13 May 2021

UK broadband speeds on the rise

Broadband speeds in UK homes have continued to improve, with both download and upload speeds on the rise, according to the latest Ofcom research.

Our UK Home Broadband Performance report looks at the broadband speeds achieved by a sample of households across the UK during November 2020.

Reliable, high-quality broadband connections have never been more important than during the past year, when lots of us have needed to work and learn from home.

Our data shows the average download speed of UK residential broadband services increased by 25% since 2019, from 64 Mbit/s to 80.2 Mbit/s.

UK homes benefiting from faster upload speeds

We also found there has been a significant increase in upload speeds, driven by more households upgrading to faster services including full-fibre connections with very high upload speeds.

Upload speeds are becoming more important for those of us who need to work from home, as they help with technology such as video calls, and help you to upload and share large files with colleagues.

They’re also important for video gamers who play online, and for video makers and streamers who create and share content online. High-quality video and livestreams are large files. So, the higher your upload speed, the better.

Our research found there has been a 54% increase in upload speeds since 2019, from 14 Mbit/s to 21.6 Mbit/s.

In the autumn we will publish a full report on home broadband performance which will include more detail and updated data.

If you’re looking to get the most out of your connections while working from home, our practical tips could help.

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