Although users want the service they receive to be of a higher quality, many of them don’t actually know much about their service. Around a third of users are not sure of the originally advertised speed of their broadband package – one of the most important things to consider when choosing a broadband service.

The survey showed the disparity between average advertised speeds and real life speeds as being nearly double, with the UK average speeds of 4.2 Mb a far cry from the average advertised connection of 8 Mbps.

The survey was conducted by broadband site uSwitch. Communication officer at the site, Jason Glynn stated: “The Government and providers need to step up a gear and set out a bold new blueprint for Britain’s future. Virgin Media and BT have already made strides in this direction – the question is whether other providers will be following suit and whether all customers will be able to benefit equally, regardless of where they live.”

The best way to avoid disappointment with your connection is research before you buy. ISPs can run speed tests on your line to check how fast your internet can go and 3G providers should be able to give you an estimate on the strength of the signal in your area.

There are also ways to receive the best out of the speed you already receive such as switching to a wired network rather than using a wireless router, which are prone to interference.

“Technology has raced ahead and people are able to access services online that could previously only be dreamt of,” said Glynn, “the only thing holding broadband Britain back is speed.”

If you are looking for a fast broadband connection, it may be that you can still go with a cheap broadband deal, however it would pay to compare your options first, to ensure you get the best deal for you.

You might remember a story we ran last month detailing Virgin’s fast broadband (200 Mbps) trials in the town of Ashford, Kent. These were small trials to see how people in the future might take advantage of 200 Mbps speeds with Virgin saying that they didn’t believe there would be any commercial application for the service in the near future.

However, the company announced this week that they have selected German mobile giant Motorola’s solution for ‘next gen’ broadband which could add more powerful packages to the already formidable line-up offered by Virgin, who currently provide the fastest internet connection in the country – providing you live in the right area.

From a technical standpoint, the deal means that new broadband cable standards such as DOCSIS 3.0 will be made available using Motorola’s BSR 64000 Integrated-CMTS solution. Sound complicated? That’s because it is. Luckily, the real world application is a little easier to grasp: It will increase bandwidth to Virgin’s network which means faster speeds, more reliable service and extra security to its customers.

Vice President for Motorola Home and Networks Mobility in Europe, Joe Cozzolino commented: “We are delighted to be selected by Virgin Media as it rolls out DOCSIS 3.0 based services, and we look forward to working closely as we head towards the reality of the 200Mb home.”

Basically, all this technology will be able to provide users with a feasible 200 Mbps broadband connection, four times faster than the fastest connection available in the UK today and – right now – the fastest residential connection available in the world.

Motorola are clearly excited about their involvement of the deal, and the company has recently shipped 1,000 of its TX32 downstream modules that can reduce bandwidth costs for operators by up to 60%. Mr. Cozzolino stated: “Cable operators worldwide are taking steps to optimize bandwidth availability in support of ultra-broadband services and are turning to Motorola because of the deep experience in delivering proven DOCSIS 3.0 solutions into the industry.”

Currently, the fastest broadband package available in the UK is thought to be Virgin Media’s 50mbs broadband deal. More info on the Virgin 50mb package, click here the image below:

Broadband For Gaming – What to look for

 
Let’s ignore any specific packages for a minute and work out exactly what matters to gamers. The first and most important thing is speed. Almost all broadband packages are capable of playing today’s PC games as well as using Xbox Live and Playstation Network. However, the differences in speed can certainly translate into differences in gameplay, especially in fast paced games like First Person Shooters. In these games, your ping rate – the time it takes for your computer (the client) and the game (the server) to talk to each other. This is generally measured in milliseconds so as you can imagine, the distance is small, but it matters more than you think.
 

Let’s say you’re using a standard UK ISP and are playing Counterstrike on a UK server. If you have a ping of 100 and your opponent has a ping of 30, he’s got nearly .1 of a second more time to react than you. That means if you both clicked the mouse and exactly the same time on target for a killing shot, there’s every chance that you would still lose the fight. Not exactly fair, is it?
 

