Posted: 01st Feb, 2012 By: MarkJ

The latest anecdotal monthly consumer broadband ISP speed testing results from
Broadband.co.uk, which covers the January 2012 period, have shown a modest increase in the
average UK internet download speed from 7.578Mbps (Megabits per second) during December 2011 to
8.210Mbps now.
Meanwhile the
average upload speed has rebounded from a brief low of 1.160Mbps in December 2011 to
1.313Mbps now. Cable operator Virgin Media continues to be the
top UK ISP for average performance with a download speed of 15.331Mbps and an upload rate of 2.463Mbps.
Top 9 UK ISPs - Download Speed (Megabits/sec)
1. Virgin Media – 15.331Mbps
2. Eclipse Internet – 9.647Mbps
3. BT – 7.518Mbps
4. PlusNet – 5.972Mbps
5. O2 ( Be Broadband ) – 5.620Mbps
6. Sky Broadband – 4.597Mbps
7. TalkTalk (Tiscali) – 4.308Mbps
8. AOL – 4.045Mbps
9. Orange – 3.710Mbps
Top 9 UK ISPs - Upload Speed (Megabits/sec)
1. Virgin Media - 2.463Mbps
2. Eclipse Internet - 1.532Mbps
3. BT - 1.453Mbps
4. O2 ( Be Broadband ) - 0.895Mbps
5. Sky Broadband - 0.593Mbps
6. PlusNet - 0.587Mbps
7. TalkTalk (Tiscali) - 0.563Mbps
8. Orange - 0.554Mbps
9. AOL - 0.388Mbps
The first month of 2012 was a mixed week for average ISP performance, with some providers losing a bit of speed and most making a small gain. The
biggest non-cable mover was undoubtedly PlusNet , which saw its download rate jump from 4.606Mbps in December 2011 to 5.972Mbps in January 2012; perhaps their superfast FTTC service is starting to have an impact.
Both Virgin Media and BT Retail, not to mention any ISPs that use BT's FTTC and FTTP technology, will probably see
big rises during the spring and summer as the major operators deploy significant speed upgrades across their services. Be Broadband and O2 are also working on a major network overhaul and Sky Broadband has just announced a superfast package of its own.
As usual readers should take anecdotal data like this with a big pinch of salt. Every home is different and performance can be affected by all sorts of things, many of which are beyond an ISPs control. We do not consider the above to be a reliable barometer for individual users but it does help to reflect overall market changes.