Average Download Speeds (Mean)
No. | Operator | 2020 H2 (Top 10%) | 2019 H2 (Top 10%) | Change % |
1. | Virgin Media | 118.3Mbps (236.9Mbps) | 85.6Mbps (193.8Mbps) | +38.2% |
2. | AAISP | 53.6Mbps (99.8Mbps) | no data | n/a |
3. | BT | 46.2Mbps (72.8Mbps) | 35.1Mbps (66.8Mbps) | +31.61% |
4. | Vodafone | 45.1Mbps (71.6Mbps) | 38.2Mbps (67.7Mbps) | +18.06% |
5. | iDNET | 42Mbps (71.5Mbps) | 41.2Mbps (70.2Mbps) | +1.94% |
5. | Zen Internet | 40.8Mbps (70.7Mbps) | 46.4Mbps (74.4Mbps) | -12.07% |
7. | EE | 30.4Mbps (62.8Mbps) | 27.6Mbps (57.4Mbps) | +10.14% |
8. | TalkTalk | 28Mbps (56.6Mbps) | 24.3Mbps (48.2Mbps) | +15.23% |
9. | Sky Broadband (tied) | 27.7Mbps (58.5Mbps) | 25.4Mbps (54.4Mbps) | +9.06% |
10. | Plusnet | 25.6Mbps (53.2Mbps) | 24.2Mbps (50.5Mbps) | +5.79% |
Average Upload Speeds (Mean)
No. | Operator | 2020 H2 | 2019 H2 | Change % |
1. | Virgin Media | 14.9Mbps | 13.6Mbps | +9.56% |
2. | Zen Internet | 14.3Mbps | 13Mbps | +10% |
3. | AAISP | 14Mbps | no data | n/a |
4. | Vodafone | 13.3Mbps | 10.6Mbps | +25.47% |
5. | BT | 11Mbps | 8.7Mbps | +26.44% |
6. | iDNET | 10.3Mbps | 10.8Mbps | -4.63% |
7. | EE | 7.3Mbps | 6.7Mbps | +8.96% |
8. | Sky Broadband | 7.1Mbps | 6.3Mbps | +12.7% |
9. | TalkTalk | 7Mbps | 5.7Mbps | +22.81% |
10. | Plusnet | 6.1Mbps | 5.7Mbps | +7.02% |
Overall, the average download speed of the top national providers was 45.77Mbps (up from 38.66Mbps at the end of 2019) and the average upload speed hit 10.53Mbps (up from 9.01Mbps).
As FTTP providers don't suffer from the same performance pitfalls as copper or hybrid fibre ISPs then we've decided to focus our results on only the top 10% of fastest connections, which in most cases will reflect those consumers who take the fastest package tiers available from each provider.
Average Download Speeds of Top 10%
ISP | DL - Top 10% (2020 H2) | DL - Top 10% (2019 H2) |
Community Fibre (FTTP) | 639.2Mbps | 448.9Mbps |
Hyperoptic (FTTP) | 453.9Mbps | 284.9Mbps |
Vodafone Gigafast (FTTP Only) | 427.8Mbps | 321.6Mbps |
Gigaclear (FTTP) | 225.5Mbps | 321.4Mbps |
KCOM (FTTP Only) | 194.7Mbps | 272Mbps |
Average Download Speeds
No. | Operator | 2020 (Top 10%) | 2019 (Top 10%) | Change |
1. | EE | 39Mbps (80.1Mbps) | 32.5Mbps (70.7Mbps) | +20% |
2. | Three UK | 27.5Mbps (56.7Mbps) | 18.6Mbps (43Mbps) | +47.85% |
3. | Vodafone | 27.1Mbps (59.8Mbps) | 26.5Mbps (60.7Mbps) | +2.26% |
4. | O2 | 17.4Mbps (44.2Mbps) | 16.9Mbps (38.4Mbps) | +2.96% |
Average Upload Speeds
No. | Operator | 2020 (Top 10%) | 2019 (Top 10%) | Change |
1. | EE | 8.3Mbps (18.5Mbps) | 7.6Mbps (17.9Mbps) | +9.21% |
2. | Vodafone | 6.3Mbps (16.3Mbps) | 6.5Mbps (16.4Mbps) | -3.08% |
3. | Three UK | 6.1Mbps (16.1Mbps) | 5.5Mbps (15.2Mbps) | +10.91% |
4. | O2 | 4.4Mbps (12.6Mbps) | 4.4Mbps (11.4Mbps) | 0% |
Overall, the average download speed of the four primary mobile operators was 27.75Mbps (up from 23.62Mbps at the end of 2019) and the average upload speed hit 6.27Mbps (up from 6Mbps).
Disclaimer: Please take average (mean) speeds with a big pinch of salt. Every home is different and performance can be affected by all sorts of issues, many of which are beyond the provider's ability to control (e.g. tests conducted via slower smartphone vs faster desktop computers, slow wifi, poor home wiring etc.), thus we do not consider the above data to be a reliable barometer for individual user connectivity, but it can help to highlight general changes in the market.