If you’ve just been promised speeds of up to 8, 16, or even 24Mbps from your internet service provide, don’t be surprised when the speeds you actually end up achieving are far less.

A recent survey undertaken by Computeractive revealed that users who were expecting high performance broadband speeds rarely or infrequently – and sometimes never – were successful in receiving such speeds originally advertised.

The reasons for slow broadband speeds are largely the result inadequate copper telephone exchange lines that are of poor quality and require updating. This is compounded further by the introduction of new services such as video on demand, video downloads and streaming, all of which are putting a strain on networks.