{"id":21920,"date":"2020-12-27T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T00:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=21920"},"modified":"2025-04-11T11:16:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T10:16:04","slug":"why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn’t Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the level of “gigabit capable<\/em>” UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those working within telecoms and computer networking have known for a long time –  being able to get or harness the full 1000Mbps (1Gbps) isn’t always possible.. yet.<\/p>\n

One of the most fundamentally challenging issues that consumers face, when trying to attain a good broadband speed today, is centred on the limitations of the line itself. Twisted pair copper lines are notorious for issues related to signal degradation, both over distance and caused by other factors, such as weather damage or poor home wiring etc. The result is often woefully poor speeds.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> At the end of 2024 around 85% of the UK was within reach of a 1Gbps capable network (here<\/a>). This article was last updated on 11th April 2025<\/strong>.<\/div>\n

Thankfully the new generation of Gigabit-capable “full fibre<\/em>” (FTTP<\/a>) services, as well as DOCSIS<\/a> 3.1 based Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks, resolve most of this and bring with them the option of top tier consumer packages, which can offer download speeds of 1Gbps (Gigabit per second) or even better.<\/p>\n

Naturally many people will be attracted to spend a bit extra on the fastest 1Gbps packages and can thus end up being surprised when the top speeds prove harder to attain than expected. None of this is particularly new territory for those of us educated in the ways of computer networking, but as more people adopt such packages then it’s worth highlighting why achieving what is advertised can still be a challenge, even on full fibre.<\/p>\n

For the purpose of this article we’ll explore a situation where somebody orders a 1Gbps package but, after conducting a broadband speedtest or downloading a file, finds that they’re “only<\/em>” able to achieve a few hundred Megabits or less. On the one hand most people would be more than happy with such a speed, but it still begs the question, why can’t you harness all of the speed? We’ll try to explore some of the possibilities below.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Most 1Gbps packages will be advertised alongside an average speed (as measured at peak time) of 900Mbps+, as per the Advertising (ASA) watchdog’s rules.<\/div>\n

1. Consumer Broadband Capacity is Shared (“Best Efforts”)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Most ISPs will do their best to build networks that broadly deliver on what they promise and, as per the ASA rule mentioned above, if they can’t then it should show in the average (median) speeds that they’re required to promote. Nevertheless an average is a figure that stems from a balance of both good and poor results, with some people always being on the losing side of that equation.<\/p>\n

Consumer broadband networks need to be affordable and as such they share their data capacity between many users in a given area. For example, in some locations an ISP might be using a 10Gbps capacity link to serve tens of customers (i.e. 10, 40, 50 etc.) or more .<\/p>\n

For the most part a single user in that area probably wouldn’t even notice this because of how few would be using their connection at the same time and, even if they were, then they’ll probably only actually NEED a much smaller slice of that speed at any given moment (e.g. somebody with a 1Gbps line but who is only using 24Mbps by viewing a single 4K video stream).<\/p>\n

Lest we also forget that others in the area might have chosen a slower package (e.g. 100Mbps, 500Mbps etc.) and so would have a lower level of peak demand. Providers generally create models of usage to help cost and balance how much capacity they’ll need to buy, while also allowing some overhead for peaks.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless some ISPs may be more budget conscious, which can result in them oversubscribing their network in a particular area (i.e. too many users for the given capacity supply). The impact of this is more likely to show up at peak (evening) times, when more people are online and making active use of their connection, as opposed to off-peak (daytime) periods with lighter levels of network load.<\/p>\n

Complaints from end-users are usually enough to resolve this, although it can take time. Equally you might be able to resolve it by changing ISP. One other solution is to consider buying a dedicated business line of a similar speed (e.g. leased line), although those are often significantly more expensive – reflecting the naturally higher cost of offering a truly uncontended service.<\/p>\n

2. Slow Wi-Fi<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

At this point it goes without saying that wireless networks, even those that use the very latest 802.11ax<\/strong> (WiFi<\/a> v6) technology or access to the new 6GHz<\/strong> band, are far from perfect. Indeed a typically low powered WiFi<\/a> signal is extremely weak and rapidly starts to degrade over a fairly short distance. On top of that any objects or structures in their way (varies – depending upon the materials used) can further hamper or even stop the signal.<\/p>\n

Due to this you tend to get the best WiFi<\/a> performance when within just a handful of feet of your router – inside the same room – and this is also dependent upon the device you’re using (Smartphone, Laptop, Tablet etc.) having a similar or better capability than that of your router (e.g. the WiFi chips and antenna inside many Smartphones may be inferior to those inside high-end laptops etc.).<\/p>\n

Long story short, even if the WiFi network claims it can deliver peak speeds of 1Gbps, or faster, then the reality is that you’ll often receive significantly less. As such it’s very UNWISE to test a 1Gbps broadband line over a WiFi link and you’ll often be better off conducting such testing via a wired connection to one of the Ethernet based Local Area Network<\/strong> (LAN) ports on the back of your router.<\/p>\n

