UK broadband speed test results for November 2020
We have finally found the time to publish the massive list of speed test results for different broadband services in the UK. We are keenly aware that a lot of people don't seem to believe the recent Ofcom speeds report for the UK that has seen the UK average rise from 64 Mbps in May to the 71.8 Mbps published now. We can through a bit of light onto these figures even though our data gives a much lower mean of 53.1 Mbps down in November, our May 2020 figure was 42.6 Mbps and November 2019 it was down at 39.1 Mbps. So the modelled and extrapolation from the several thousand Ofcom monitoring boxes shows the same sort of trend as we get from millions of crowd sourced speed tests.
For those who are stuck with ADSL2+ or FTTC it is also worth pointing out that if we look at the ISP neutral technology trends that ADSL/ADSL2+ had identical speeds in May 2020 and November 2020. For FTTC there is a slow climb from 34.6 Mbps to 35.7 Mbps for the mean download speed, this climb is likely down to the cheaper prices for the 80/20 service creating a wider takeup rather than the technology actually getting faster. So why the jump in the UK wide mean, put simpler we are seeing more people buying faster products plus more G.fast, FTTP or faster cable broadband packages. The modelling that Ofcom uses will take into account this shifting in the make-up of the broadband market.
| UK Broadband Providers and Services in November 2020 (Ordered by Median Download Speed) Smaller providers without enough geographic data samples are not included All speeds in Mega bits per second - Mbps | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Quality | Direction | Speed of bottom 10% | Speed of bottom 20% | Median | Mean | Speed of Top 20% | Speed of Top 10% |
| Hyperoptic 900 Mbps Full Fibre | A (0.1) | Down | 230.2 | 597.8 | 707.1 | 693.6 | 937 | 938.6 |
| Up | 152.1 | 366.8 | 662.4 | 570.4 | 809 | 855.2 | ||
| Virgin Media Gig1 DOCSIS 3.1 | A (0.4) | Down | 595 | 621 | 706.7 | 740.3 | 895.4 | 925.8 |
| Up | 27.9 | 35.7 | 43.8 | 42.4 | 51.8 | 52.9 | ||
| BT 900 Full Fibre | A (0.1) | Down | 213.1 | 324.1 | 656.2 | 591.8 | 883.4 | 892.9 |
| Up | 57.2 | 77.4 | 89.7 | 95.7 | 108.5 | 117.3 | ||
| Virgin Media 500 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 cable | A (0.2) | Down | 382.8 | 384.9 | 432.7 | 444.9 | 512.4 | 538.8 |
| Up | 20.9 | 26.4 | 35.4 | 35.3 | 38.5 | 43.4 | ||
| Community FIbre Gigabit Full Fibre | A (0.2) | Down | 270.7 | 313.5 | 416 | 461.3 | 572.4 | 820 |
| Up | 138.7 | 158.5 | 265.5 | 266.6 | 347.3 | 395.9 | ||
| Hyperoptic 500 Mbps Full Fibre | A (0.4) | Down | 165 | 205.1 | 329 | 331 | 454.1 | 483.9 |
