Broadband minimum-speed disputes

Find the speed figures from your sale

Start with the contract summary, pre-contract information or provider confirmation. Look for the estimated speed likely at busy times and the minimum guaranteed speed. Do not compare every speed test with the headline package name alone.

Check whether the provider is a Code signatory

The Broadband Speeds Code is voluntary. Ofcom lists current residential signatories. If your provider is signed up, the Code contains specific processes around minimum guaranteed speeds and a right to exit where a qualifying problem remains unresolved.

If the provider is not a signatory, do not pretend the Code automatically binds it. You may still have contractual and consumer-law arguments based on the service sold and evidence of performance.

Test the line, not just one Wi-Fi device

For the strongest evidence, follow the provider’s diagnostic process and where possible test through a wired Ethernet connection to the router. Record dates, times and results. A provider may reasonably investigate internal Wi-Fi conditions separately.

The 30-day Code process

Under the Ofcom residential Code, a signatory should work to resolve a qualifying speed problem. The Code provides a right to exit without penalty where actual download speed remains below the minimum guaranteed speed in the required circumstances and the problem is not resolved within the Code’s maximum 30-day period after it was reported.

Do not wait silently for 30 days: make sure the provider has logged the issue as a speed problem and is running the required diagnostics.

Challenge “it was only an estimate” precisely

An estimate can allow normal variation; it does not make every performance level irrelevant. Ask the provider which figure it says is non-binding, what minimum guaranteed speed was supplied, what the measured line performance is, and which remedy process applies.

The Code is voluntary, so identify the protection you are relying on

Ofcom's Broadband Speeds Code of Practice is a voluntary code signed by a number of major providers. Check the current signatory list and the date your service was bought. If your provider is not a signatory, that does not make every speed complaint disappear: your contract, the information given at sale and general consumer/service obligations can still matter, but the Code's specific process should not be asserted as though it automatically binds every ISP.

Measure the broadband connection, not a single device experience

The Code's minimum-speed process is concerned with broadband performance at the customer premises equipment/router, not every Wi-Fi device in every room. A slow laptop on weak Wi-Fi can therefore be poor evidence of a line-speed breach. Where practical, follow the provider's diagnostic process, use a suitable wired connection or router-level test, and note the time, result and test method.

At the same time, do not let the provider use “Wi-Fi” as a universal answer. If router-level tests are also below the minimum guaranteed speed, or its own remote diagnostics show the problem, record that separately.

Start the 30-day process clearly

For a qualifying signatory/provider case, report that the service is below the minimum guaranteed download speed and ask for it to be logged as a speed problem. Note the complaint or fault reference and the date. The Code provides a maximum 30-calendar-day opportunity to resolve a qualifying network speed problem before the right to exit becomes relevant; it is not a reason for a provider to ignore the fault until day 30.

If the speed varies, preserve the pattern

Keep several results across different days and, where possible, busy and quieter periods. Record outages separately from low throughput. If the provider replaces equipment or sends an engineer, note the before-and-after results. A short table of dates, router/wired results and provider actions is usually more persuasive than dozens of unlabelled screenshots.

Evidence worth keeping