Admittedly there are also other ways to extend and improve the performance of your WiFi service (see our Wi-Fi Tips Article<\/strong><\/a>), such as by using a Mesh (repeater) system to effectively replace your router’s own WiFi, but these still run into some of the same problems and speeds will vary.<\/p>\n

3. Wired Gigabit Ethernet LAN isn’t Perfect<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Assuming you’ve connected to the LAN port on your router in order to test a 1Gbps broadband line then you’re immediately likely to run into a couple of problems. Firstly, most broadband routers today only ship with 1Gbps Gigabit Ethernet capable ports, which should be fine. However, once you account for various overheads, the maximum real-world data transfer rate ends up being less than 1000Mbps.<\/p>\n

Depending on how you calculate this and what overheads are involved (we’d need a separate article to explain all this), the top usable speed of a single 1Gbps Ethernet LAN port is likely to be around 987Mbps (older setups without jumbo frames support might expect even lower – c.930Mbps). In other words, you’ve already lost some Megabits and that’s before you’ve even got anything else running.<\/p>\n

We should clarify this doesn’t mean your router is completely capped to a sub-1Gbps speed. The example above only reflects a single user and wired connection, although all routers are designed to serve multiple LAN ports and users over WiFi at the same time.<\/p>\n

In an ideal world router manufacturers should really be sticking even faster 2.5Gbps or better LAN ports on their devices, although there’s always been a historic problem with recognising the demand for such things and implementing that (not long ago almost every router was still coming out with 100Mbps ports on the back, even when WiFi was going much faster).<\/p>\n

4. Local (LAN) Network Load<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

One thing that many people either forget to consider or simply aren’t able to check (it’s a hard thing to pin down) is the measure of load on your home network. For example, a lot of software applications (e.g. Microsoft Windows 10) and devices will be constantly checking for and running automatic updates in the background, some of which could be several Gigabits in size. Likewise there may be other people using services on the network.<\/p>\n

Flick over to the next page (2) in order to continue reading..<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The problem here is that if you attempt to run a web-based broadband speedtest when there’s additional (hidden) network load being placed on that line, then you’re likely to get a slower result than expected. We say “hidden<\/em>” because unfortunately many broadband routers don’t make it easy to see how much total live traffic is passing over your local network to the ISP.<\/p>\n

The simplest way around this is to isolate all of the connected devices (i.e. switch them off and disable WiFi), except a single laptop or desktop computer and then run the test on that (ideally after checking that no updates are running in the background).<\/p>\n

5. Web-Based Broadband Speedtests Are Unreliable<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Most broadband speedtests were designed to cope with much slower connections and, as connection technologies have improved, some of those services have adapted better to the demands of the gigabit era than offers. Suffice to say that even if you’re setup to test properly then some testers will struggle to deliver a reliable result at levels of 1Gbps or faster.<\/p>\n

All sorts of reasons can exist for this, such as the location of the server being used to conduct the test (if you have the option then try a few different ones and you’ll see what we mean), the type of test being conducted (single vs multi-thread tests can produce different results) and the test server itself simply being too congested with load to give an accurate result. But problems with accuracy aren’t always centred on under-reporting performance.<\/p>\n

For example, a number of people on 1Gbps FTTP<\/a> lines who have tried Netflix’s tester – fast.com<\/strong> – have boasted about getting results of 1.2Gbps or 1.3Gbps, which is despite the fact that such speeds may not even be possible on the setup they’re using (e.g. no.3 above and speed profile caps imposed by the ISP). Suffice to say, accurately testing gigabit speeds can be very tricky and don’t even get us started on multi-Gigabit lines.<\/p>\n

6. Few Internet Services or Servers Can Harness 1Gbps.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Some people tend to assume, mistakenly, that once they get a 1Gbps broadband line then everything else online will automatically be able to harness all of that speed. In reality every online service will manage traffic in different ways to ensure a fair Quality of Service<\/strong> (QoS) and very few will actually be able to make full use of such speed.<\/p>\n

Websites are a simple but useful example of this because, in order to balance performance between many users, the web servers often implement a degree of Traffic Management<\/strong> control over their bandwidth by capping the maximum amount that any single connection to the site can consume at once. This is partly why going from a 30Mbps to 1000Mbps line won’t make a whole heap of difference to website loading (plus websites are usually too small to tax a 1Gbps line in the first place).<\/p>\n

Similarly, when you’re downloading the latest video game updates or software patches, the servers for those services will often manage their traffic to you in a similar way to ensure fair use (i.e. sharing capacity). Obviously big updates can raise the global demand and cause slow speeds for all, which will occur no matter how fast your line might be capable of going. Once again, this is the fault of internet servers and not your ISP.<\/p>\n