| Up | 90.7 | 143.6 | 190.5 | 211.4 | 272.7 | 340.1 | ||
| BT 500 Full Fibre | A (0.2) | Down | 94.7 | 143 | 266.5 | 257.9 | 363.8 | 387.2 |
| Up | 50.6 | 52.9 | 61.2 | 61.3 | 69.6 | 72.3 | ||
| County Broadband Full Fibre | A (0.2) | Down | 90.1 | 99.2 | 243.5 | 228.4 | 329.7 | 361.4 |
| Up | 14.7 | 25.4 | 60.9 | 71.3 | 131.7 | 152.7 | ||
| Gigaclear GO 900 Full Fibre | A (0.2) | Down | 167.9 | 203.5 | 243 | 263.5 | 339.5 | 340.3 |
| Up | 105.8 | 127.5 | 194.5 | 187.7 | 244.9 | 252.8 | ||
| Virgin Media 350 Mbps cable DOCSIS 3.0 | A (0.5) | Down | 100.3 | 134.2 | 222.2 | 226 | 316.5 | 358.3 |
| Up | 21.2 | 25.5 | 33.1 | 31 | 35.8 | 36.5 | ||
| Vodafone Gigafast CityFibre Full Fibre All Speeds | A (0.6) | Down | 66 | 85.1 | 181.8 | 219.4 | 358.2 | 462.7 |
| Up | 27.8 | 35.3 | 54 | 90.7 | 105.8 | 207.3 | ||
| TalkTalk Fibre Nation CityFibre Full Fibre | A (0.3) | Down | 86.2 | 92 | 163.2 | 243.2 | 292.2 | 529.9 |
| Up | 21.4 | 26.8 | 51.9 | 105.4 | 81.8 | 220.5 | ||
| Community Fibre 200 Mbps Full Fibre | A (0.1) | Down | 94.4 | 136.1 | 156.8 | 161.5 | 201.2 | 228.6 |
| Up | 76.1 | 87.3 | 148.7 | 135.2 | 161.2 | 191.3 | ||
| Fibre Nest Persimmon Full Fibre | A (0.4) | Down | 24.3 | 78.4 | 147.7 | 156.3 | 217.7 | 257.5 |
| Up | 6.7 | 8.8 | 30.7 | 41.7 | 78.9 | 82 | ||
| EE G.fast All Speeds | A (0.1) | Down | 91.4 | 94.3 | 135.9 | 155.1 | 201.8 | 236.4 |
| Up | 19.7 | 24.3 | 28.6 | 32.5 | 42 | 44.5 | ||
| Gigaclear GO 200 Mbps Full Fibre | A (0.5) | Down | 101 | 112.2 | 132.1 | 138.7 | 166.6 | 190 |
| Up | 53.4 | 78.9 | 105.3 | 106.9 | 137.6 | 158.4 | ||
| BT Ultrafast 2 300 Mbps Full Fibre | A (0.3) | Down | 53 | 76 | 143.1 | 158.6 | 261.7 | 286.8 |
| Up | 30.1 | 30.9 | 39.2 | 38.6 | 47.1 | 48.4 | ||
| Gigaclear GO 200 Full Fibre | A (0.5) | Down | 101.3 | 105 | 137.2 | 135.9 | 169.1 | 174.8 |
| Up | 53.3 | 84.2 | 116.6 | 112.2 | 146.4 | 162.9 | ||
| TalkTalk G.fast All Speeds | A (0.1) | Down | 87.4 | 94.2 | 135.2 | 127.7 | 151.9 | 152.6 |
| Up | 16.3 | 22.4 | 27.8 | 26.2 | 28.7 | 33.2 | ||
| Zen GEA-FTTP All Speeds Full Fibre | A (0.2) | Down | 36.9 | 70.3 | 132.7 | 221.3 | 360.2 | 544.8 |
| Up | 8.4 | 17.2 | 26.7 | 44.4 | 75.5 | 103.5 | ||
| EE G.fast All Speeds | A (0.1) | Down | 101.1 | 108.1 | 126.8 | 150.4 | 179.1 | 242.2 |
| Up | 17.1 | 19.1 | 28.1 | 28.9 | 36.7 | 42.6 | ||
| BT G.fast All Speeds | A (0.1) | Down | 91.7 | 96.3 | 124.4 | 143.1 | 165.2 | 245.2 |
| Up | 20.9 | 25 | 28 | 29.9 | 40 | 44.9 | ||
| Virgin Media 200 Mbps cable DOCSIS 3.0 | A (0.3) | Down | 61.3 | 75.1 | 109.7 | 116.2 | 158.4 | 210.1 |
| Up | 8.8 | 9.4 | 10.2 | 13.7 | 20.2 | 21 | ||
