Test your broadband speed from anywhere in the UK . The test uses Cloudflare's edge network and reports the selected server with your result, so you can interpret latency alongside throughput.
The biggest cause of slow broadband in UK homes is still FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) . Fibre runs to the green street cabinet, then old copper handles the last stretch. Speed degrades sharply with distance from the cabinet. If your line is rated for 80 Mbps but you only get 45, you're probably more than 400m away. The fix is FTTP if Openreach has it on your street; check openreach.com/fibre-checker .
Use the slow internet checklist to isolate the cause before changing plans.
Providers signed up to Ofcom's voluntary speed code must give you a minimum guaranteed speed before you buy. If your wired speed stays below it and they cannot fix it within 30 days, you can exit the contract penalty-free, including any bundled TV or phone line. Under the automatic compensation scheme you are also owed a set amount per day for a total loss of service that is not repaired within two working days. A wired test result on this page, repeated at different times of day, is the evidence to keep.
100 Mbps is plenty for most households. If you stream 4K on multiple screens and game at the same time, 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps on full fibre is the sweet spot. Below 30 Mbps, multi-device streaming will struggle.
"Up to" speeds are theoretical maximums. What you actually get depends on your distance from the cabinet, in-house wiring, and WiFi quality. Run a wired test first. If that matches the contract estimate, the issue is your WiFi or device, not the line itself.
On download, often yes. On upload and consistency, no. Virgin's top tiers hit 2 Gbps down, but upload is capped far lower and evening congestion is more common than on FTTP.
Under 10 ms on full fibre, under 20 ms on FTTC, under 50 ms on 5G. See what is a good ping for gaming and video-call thresholds.