Internet speeds below what it says on the box

The average speed of internet connections in Greece has increased since last year but is still well below what is advertised, data from the Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) have shown.

According to EETT’s 2018 assessment, actual download speeds are 38 percent below what providers promise at 16.3 megabits per second, while uploading is 72 percent slower, at 2.4 Mbps on average. This is an improvement from 2017, when the average speed of downloading was 13.2 Mbps and uploading was 1.7 Mbps, but still falls short of what users have paid for.

EETT attributes the improvement to growing demand for more evolved connections like VDSL and FTTx, which use fiber optic cables, while last year also saw the introduction of 100 Mbps/5 Mbps connections.

It also notes, however, that this increase in demand is putting a strain on the country’s network, resulting in greater delays and packet losses, as well as more jitters.

EETT draws its data from the Hyperion platform, which allows end users to assess the performance of their broadband connection.

In its report it said that, on average, fiber optic connections advertising speeds of up to 50 Mbps deliver actual speeds of 25-30 Mbps, or 50-60 percent below, while copper cable connections (ADSL 24 Mbps) actually deliver 8 Mbps, or 33 percent below.