| Wessex Internet | A (0.1) | Down | 22.2 | 38.1 | 103.4 | 114.9 | 118.4 | 263.2 |
| Up | 5.2 | 8.5 | 13.4 | 35.8 | 27.4 | 57.9 | ||
| BT Ultrafast 1 160 Mbps Full Fibre | A (0.2) | Down | 49.7 | 63.5 | 97.6 | 97.1 | 130.6 | 143.2 |
| Up | 22.2 |
25 |
28.3 | 26.9 | 29.3 | 29.6 | ||
| Vodafone GEA-FTTP All Speeds Full Fibre | A (0.3) | Down | 28.6 | 37.5 | 74.3 | 144.2 | 210.8 | 317.5 |
| Up | 5.2 | 10.7 | 22.3 | 51 | 67.1 | 71.1 | ||
| Fibrus Full Fibre | C(1.4) | Down | 28.8 | 42.7 | 71.1 | 92.5 | 151.3 | 203.7 |
| Up | 8.3 | 9.8 | 25 | 46.1 | 85.2 | 131.4 | ||
| AAISP 80/20 FTTC | A (0.1) | Down | 40.8 | 44.7 | 61.7 | 58.2 | 70.3 | 72.6 |
| Up | 10.1 | 12.2 | 16.2 | 15.3 | 18.4 | 18.5 | ||
| BT Superfast 2 80/20 Full Fibre | A (0.1) | Down | 35.6 | 42.8 | 61 | 57.2 | 71.9 | 73 |
| Up | 11.4 | 13.4 | 18.1 | 17.1 | 19.9 | 20.7 | ||
| Hyperoptic 150 Mbps Full Fibre | B (0.8) | Down | 25.9 | 38.2 | 59.5 | 81.2 | 157.3 | 164.7 |
| Up | 6.6 | 8.7 | 48 | 60.7 | 112 | 133 | ||
| Sky GEA-FTTP 80/20 and 160/30 Full Fibre | A (0.4) | Down | 24.2 | 31.7 | 59.5 | 65.9 | 94 | 131.9 |
| Up | 5.1 | 7 | 16.2 | 15.3 | 22.2 | 25.5 | ||
| Zen Internet FTTC 80/20 | A (0.1) | Down | 33.7 | 40.8 | 55.7 | 54.5 | 70.7 | 73.4 |
| Up | 9.1 | 11.4 | 15.7 | 14.5 | 17.9 | 18.3 | ||
| BT Superfast 2 FTTC 80/20 | A (0.1) | Down | 37.3 | 43.4 | 55 | 54.6 | 68.9 | 71.8 |
| Up | 10.3 | 11.9 | 16.4 | 15.3 | 18 | 18.5 | ||
| EE Fibre FTTC 80/20 | A (0.1) | Down | 38.2 | 41.6 | 53.8 | 53.3 | 68.2 | 71.4 |
| Up | 9.6 | 11.6 | 16.2 | 15 | 18.2 | 18.5 | ||
| Vodafone Superfast 2 FTTC 80/20 | A (0.1) | Down | 33.9 | 40 | 52.3 | 52.5 | 67.7 | 73.2 |
| Up | 8.4 | 10.2 | 15.8 | 14.3 | 17.9 | 18.4 | ||
| TalkTalk Fibre Plus FTTC 80/20 | A (0.1) | Down | 33.7 | 38.7 | 51.2 | 52.1 | 67.9 | 73.6 |
| Up | 9.3 | 10.9 | 16 | 14.7 | 18.1 | 18.6 | ||
| IDNet FTTC 80/20 | A (0.1) | Down | 25.5 | 40.1 | 50.8 | 50.8 | 64.5 | 69.5 |
| Up | 8.8 | 9.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 17 | 18 | ||
| KCOM Lightstream All Speeds Full Fibre | A (0.6) | Down | 17 | 23.6 | 49.9 | 82.2 | 114.2 | 194.7 |
| Up | 4.8 | 8.3 | 18.3 | 24.6 | 34.4 | 37.3 | ||
| Other Providers FTTC 80/20 | A (0.2) | Down | 20.9 | 31.6 | 49.4 | 49.9 | 68.3 | 72.6 |
| Up | 9.4 | 10.8 | 16.2 | 14.8 | 18.1 | 18.5 | ||
| Sky Fibre Max FTTC 80/20 | A(0.2) | Down | 31.2 | 38.5 | 49.4 | 49.8 | 63.9 | 69.6 |
| Up | 9.7 | 10.9 | 15.8 | 14.7 | 18 | 18.3 | ||
| Plusnet Fibre Extra FTTC 80/20 | A(0.2) | Down | 26.2 | 38.4 | 49 | 49.9 | 65.8 | 71.2 |
| Up | 8.9 | 10.2 | 14.6 | 13.9 | 17.9 | 18.2 | ||
| Gigaclear GO 100 Full Fibre | A(0.5) | Down | 23.2 | 28.8 | 46.2 | 49.5 | 72.5 | 86.7 |
