Just one in five customers getting broadband service at speed advertised

Just one in five home internet users are getting the speed of internet access and downloads that they have signed up for, according to a new study.

The findings suggest consumers are forking out high charges for what turns out to be a low speed service.

People in towns and cities are getting a much faster broadband service than those living in more rural locations.

While 30 per cent of broadband customers feel they have been misled over the speed of service by their provider.

Some 16 per cent of Sky customers are subscribers to its 'up to 16Mb' package, which relates to the speed at which information is transmitted to the computer.

However, only six per cent of these customers actually get the 16Mb speed. The vast majority, some 78 per cent get half of this speed, or even less.

Rivals such as TalkTalk, Orange and BT offer an 8Mb package. Yet less than half of their customers get this speed.

The low speeds act as a bar to the take up and use of broadband services, such as downloads of TV programmes and films.

An increasing number of broadcasters are offering their programmes via broadband downloads. However, the slow broadband speeds means this becomes impractical.

The research is the result of a survey of 43,000 broadband users by the personal finance website moneysupermarket.com.

Its head of broadband, Jason Lloyd, said: "Line interference, the quality of wiring into and around your home, its distance from the telephone exchange and the number of people sharing the same provider connection in your area at the same time affect broadband speed."

He said many people signing up to the high speed services are not made aware of the problems that these cause.

"Providers don't expressly give you these details when you sign up, instead putting it the contract small print," he said.

"Most damning for providers is 30 per cent of broadband customers feel misled now they know what speed they actually get."

Mr Lloyd said: "Providers are aware in many cases they don't deliver the speed they promise.

"I urge all people to check what deal they are on and then ask their broadband provider for a free upgrade"