Speed isn’t just about getting the fastest package available, however. Advertised speeds are nearly always ‘download’ speeds but with gaming, ‘upload’ speeds are also important. Gamers in mainland Europe often enjoy upload speeds of around 10mbit, but in England having even 1mbit upload will put you above half the broadband using population. Other things out of your ISPs control can affect your speed such as the way the game has been coded. The main increase in speed can be found by making sure you play on UK servers, preferably as close as possible to your location. On a standard ISP, you might be able to get a ping of between 20-40 but joining a server even as close as France could double that, so be aware of where the server is.
 

The other important thing gamers require is bandwidth. Faster ISPs have a habit of advertising ‘unlimited downloads’ and then implementing a ‘fair use’ policy which means if you go above a certain amount of downloading per week, month or sometimes even day, you can have your broadband speed cut severely for a number of hours. Games themselves actually don’t use a massive amount of bandwidth compared to say, streaming video, but don’t forget there’s a good chance you’ll be downloading game updates, patches, software updates, demos and trailers on a regular basis. Most gamers will also be using their net connection for the same things as everyone else, and while checking your emails doesn’t exactly hit any bandwidth limits, all of these things can add up faster than you might expect.
 

Choosing The Right Package For Gaming

 
With bandwidth and speed our main priorities, we can actually start to see what ISPs might be good for gamers. Many of the bigger well known ISPs can actually be thrown out due to their incredibly restrictive fair-use schemes which will see your speed ruined after downloading just a couple of demos during prime time hours. Smaller providers can offer slightly fairer packages but we’ve also got to keep in mind that speed is factor. Anything offering less than 8mbit is going to put you at disadvantage. Don’t forget that most ISPs offer ‘up to’ 8mbit speeds, and it’s unlikely you’ll actually find your connection as fast as advertised, so make sure you do a line test first to see what sort of speeds you can get in your area.
 

With this in mind, there are two stand-out options for people looking for broadband designed for gamers. Plusnet Pro, and Be Pro. Plusnet offers enhanced ping times, access to their own gaming servers and prioritised traffic. All of these features will help give you that slight edge over the competition and playing on gaming servers run by your ISP will ensure you have an incredibly good ping. Although geared towards gamers, there’s one major drawback of Plusnet Pro – a rather restrictive 15GB monthly usage policy. That works out at only around 500MB a day which one of the most restrictive usage packages available in the UK. Luckily the service allows unlimited downloads between midnight and 8am, but with costs involved for going over the limit, Plusnet is quite a restrictive service. It’s still a good option if you only really use the web for gaming and light surfing however, and it may be the only option available to you if you don’t live the right are for Be.
 

And our Gaming Broadband winner is…

 
Ironically, the best package for gamers available right now isn’t actually advertised as a gaming package at all. Be Pro offers speed of up to 24mbit, the fastest DSL service in the country and only beaten by the 50mbit Virgin cable package which it’s still very much in its infancy. On top of this, Be offers an amazing 2.5mbit upload speed – enough so you can not only experience smooth, flowing games on other servers but you can also host your own server with friends without fear of massive slowdown. This is further aided by a static IP – a single ‘address’ that people can connect to your games with that never changes. Most ISPs, give you new address every time your connection drops.
 

Even better, Be Pro offers unlimited downloads. It does have a fair use policy like every ISP, but it’s users have long applauded Be for not slowing down lines just to push more users on and earn more money. You might not be able to download constantly all day every day, but you won’t have to worry about hitting a limit and being charged for overuse.
 

Be Pro’s incredible speeds are available for an incredibly good rate, but unfortunately there’s a good chance you might not be able to take advantage of them in your area. There’s no point paying for 24mbit broadband if your line can only support 4mbit, so talk to your phone company and ISP before signing any contracts. Good gaming!