Home
 » ISP News » 
Sponsored Links

UPD ASA Ban TalkTalk ISP Advert for “Unbeatable” and “Fastest Wi-Fi” Claim

Wednesday, Nov 12th, 2014 (8:23 am) - Score 688

A circular advert for TalkTalk’s broadband package has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for being “misleading” after it claimed that the ISPs new Super Router device was able to offer subscribers “unbeatable signal strength” and the “UK’s fastest Wi-Fi technology.” Oops.

According to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), TalkTalk defended the rather broad claims by saying that they were based on a “comparison with the flagship modems and routers of the other four major market providers on a like for like basis“, which was conducted through an independent third party (we covered this back in May 2014).

But the ASA disagreed, noting that the testing was conducted in “laboratory conditions” and thus “did not reflect typical consumer use“.

ASA Ruling (Ref: A14-275634)

The ASA noted the independent report submitted by TalkTalk was conducted in laboratory conditions. We acknowledged TalkTalk’s assertion that they had used comparable routers in order to ensure a fair comparison and the results of the testing appeared to indicate that TalkTalk’s Super Router performed better than their competitors.

We noted the results were marginal in some instances. We considered that consumers would understand the claims “unbeatable” and “UK’s fastest” to reflect conditions of use in the home which would be influenced by variables such as the placement of the router in the home and where it was being accessed from, time of day and the number and type of devices linked to it. We were therefore concerned that the testing did not reflect typical consumer use.

Because the testing did not compare the performance of TalkTalk’s Super Router under typical home circumstances, we considered the ad was misleading.

It’s interesting to note that the ASA’s ruling focused solely on the testing. Meanwhile consumers can easily purchase superior third-party routers in the shops, many of which will have no trouble besting the budget bundled kit from the big boys (although TalkTalk’s Super Router is pretty good for a budget device).

As usual the ASA banned the advert in its current form and warned TalkTalk “not to exaggerate the performance of their products in the absence of appropriate substantiation“.

UPDATE 14th Nov 2014

Interestingly TalkTalk now appears to have resolved the ASA’s concern.

A TalkTalk Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

We have commissioned additional tests from an independent authority and have now found that our Super Router outperforms competitors’ models in real home environments, as well as in the laboratory. We have noted the ASA’s guidance.”

Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and .
Search ISP News
Search ISP Listings
Search ISP Reviews

Comments are closed

Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £24.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Shell Energy UK ISP Logo
Shell Energy £26.99
109Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Zen Internet UK ISP Logo
Zen Internet £28.00 - 35.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £15.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5473)
  2. BT (3505)
  3. Politics (2525)
  4. Openreach (2291)
  5. Business (2251)
  6. Building Digital UK (2234)
  7. FTTC (2041)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1961)
  9. Statistics (1780)
  10. 4G (1654)
  11. Virgin Media (1608)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1451)
  13. Fibre Optic (1392)
  14. Wireless Internet (1386)
  15. FTTH (1381)

Helpful ISP Guides and Tips

Promotion
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms , Privacy and Cookie Policy , Links , Website Rules , Contact
Mastodon