guys hogging it away from others!

      Fast.com gives me a 'real speed' of about 80M, but speedtests give my 'headline speed' of around 150M..

      EG most motorways you can go at 100 MPH, BUT ONLY if there is NO traffic!

      with normal traffic, the speed is much less...

      2 2 Reply
      1. Tom Samplonius
        Reply Icon

        Re: Great

        "The problem with '100M' is that many websites do not go that fast... :/"

        It is not 2001 anymore. There are no servers left with 100Mbps ethernet ports, and if by some miracle some where still operating, replacing them would be cheaper than the electrical operating cost.

        Youtube does not limit bandwidth. Due to Google's size, they are everywhere. If they could get you to download more that you already do, they would.

        Fast.com is a Netflix tester, and basically stops measuring beyond the speed that Netflix could actually use. On Speedtest I can get speeds of 900+ Mbps, but not on every server as a lot of test servers are still on gigabit ethernet.

        After the initial Windows 10 uproar died down, I was able to download the Windows 10 at over 800Mbps peak (took 50 seconds in total). I'm able to get Apple updates at around 500Mbps. It is harder to find something substantial at Google, but Drive is able to do hundreds of Mbps at uploads and downloads.

        1 2 Reply
        1. JohnBoyNC
          Reply Icon

          Re: Great

          Lucky you getting those speeds. Out here in AssCrack, eastern North Carolina ('Murica) I'm paying my Cable ISP (TWC/Sputum) for 300MB/Sec and have yet to reach anywhere near those speeds. Bitching about it just results in a tech call followed by a premise visit and a statement that "it looks good to them." One law i DO wish the Donads's Gu'ment would pass is to do away with the cable monopolies in the US. Some healthy competition is in order. But don't see that happening in my lifetime based on the Donald's business friendly stance.

          1 0 Reply
      2. Cuddles
        Reply Icon

        Re: Great

        "The problem with '100M' is that many websites do not go that fast... :/"

        How fast a single website can is irrelevant. An average family household can easily have a TV streaming 1080p or 4K content, a couple of people messing around on their phones using wifi, and another person on a PC or console gaming, watching Youtube, or whatever. The fact that no single application needs a full 100 Mbps connection does not mean the house as a whole can't make use of it all.

        On top of that, there are plenty of services that don't throttle at all. If you want to download a game from Steam, for example, you can do so just as fast as your connection can manage. With games routinely topping 50 GB these days, you're looking at the difference between a few minutes and half an hour or more, and that's assuming you're not in the above house with multiple other people sharing the bandwidth.

        0 0 Reply
      3. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Great

        "The problem with '100M' is that many websites do not go that fast... :/"

        Who said anything about websites? I can max out 300mbps on BitTorrent quite easily...

        0 0 Reply
    2. werdsmith Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Great

      I have a consistent reliable 70Mb/s and I don't consider that to be "superfast" compared to the infrastructure in places like Scandinavia.

      However, it is much faster than it needs to be.... for now.

      3 1 Reply
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Superfast internet speeds from different suppliers?

    "Superfast internet speeds are within reach of nearly 94 per cent of the country, according to figures compiled by Thinkbroadband."

    I live in the centre of a town, within walking distance to an exchange. In my street, we can only get Virgin Media and according the neighbours the actual speed is poor.

    Openreach FTTC fibre has been coming to my cabinet for 5 years now. Apparently it's in the build phase, according to the checker, so another 5 months before we can order Sky, BT, Plusnet etc... however I reckon it'll never arrive. Even less so for FTTP.

    So ThinkBroadband should re-run the survey and only count it if there are 2 or more suppliers in an area. You'd then find how rubbish broadband provision is in the country.

    4 1 Reply
    1. Hollerithevo
      Reply Icon

      Re: Superfast internet speeds from different suppliers?

      Try south of Norwich - you would think you were at the North Pole. No, said, even the Canadians up there have a better connection than around Hackford.

      3 0 Reply
      1. magickmark
        Reply Icon

        Re: Superfast internet speeds from different suppliers?

        I live 8 miles south of Norwich in a small market town and get 53Mbs, mind you I can look out of my back bedroom window and and can see the local exchange (it i were to toss a stone I could probably hit it).

        Maybe I'm lucky but I'm quite happy as you can guess

        1 1 Reply
    2. CowardlyAndrew
      Reply Icon

      Re: Superfast internet speeds from different suppliers?

