20mb package, speed tests only give 1.5mb

Hi everyone,

I was hoping someone could shed some light on this.

I have been on an 'up to' 20mbs broadband package for the last 2 years or so, and although the reliability has always been very good I never got the impression that things downloaded as quickly as they perhaps could. As such, I recently decided to do some actual checks on what speed I'm really getting. Now it turns out that most tests give me around 1.5Mbs, or just over. Obviously I am hoping to see this increased.

I checked my package details and it does indeed state that the tested speed in my area is only around 2-3Mbs, and that they've 'set' it at 2Mbs. This seems to be roughly in line with what your website states in its broadband availability section (it also states I'm about 6km away from the exchange so this might play a part). It's a tad depressing, since for some reason most of the place (I'm in Edinburgh) enjoys far higher speeds - in fact, I find it worrying that there can be such a difference in speeds in a single city.

My main question is - is the internet speed limit mainly down to the individual providers, or are we stuck with the physical infrastructure within our area? I want to get in touch with my provider to query a possible improvement, but figured it would be best to find out if they can actually do anything about it.

Any help much appreciated.