On top of that the content you are consuming could have an upper performance limit. For example, a 4K video stream might require an average download rate of 25-30Mbps, so even watching several of those at the same time isn’t going to remotely tax a 1Gbps broadband line.<\/p>\n

Likewise anybody using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) should remember that they need to pass your traffic requests through their own servers, which can significantly slow down your speeds.<\/p>\n

In short, even if you live in a busy family environment with multiple demanding (high traffic) users at the same time, then the chances are that you may in reality only ever be able to use just a small part of the available broadband speed.<\/p>\n

7. Ethernet (LAN) Cable as the Bottleneck<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Most people tend to assume that one network cable is much the same as another, but that is a mistake. In fact when you connect a computer to your broadband router via a wired LAN cable then it’s often wise to check for the little writing near each end, which should tell you what “Category<\/em>” (i.e. standard) the cable is. This is important because older categories may physically limit the speed of your wired link to the router.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, anything older than Category 5 (CAT5<\/strong>) Ethernet cable will NOT be able to handle speeds of even 100Mbps and it’s all too easy to plug-in an old LAN cable, often without realising that you may have seriously limited your network performance. As a rough guide..<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> 1 Gigabit per second = 1000 Megabits per second.<\/div>\n

Ethernet LAN Cable Categories<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

CAT 1 = 1Mbps<\/p>\n

CAT 2 = 4Mbps<\/p>\n

CAT 3 = 10Mbps<\/p>\n

CAT 4 = 16Mbps<\/p>\n

CAT 5 = 100Mbps (under 100 metres)<\/p>\n

CAT 5E = 1Gbps (under 100 metres)<\/p>\n

CAT 6 = 1Gbps (under 100 metres) or 10Gbps (under 55 metres)<\/p>\n

CAT 6A = 10Gbps (under 100 metres)<\/p>\n

CAT 7 \/ 7a = 10Gbps<\/p>\n

CAT 8 = 40Gbps (under 30 metres)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In short, on a 1Gbps line you really want to ensure that the LAN cable being used is at least CAT5E, but preferably CAT6A. Yours truly ran 6A under the floorboards of our house some years ago and it’s still working well today (moving files around the LAN at multi-Gigabit speeds is no trouble). But we’d skip CAT7 completely as it lacks conformity with prior cable standards and has proven to be unpopular.<\/p>\n

8. Upload Speeds Aren’t Always Symmetric<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

In an ideal world when you purchase a 1Gbps package then you’d get the same speed for both download and upload (symmetric), but sadly some ISPs continue to conceal the fact that their upstream performance is asymmetric and often significantly slower than downstream. One example of this is Virgin Media<\/a>, which boasts about their Gig1 package but only gives you an upload speed of around 52Mbps.<\/p>\n

Admittedly upload speeds are less important than downloads to ordinary domestic users, but nevertheless if you’re buying 1Gbps then you’d perhaps rightly be expecting more than a 52Mbps upload. Sadly, the same also happens on some full fibre (FTTP<\/a>) ISPs and as such it’s always worth checking around sites like ISPreview.co.uk (see out ‘ISP Listings and Comparison<\/strong><\/a>‘ database) to see the upstream performance before you buy.<\/p>\n

9. Network Faults<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

We probably don’t even need to mention this one, but suffice to say that your ISP or their suppliers may – from time to time – suffer network, routing or other faults that can result in significantly slower speeds until the issue is fixed. As such it’s wise to keep an eye on your connection, conduct the occasional speedtest, and make sure that any such issues are immediately notified to your ISP.<\/p>\n

10. Underpowered Router CPU \/ Ethernet Power Saving \/ Computer
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Next, we should consider that some gigabit providers today still make the mistake of bundling some extremely cheap routers with their packages. Often such devices may make big claims about their features and performance, but in the real-world they may end up under-delivering because the processor (CPU) could struggle to handle all of the load you place on the device (especially in a multi-user environment).<\/p>\n

More often than not you’ll notice this more via an increase in device connectivity problems (via wifi or otherwise) than a clear loss of usable service speed, but nevertheless it’s something to be mindful of. One way to reduce this problem is to plug a separate Mesh WiFi system into your router.<\/p>\n

Similarly, we also want to sound a warning about Ethernet (LAN) power saving modes. You may see this setting on some routers, but in our experience it can cause Gigabit LAN ports to run at much slower speeds (often reducing them to 100Mbps) and so, unless saving a truly tiny amount of power is a really big deal for you, then we’d recommend disabling power saving modes on your wired connection(s).<\/p>\n

One other thing to add here is that sometimes the end-user’s main device (computer, tablet, Smartphone etc.) may also be hobbled by the use of an older storage drive (HDD – Hard Disk Drive) that is simply not fast enough to keep up with a 1Gbps line (i.e. unable to write the data at that speed), which is not really an issue for modern kit. One good example is when you try to download a file directly to an older USB2.0 flash drive, which are much slower.<\/p>\n

