CONSUMERS who upgrade to “super fast” broadband have been warned they could pay up to £200 more a year for speeds that are no quicker than on cheaper packages.

Broadband services typically come in 1, 2, 4 and 8 megabit (Mb) speeds, with Sky and Virgin Media offering “super fast” deals at 16Mb and 20Mb respectively for customers who want to download music, games, films and make internet calls. Sky is part-owned by News Corporation, ultimate owner of The Sunday Times.

Firms are desperate for customers to upgrade because the packages can cost anywhere between £4 and £15 extra a month. However, many users find they cannot get the advertised speed – and in some cases they get a slower speed than with a cheaper package.

Companies can get away with delivering slower speeds on any given package as long as they say “up to” in their advertisements. But analysts say there is no excuse where customers do not even get the speeds they could achieve on cheaper deals.

Terry Ohene-Amoako, 27, a technician from east London, was paying Tiscali £14.99 a month for a service with speeds of up to 2Mb, which he was more or less getting. He switched to Sky’s 16Mb service at £25 a month (including a basic TV service), but is only achieving speeds of just 2Mb to 3Mb.

He could have gone for Sky’s 8Mb service at just £20 a month and achieved the same result. He said: “I was very excited about receiving a 16Mb service, but now feel cheated. I should have been told I couldn’t achieve these speeds in my area.”

And Cerian Whiting, 36, also from east London, upgraded from a 10Mb to a 20Mb service with Virgin Media. It cost her an extra £2 a month, but she is receiving an average speed of about 6Mb. “If I’m getting lower than my previous top speed, what’s the point?” she said.

Broadband Choices, a comparison firm, has received similar complaints about Virgin. One customer said: “As a 10Mb user I was told my service would be upgraded to 20Mb. The service is now even slower than when I had a 10Mb account.”

Customers with 10Mb packages have been automatically upgraded to the new 20Mb top speed since May, at which point the cost of the deal went up from £35 to £37 a month.

Tests by Which?, the consumer group, found some 8Mb services were delivering a mere 0.09Mb. The average speed for 8Mb services tested was just 2.7Mb, while the top speed achieved was 6.7Mb. Which? tested all the big providers, including Sky, BT and, to a lesser extent, Virgin.

You are more likely to get the advertised speed if you opt for a slower service, according to the survey. Customers who were promised up to 8Mb achieved only 33.75% of the maximum speed on average, but those paying for a 2Mb service got 1.3Mb, or 65% of the maximum speed. Customers with a 1Mb service achieved about 80%.

Michael Phillips at Broadband Choices, said: “Some customers would be better off going for a 2Mb or 4Mb package where they could actually get the speeds they’re paying for.” He said the situation was getting worse, with customers less likely to achieve the top speeds than a year ago.

BT customers were receiving about 40% of their promised top speed in June last year, but only 28% this year, said Broadband Choices. Orange customers achieved up to 51% last year but only 18% this year. Phillips said: “The new technology promises more but delivers less.”

Which? is now encouraging all broadband customers to check their speeds using web-sites such as speedtest.net and thinkbroadband.com/speedtest. html. You should try more than one of these sites and also test at different times of day to get a better pictures of your speeds.

Virgin Media said there could be several reasons why customers were not achieving their top speeds, such as poor computer hardware or specific technical problems in a given area. It said customers should contact Virgin Media if they were experiencing slow internet speeds. (0845 454 1111 or just 151 if you are using a Virgin telephone line).

Sky said: “Many customers who can receive under 8Mb still choose our Max package for the unlimited downloads.”

Some firms such as Pipex allow customers to check the maximum speeds in their area online before they sign up (pipex.co.uk/broadband/how-fastcanigo ), although this is only possible if you have a BT line.

Pipex provides only 8Mb, so if you find that the maximum speed available in your area is, say, 3Mb, there is little point in paying for an 8Mb service.

Although the speeds will increase as BT upgrades its infrastructure, you may as well wait until this happens.

If you find you are not getting anything near what you’re paying for, contact your provider first to see if they can fix the problem. If this fails, report it to the telecoms regulator Ofcom (020 7981 3040) or go to the Advertising Standards Authority (asa. org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/ complaints_form/).

Which? also suggests you could claim compensation through a small claims court.

HOW TO TEST YOUR SPEED

- Use thinkbroadband.com/speedtest and speedtest.net

- Test at different times of day to assess the speeds.

- Contact your provider to see if they can fix a slow line.

- If all fails, contact Ofcom (020 7981 3040) or the Advertising Standards Authority (www.asa.org.uk/asa/ how_to_complain/complaints_form/).

- Which? suggests claiming compensation through the small claims court. Your local court can be found at hmcourts-services.gov.uk/hmcscourtfinder.

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