Opensignal Find Ultrafast UK Broadband ISPs More Reliable vs Superfast Ones

Network benchmarking firm Opensignal has today published a new report that examines how the UK’s broadband experience varies across speed tiers, with homes on “ultrafast” (300Mbps+) connections enjoying a “smoother and more reliable” service than those on “superfast” (30-300Mbps) ones. ISPs EE, Vodafone and Plusnet topped the performance rankings.

Opensignal typically leverages crowdsourced data collected via end-users on their benchmarking app and services. Naturally there are some caveats to consider because such testing can be impacted by a lot of variable factors, such as poor home wiring (ADSL and FTTC lines), the end-user’s choice of package (e.g. 1Gbps could be available, but people may pick a slower / cheaper tier), local network congestion and slow home WiFi etc.

The report then attempts to categorise its results by making three key measurements of the modern home broadband experience: Consistent Quality, Reliability Experience and Video Experience. For example, the ‘Consistent Quality’ metric uses six key performance indicators to produce a score, including download and upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss and time to first byte.

However, one other catch with this study is that it only covers the seven largest ISPs, including PlusNet, Virgin Media, BT, Vodafone, TalkTalk, EE and Sky Broadband. This is disappointing as some of the best service and support quality can often be found on smaller providers and networks.

The Results

In terms of the data, the results found that “Superfast” connections delivered ‘Consistent Quality‘ some 83.6% of the time, but this rises to 89.9% for those on “Ultrafast” lines (they’re using Ofcom’s speed definitions for this report). As for the ‘Reliability Experience‘, superfast providers scored 733 out of 1,000 points, but this rises to 853 on ultrafast lines. Finally, in terms of the ‘Video Experience‘, superfast providers scored 76.2 out of 100 points, which rises to 78.8 for ultrafast providers.

The difference isn’t vast and most likely stems from the fact that the “superfast” (30-300Mbps) speeds category will be catching a lot of users on older and slower hybrid-fibre connections, such as Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) technology and a tiny amount of G.fast. By comparison, those on “ultrafast” lines are much more likely to be using gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP/B) or Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) connections.

As for the ISP specific rankings, it’s fair to say that most of the major providers actually manage to perform at a similar level, with only a relatively small to modest gap between the front-runners and bottom dwellers. But broadly speaking EE, Vodafone, and Plusnet do appear to do quite well below, even if the margins aren’t always very big. All seven ISPs are also statistically tied for Video Experience on ultrafast lines.