Mobile broadband speeds under the microscope

The growth of mobile broadband has been unprecedented, but are mobile broadband subscribers getting what they pay for?

A survey carried out by the comparison site broadband-expert.co.uk appears to show that the connection speeds advertised by the providers, and the actual connection speeds that the customer experience, are worlds apart.

The firm tested over three and half thousand mobile broadband connections over a period of five months and came up with an average download speed of just 1.1 Mbps, whereas the average advertised speed in the UK is 4.5 Mbps.

How the mobile broadband providers measured up against the advertised speeds:

Vodafone – 1.3 Mbps (7.2 Mbps)
3UK – 1.2 Mbps (3.6 Mbps)
Orange – 1.1 Mbps (3.6 Mbps)
O2 – 1.0 Mbps (3.6 Mbps)
T Mobile – 0.9 Mbps (4.5 Mbps)