When it comes to connecting to the Internet, most people know broadband trumps dial up every time.  But what exactly does broadband speed really mean?

When we talk about the speed of a broadband connection, we are generally referring to how fast data can transfer from one computer on the Internet to your computer and vice versa. It should follow; the higher the speed, 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. However, this is not necessarily the case.

Various factors 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 the exchange – the distance of your connection from your local telephone exchange is often known as the Last Mile (although the distance varies greatly).  The efficiency and age of your modem and router can also have an effect.  A newer state of the art modem and router will doubtless elicit a better performance than one 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.

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

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Additionally, You can also use the Opal speed test broadband tool to see what broadband connection you can get. Opal also offer leased lines for reliable communication connections.

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