| Up | 17.5 | 24.3 | 39.3 | 41.6 | 56.8 | 68.7 | ||
| seethelight OFNL Full Fibre | B(0.8) | Down | 8.7 | 22.5 | 40.8 | 52.1 | 74.6 | 112.5 |
| Up | 4.2 | 9 | 11.8 | 18.6 | 23.6 | 29.2 | ||
| TalkTalk GEA-FTTP All Speeds Full Fibre | A (0.1) | Down | 19.4 | 28.1 | 37.8 | 65.6 | 87.8 | 100.1 |
| Up | 3.6 | 5.3 | 9.4 | 15.8 | 19.1 | 21.2 | ||
| Plusnet GEA-FTTP 40/10 and 80/20 Full Fibre | A (0.4) | Down | 13.7 | 24.8 | 35 | 45.4 | 62.3 | 73.9 |
| Up | 3 | 4.4 | 8.7 | 10.7 | 18 | 18.5 | ||
| BT Superfast 1 55/10 Full Fibre | A (0.5) | Down | 13.6 | 19.3 | 34.4 | 32.4 | 47.1 | 50.2 |
| Up | 2.9 | 4.4 | 8.2 | 7.2 | 9.7 | 10.1 | ||
| Airband mixed fixed wireless and full fibre | A (0.5) | Down | 8.5 | 15.9 | 30.9 | 39.3 | 41.2 | 92.6 |
| Up | 1.6 | 2.8 | 7.7 | 13 | 11 | 36.6 | ||
| Post Office FTTC 40/10 | A (0.3) | Down | 12.3 | 17.5 | 29.9 | 27.1 | 36.7 | 37.2 |
| Up | 3.1 | 5 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 8.9 | ||
| Zen Internet FTTC 40/10 | A (0.2) | Down | 9.8 | 16.3 | 29.4 | 26.2 | 35.2 | 36.7 |
| Up | 2.1 | 3.8 | 6.5 | 6 | 8.6 | 9 | ||
| BT Superfast 1 FTTC 55/10 | A (0.3) | Down | 12.1 | 16.8 | 27.9 | 27.5 | 37.5 | 43.6 |
| Up | 2.4 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 8.6 | ||
| Virgin Media 100 Mbps cable DOCSIS 3.0 | B (1.2) | Down | 5.6 | 11.7 | 27 | 29.7 | 45.2 | 53.3 |
| Up | 1.3 | 2.2 | 5 | 5.2 | 8.3 | 9.6 | ||
| TalkTalk Business | A (0.3) | Down | 4.6 | 10.5 | 26.8 | 28.4 | 37.7 | 55 |
| Up | 0.6 | 0.9 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 10.2 | 17.5 | ||
| TalkTalk Fibre FTTC 40/10 | A (0.3) | Down | 11.2 | 16.4 | 26.8 | 25.4 | 35.7 | 37.2 |
| Up | 2.4 | 3.5 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 8.2 | 8.6 | ||
| EE Mobile 3G/4G/5G | B (1.1) | Down | 3.7 | 8.4 | 26.4 | 39 | 57.2 | 80.1 |
| Up | 0.5 | 1.1 | 5.4 | 8.3 | 14.7 | 18.5 | ||
| EE Fibre FTTC 40/10 | A (0.3) | Down | 11.3 | 15.8 | 26.4 | 24.9 | 35.2 | 36.9 |
| Up | 2.3 | 3.3 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 7.8 | 8.4 | ||
| Vodafone Superfast 1 FTTC 40/10 | A (0.4) | Down | 9.8 | 15.7 | 24.8 | 24.1 | 34.1 | 36.7 |
| Up | 2.4 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 7.7 | 8.3 | ||
| Plusnet Fibre FTTC 40/10 | A (0.3) | Down | 11.9 | 16 | 24.6 | 24.3 | 33.7 | 36.1 |
| Up | 2.4 | 3.4 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 7.7 | 8.5 | ||
| Sky Fibre FTTC 40/10 | A (0.3) | Down | 9.4 | 14.3 | 23.7 | 22.9 | 32.1 | 35.5 |
| Up | 2.3 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 7.4 | 8.2 | ||
| Other Providers FTTC 40/10 | A (0.4) | Down | 8.3 | 11.7 | 23.2 | 22.7 | 34.6 | 36.9 |
| Up | 2 | 2.9 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 8.2 | 8.9 | ||
