UK ISP Primus Saver Raises Typical ADSL2 Broadband Speed up to 16Mbps

Primus Saver has quietly followed the other big broadband ISPs by raising the advertised download speed (“typical speed“) of their standard copper line (ADSL2+) based packages from ‘up to’ 15Mbps to 16Mbps (Megabits per second). But don’t expect your connections to actually get any faster.

The move is predominantly all about advertising. In particular, the Advertising Standards Authority requires ISPs to demonstrate that their advertised speeds are achievable by at least 10% of users, which is better known as a “typical speed” (here). This is why some providers promote speeds of up to 12-18Mbps for ADSL2+ connections, which could otherwise theoretically be delivering up to 20-24Mbps.

But by now most of the markets ISPs have worked out that nobody is really checking their figures and so over the past few months most of the main providers have quietly adopted a general speed of ‘up to’ 16Mbps. Meanwhile Ofcom’s most recent speed testing results suggest that there’s still be a very big difference between what the latest packages promise and what they can actually deliver (here).

So sadly Primus Saver hasn’t figured out a magical way of pushing more speed down your physical ADSL2+ line, they’re just bringing themselves into line with everybody else. At the same time it should be said that many smaller ISPs continue to completely ignore the rules and the ASA has paid no attention to them (see our ISP List for examples).