11. Disruption from Firewalls \/ Anti-Virus Software<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

One final thing to consider is the behaviour of your device\u2019s (computer etc.) chosen anti-virus or firewall software. Sometimes the engines these systems use can go a bit wrong, which may result in them trying to aggressively intercept and check your data transfers in a way that is too aggressive. The impact of this can cause a significant reduction in your broadband speeds. Most anti-malware software usually manages to avoid this, although it is worth checking just in case.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Hopefully you’ve found this article useful. The lesson in all this is simple – if you’re lucky enough to have the option then you can choose 1Gbps today and be very.. very happy (while also future proofing yourself). But often the better course may be to pick a “slower<\/em>” mid-tier, like 300Mbps or 500Mbps, because these will probably be able to give you more performance then you’d currently be able to harness and can save money.<\/p>\n

Demands are constantly rising and so there will soon come a day when you can harness 1Gbps to it’s full potential in a greater number of ways, but for now it’s more in the “nice to have<\/em>” category than “necessary,<\/em>” due to the real-world limitations that can affect the performance of your internet connectivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the level of “gigabit capable” UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those working within telecoms and computer networking have known for a long time –  being able to get or harness the full 1000Mbps (1Gbps) isn’t always possible.. yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2715],"tags":[422,99,419,52,65,56],"class_list":["post-21920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk_isp_news","category-tips-and-guides","tag-802-11ax","tag-asa","tag-docsis3-1","tag-fibre-optic","tag-ftth","tag-fttp"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn't Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED - ISPreview UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the level of "gigabit capable" UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\/2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn't Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED - ISPreview UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the level of "gigabit capable" UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ISPreview UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-27T00:01:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T10:16:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"922\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Jackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ispreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ispreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Jackson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"15 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Jackson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5\"},\"headline\":\"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn’t Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-27T00:01:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T10:16:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\"},\"wordCount\":3077,\"commentCount\":47,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"802.11ax\",\"Advertising Standards\",\"DOCSIS 3.1\",\"Fibre Optic\",\"FTTH\",\"FTTP\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ISP News\",\"Tips and Guides\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\",\"name\":\"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn't Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED - ISPreview UK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-27T00:01:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T10:16:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"As the level of \\\"gigabit capable\\\" UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg\",\"width\":922,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Internet Download High Speed Concept Illustration. 1 Gbps in Focus. Global Broadband Networks Speed 3D.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"ISPreview UK\",\"description\":\"Top Broadband ISP and Mobile Provider Information Site\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ISPreview.co.uk\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"ISPreview.co.uk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ispreview\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ispreview\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/mjack\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/bsky.app\\\/profile\\\/ispreview.bsky.social\",\"https:\\\/\\\/mastodon.social\\\/@ispreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5\",\"name\":\"Mark Jackson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Mark Jackson\"},\"description\":\"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, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ispreview\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ispreview\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/markj\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn't Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED - ISPreview UK","description":"As the level of \"gigabit capable\" UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html","next":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html\/2","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn't Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED - ISPreview UK","og_description":"As the level of \"gigabit capable\" UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html","og_site_name":"ISPreview UK","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","article_published_time":"2020-12-27T00:01:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-11T10:16:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":922,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mark Jackson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ispreview","twitter_site":"@ispreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Jackson","Estimated reading time":"15 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html"},"author":{"name":"Mark Jackson","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5"},"headline":"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn’t Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED","datePublished":"2020-12-27T00:01:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-11T10:16:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html"},"wordCount":3077,"commentCount":47,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg","keywords":["802.11ax","Advertising Standards","DOCSIS 3.1","Fibre Optic","FTTH","FTTP"],"articleSection":["ISP News","Tips and Guides"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html","name":"Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn't Always Deliver 1Gbps UPDATED - ISPreview UK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-27T00:01:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-11T10:16:04+00:00","description":"As the level of \"gigabit capable\" UK broadband ISP network coverage continues to rapidly expand then more and more people are now finding out what those","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/12\/why-buying-gigabit-broadband-doesnt-always-deliver-1gbps.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/gigabit_broadband_isp_speed.jpg","width":922,"height":800,"caption":"Internet Download High Speed Concept Illustration. 1 Gbps in Focus. Global Broadband Networks Speed 3D."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/","name":"ISPreview UK","description":"Top Broadband ISP and Mobile Provider Information Site","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization","name":"ISPreview.co.uk","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"ISPreview.co.uk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/x.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mjack\/","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/ispreview.bsky.social","https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ispreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5","name":"Mark Jackson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","caption":"Mark Jackson"},"description":"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, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/x.com\/ispreview"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/author\/markj"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}