Every broadband advert seems to push ever-faster broadband speeds - we were wondering when youâve really noticed a higher speed make a difference?
Some of the Geniuses here have told us theyâve been given huge speeds but theyâd be happy with half or less.
For most of us, as long as Netflix doesnât buffer, Zoom doesnât stutter, and our Tesco order doesnât time out, weâre pretty happy.
And then you see packages with speeds in Gbps, and wonder: are they really useful, or just meaningless numbers?
If youâre happy to share:
Did you notice an improvement when you last upped your broadband speed?
How does your home broadband compare with your granâs - or the last time you went on holiday?
Whatâs the funniest - or most frustrating - effect youâve experienced on a slow connection?
Weâre wondering about the real life impact rather than speed test screenshots (but bonus points for your best Top Gun gifs/punsâŚ)
Hi
I donât need my connection to be super fast. Iâm more than happy with my download and upload speeds. Itâs like buying a luxury âsouped-upâ sports car just to go to the local shops every day.
Kind regards.
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Iâve had 900Mbs since we had fttp in 2018. I was working a lot from home. The BT service has been fast & stable. When you look at the lower speeds, you save a ÂŁ or 2. But hardly seems worth it. I saved more going to switch to Vodafone, only for BT to come back at the last minute and match the price. I stayed.
When comparing to friends & family, I only really notice a difference when they are below 100Mbs. Because Iâm not transferring big files. Since I finished work in September, I donât need such fast speeds. When the contract is due for renewal in November, I will look at lower prices/speeds. But bet I will keep same performance & negotiate the price down.
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Iâm only currently getting a top speed of 38mbs, but Iâve had no issues. Our area is still not connected up for superfast broadband as we have a copper cable running from the exchange box to the house. Itâs due to be changed before the end of 2026, but will I then pay more for a faster plan? Given I donât need it, I donât think so, unless EE can persuade me otherwise. They did recently drop the price of my broadband by ÂŁ16 per month to stay with them.
My broadband supplier has done frankly zero to improve my connection in over 10 years. Openreach keeps sending out convoys of vans to poke at telegraph poles, suck their breath sharply between their teeth, claim theyâre going to be âbuilding in this area in the next yearâ, and then disappear again for six months.
As there seemed to be almost no chance of getting a fibre connection this side of the next millennium I reluctantly caved in to Starlink when it came up on a reasonable offer this year (I got ÂŁ25 / month for 6 months, and equipment is included on loan, but it will go up to ÂŁ40/month when my offer expires!). Like many, Iâm no fan of the owner of the company, and Iâm morally concerned about the impact on the skies/environment. But I was sick of hardly being able to say a word in meetings without 5 people going âyou sound like a robotâ. Going from an average of 7-8mbps on the âlandlineâ (hence my usernameâŚ) to a consistent 100mps (Iâm on the Starlink lowest tier), is amazing.
I have quite a few large files to upload/download for work and itâs been great for that - I no longer have to set an upload going at the end of the day and come back to check itâs done before bedtime. However like Julian and Hugh above Iâm doubt I need a lot more than that - I believe a lot of the slowness I see now is from websites (e.g. Wordpress likes to have a good think before it does something, donât we allâŚ), and when I stay at a family member who has 300mbps+ Iâm not noticing any difference.
Admittedly apart from work and TV we probably donât put a lot of pressure on it (no gaming, no Tiktoking teenagers) but I wouldnât be going out looking for an upgrade beyond this. I donât miss the âyouâve gone fuzzyâ/robot accusations from colleagues on video calls, and I very much enjoy sitting there smugly going âwell, itâs not meâ now
So I feel the need for a little speed, but enough is as good as a feast, as they used to say in the century when my telephone line was probably last renovatedâŚ
(btw I accidentally kept looking for Top Gear not Top Gun in gifsâŚthis one spoke to meâ
)