| Vodafone Wholesale | A (0.4) | Down | 2.4 | 6.4 | 19.5 | 26.6 | 46.5 | 63.7 |
| Up | 0.5 | 0.7 | 5.8 | 7.5 | 14.5 | 17.4 | ||
| Three Mobile 3G/4G/5G | C (1.5) | Down | 1.4 | 3.6 | 12.7 | 27.5 | 33.5 | 56.7 |
| Up | 0.5 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 6.1 | 10.7 | 16.1 | ||
| Vodafone Mobile 3G/4G/5G | D (1.7) | Down | 2.3 | 4.4 | 11.9 | 27.1 | 38.4 | 59.8 |
| Up | 0.6 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 6.3 | 10.7 | 16.3 | ||
| O2 Mobile 3G/4G/5G | C (1.5) | Down | 1.8 | 3.6 | 10.4 | 17.4 | 27.8 | 44.2 |
| Up | 0.5 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 4.4 | 7 | 12.6 | ||
| Zen Internet ADSL/ADSL2+ | B (0.9) | Down | 1.7 | 3.1 | 6.9 | 8 | 12.8 | 15.5 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | ||
| Vodafone ADSL2+ | B (0.8) | Down | 0.8 | 1.8 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 |
| Up | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1 | 1.1 | ||
| Plusnet ADSL/ADSL2+ | B (0.8) | Down | 1.1 | 2.4 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 13 | 15.9 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1 | ||
| EE ADSL/ADSL2+ | B (0.8) | Down | 0.8 | 2 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 12.8 | 16.7 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1 | ||
| TalkTalk ADSL2+ | A (0.7) | Down | 1.1 | 2.3 | 6.3 | 7 | 11.9 | 14.2 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | ||
| Sky ADSL2+ | A (0.6) | Down | 0.6 | 2.2 | 6.3 | 7.4 | 12.9 | 16 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1 | ||
| Post Office ADSL/ADSL2+ | A (0.7) | Down | 1.4 | 2.5 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 11.3 | 14.3 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | ||
| BT ADSL2+ | B (0.9) | Down | 0.8 | 1.9 | 5.4 | 6.8 | 11.9 | 15.2 |
| Up | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1 | ||
The most obvious thing from spending a couple of hours going through this data and adding to the news item is that there is very little variation between the FTTC products i.e. using a different provider makes little difference (the same applies when you compare ADSL2+ services). The difference is much more about price, customer service, core network reliability and how good the router is.
In terms of the most popular ten products we saw during November in descending order of popularity it is BT Superfast 1 55/10 FTTC, Virgin Media 200 Mbps, Sky Fibre 40/10 FTTC, BT Superfast 2 80/20 FTTC, Virgin Media 100 Mbps, Sky Fibre Max 80/20 FTTC, Sky ADSL2+, TalkTalk Fibre 40/10 FTTC, BT ADSL/ADSL2+ and the tenth most popular service seen was Plusnet Fibre 40/10 FTTC.
