SamKnows releases first broadband preformance report

I posted back in May about ISP watchers SamKnows.com who launched a bid to discover the truth about the state of UK broadband by recruiting volunteers to install a monitoring device on their network, to collect performance data (the geographical distribution is shown above).

They have now released their first report, a 40 page pdf which can be downloaded here.

On page 2 of the report is the main summary

In the majority of metrics there was little discernable difference between most
ISPs;

• Zen Internet offered the fewest failures across all metrics;
• Virgin Media’s cable services and Be/O2’s services provided a consistently low latency throughout, whilst Virgin.Net (Virgin’s ADSL service) performed poorly.
• BT provided the fastest throughput when measured as a percentage of implied line speed (an estimate of the potential maximum speed of the line)
• Be/O2 and Virgin Media produced the greatest raw throughput (in megabits per second), which can likely be attributed to the nature of their products.
• Virgin Media’s cable throughput remained consistent on their 2, 4 and 10Mbps products, but was quite variable on their 20Mbps product.
• Testing highlighted the use of traffic shaping in the networks of BT and PlusNet, which resulted in certain classes of traffic slowing significantly during peak hours.

Being on the Virginmedia XL (20 Mbps package) I can confirm their results are pretty much what I have experienced.