      Depends on what you mean by 2 or more supplies,

      Does choice of BT Consumer, Sky and TalkTalk count as three suppliers?

      0 0 Reply
    3. Domquark
      Reply Icon

      Re: Superfast internet speeds from different suppliers?

      I have a customer in Feltham - a suburb of London. They get an incredible 500k max. That's it. No FTTC nothing. No cable broadband, so stuck with copper only. BT quoted silly money + first born child to install FTTP. My cousin who lives in a village in Somerset get 20M, for comparison.

      So much for good coverage.......

      2 0 Reply
  7. Noel Morgan

    Depends who you ask

    I currently get 6Mb

    According to BT sales and openreach I can get 'up to' 35Mb.

    Accoring to BT engineers when they come out to work out why my upgrade is running at 2Mb, 35Mb is a bit optimistic as I am 3.2KM from the nearest Cabinet.

    So who are these stats coming from? the sales side or the engineering side?

    16 0 Reply
    1. Tom 7
      Reply Icon

      Re: Depends who you ask

      I used to be 1,6km from the cabinet until they went FTTC at the local exchange and then my cabinet magically moved all the way back to the exchange.

      3 0 Reply
    2. FlossyThePig
      Reply Icon

      Re: Depends who you ask

      Well according to the BT website when I enter my Postcode, House Number/Name and Land line number:

      Fibre broadband8Mb-13Mb Estimated download speed range, 6Mb Lowest assured download speed

      Standard broadband1Mb-3.5Mb Estimated download speed range, 512k Lowest assured download speed

      I currently get about 7Mb (FTTC) as I am about 2Km from the cabinet

      They have upgraded "Up To". Unlimited Broadband - Up to 17Mb, Unlimited Infinity - Up to 52Mb, Unlimited Infinity 2 - Up to 76Mb

      @AC

      Superfast internet speeds from different suppliers?

      ...we can only get Virgin Media and according the neighbours the actual speed is poor...

      So how do they test their speed (congested WiFi, entrails of a flying pig or a direct connection to the router using an ethernet cable)?

      4 0 Reply
    3. CowardlyAndrew
      Reply Icon

      Re: Depends who you ask

      The stats are independent of BT so unless by some quirk we have repeated a mistake they have then the data should not include it.

      We do take distance to the cabinet into the equation, hence why the 'fibre' figures are not the same as the Superfast figures.

      0 0 Reply
  8. Disgruntled of TW
    Mushroom

    Outlaw the use of "up to" - it is lying about the truth

    That is all.

    15 0 Reply
    1. Commswonk
      Reply Icon

      Re: Outlaw the use of "up to" - it is lying about the truth

      Not strictly, er... true. It is the truth, but it is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

      If supermarkets tried to sell (say) tins of bean labelled "Contains "up to" 5 x 50 gram servings they would find themselves being pursued by customers and officialdom alike. Ditto pints of beer or litres of petrol.

      I suspect that the trouble is that marketeers cannot work in anything that isn't short and snappy, probably based on the assumption that their likely customers can't either*, so putting in any sort of caveat about the limitations in speed that might arise is seen as impractical and pointless.

      * They might, of course, be right.

      4 1 Reply
      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Outlaw the use of "up to" - it is lying about the truth

        There's a shampoo ad on telly at the moment that claims their anti-dandruff hair-gloop will leave you "up to 100% flake-free!"

        Which also means that you could make the exact same claim for sandpaper...

        5 0 Reply
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Outlaw the use of "up to" - it is lying about the truth

          I am sure that sandpaper applied vigorously to the scalp will leave your head 100% dandruff-free. No need for an "up to" proviso there.

          0 0 Reply
          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
            Reply Icon
            Happy

            Re: Outlaw the use of "up to" - it is lying about the truth

            True. Sandpapering down to the bone would leave no dandruff. But I'd imagine your shoulders would be covered in plenty of flakes. Not to mention a teensy little bit of blood...

            0 0 Reply
  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Takeup versus availability

    The article (yet again) conflates availability of superfast broadband with takeup of it, so the figures and comparisons with other countries aren't very meaningful. If 94% of the country (by what, area? population?) can have superfast, but the average is 16, does that mean most people don't care, or don't know, or won't pay, or live in the 6%, or what?

    4 0 Reply

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