Broadband's speed can be slowdown at anytime. If you feel like you aren't getting the internet speeds you paid for, you may not be alone.
New research by the BBC's Watchdog program has found out that 90 per cent of British homes may never get the broadband speeds they have been promised.
This means that many Brits are paying out vast sums of money each month for an inferior service.
Using a simple test that measured broadband speeds over the course of a week, the investigation found that many of the Team Watchdog families it worked with weren’t receiving anywhere near the top speeds advertised by their broadband providers.
However for the time being, there appears to be little you can do about it, as only 10 per cent of customers need to be able to get the promised speeds to validate the internet provider's claims, according to advertising rules.
Alongside the investigation, Watchdog also carried out a survey of over two thousand British adults on how they reacted to the discrepancies in their speeds.
This found that only around a third of British adults have complained to their provider about the speed of their connection.
This low figure is perhaps unsurprising, as the research found that only one in ten saw an improvement in connection speed after complaining, yet a further one in ten (13 per cent) saw no result.
Nearly half (49 per cent) also said that their broadband connection completely cuts out sometimes, with no explanation given by the providers.
Watchdog presenter Steph McGovern said: “Consumers should be getting the broadband speeds they are paying for and I want to make the nation aware of these ‘up to’ speed claims."
"Enhanced broadband speed can be achieved by a few simple steps, which can have a massive positive impact on our daily lives.”
McGovern laid out a couple of tips designed to help boost home internet speeds, with the main problem appearing to stem from how a home's broadband network is set up.
Many families placed their main router in a location that limited internet speeds around the whole house, as the rooms furthest away suffered from slower downloads.
Placing the router in a more central location and removing nearby electronic devices which could interfere with reception was also found to improve reception.
Other tips included checking if the home's PC had the latest browser software installed, and whether the router itself was in need of an upgrade, all of which can lead to faster speeds.
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