What exactly does broadband speed really mean?

When there is talk about the speed of a broadband connection, the speed element usually referrs to how fast data can transfer between a gateway device attached to a communications line to an entry point on the Internet. The gateway device may often be a “router” or “ADSL modem” and entry point, for a land line connection, will typically be located in your telecommunications provider local Exchange.

It should follow that the higher the speed you can get the faster you are likely to see the website you want – so for example, a 4Mb broadband service should be twice as fast as a 2Mb service and so on. However, this is not the case.

The problems with Broadband speed

Measuring the speed between the two devices described above is only part of what goes on. You also need to factor in the speed of communication between your computer (or mobile device) and your local gateway, any wireless systems you may using, and the always-changing (transient) nature of the Internet.

There are also a number of factors that govern the speed, and throughput, of your Internet connection.  For example, someone living in the countryside fifty miles from the nearest telephone exchange will typically get a slower connection than someone living in the city right next to their local Exchange (lucky people!). The distance of the connection from your local telecommunications exchange is known as The Last Mile (although the reference to a mile is a bit silly as the distance varies greatly).

The efficiency and age of your gateway device can also have an enormous effect – as technology is evolving regularly.  A newer state of the art modem or router may offer better performance than, say, one creaking by on its last legs.

You may also have noticed your broadband speed slows down during the evenings, when people come home from work and hop online.  The more traffic there is using the Internet, the more the connection speed is diluted between all the users, both in your area and on the Internet in general.  The type of network card you have can also have an impact on the speed you experience.

Most broadband suppliers promote their services by saying they offer ‘up to’ a certain speed.  It is easy to assume you will get the fastest speed, but as we have seen above this is merely the most you can expect.  Chances are the real speed will be much lower.

Test Your Broadband Speed

The best way to discover what your broadband speed actually is would be to run a broadband test.  You can do this online by running one of the various broadband testers available – we have list of our 12 favourites in 12 Broadband Speed Testers.

You can also test your broadband speed using this handy free tool