UK broadband, in pictures

Eleven charts that answer the questions people actually ask about UK broadband, each with the numbers behind it, the sources, and an embed code. Free to reuse with a credit link. Built by the team behind the Pulse speed test and BroadbandSwitch.uk.

• What broadband speed do you need? The UK speed ladderFrom the 10 Mbps legal minimum to 900 Mbps gigabit: what each UK broadband speed comfortably supports at 8pm, in one chart you can quote or embed.
• UK full fibre and gigabit coverage, 2022 to 2025Full fibre reached 78% of UK premises in July 2025, up from 42% in 2022, and 82% of homes by January 2026. Gigabit coverage hit 87%. Ofcom Connected Nations figures in one chart.
• Full fibre coverage and speed by UK nation, 2025Northern Ireland leads the UK on full fibre at 95% of homes, with England 79%, Wales 78% and Scotland 71%. Average maximum download speeds by nation, from Ofcom Connected Nations 2025.
• What ping feels like: latency bands for UK broadbandUnder 20 ms feels instant, 20 to 50 ms is good for gaming and calls, 50 to 100 ms is fair, over 100 ms is laggy. What produces each band on UK broadband, in one chart.
• Bufferbloat: why video calls freeze when someone starts a downloadBufferbloat is when your ping jumps the moment the line gets busy. Two traces, the A to F busy-line grades and the fix, in one chart for UK homes.
• How much upload speed do you need?A 1080p Zoom call needs 3.8 Mbps upload, three people on calls about 10 Mbps, home working with cloud files 10 to 30 Mbps. Upload needs for common UK tasks in one chart.
• Slow broadband? Your rights under Ofcom’s code of practiceUnder Ofcom’s broadband speeds code you get a minimum guaranteed speed before you sign, your provider has one month to fix speeds below it, and you can leave penalty-free if they cannot. The four steps in one chart.
• How long downloads take at each UK broadband speedA 100 GB game takes 22 hours at 10 Mbps, 3.2 hours at 70 Mbps, 44 minutes at 300 Mbps and 15 minutes at 900 Mbps. Download times for a phone backup, a 4K film and a game at six UK speeds.
• What the average speed in a broadband advert really meansSince May 2018 the average speed in a UK broadband advert is the speed at least half of customers get at peak time, 8pm to 10pm. What that means for your line, in one chart.
• What a speed test measures: download, upload, ping and the busy-line gradeDownload arrives at the home, upload leaves it, ping is the round trip, and the busy-line grade is how much ping rises when the line is full. The four numbers in one diagram.
• Where your broadband speed goes between the street and the sofaFull speed arrives at the fibre box and router. Wi-Fi loses some in every wall: about 90% of full speed in the same room, 50% through one wall, 25% two walls away. A cutaway house diagram for UK homes.

How to use them

Every chart page has the figures as a table, APA-style sources, a one-line citation and an embed code that credits UKSpeedTest.co.uk. Journalists, teachers, councils and community groups are welcome to use them under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Figures are checked against Ofcom, the Advertising Standards Authority and the named vendors before publication, and each page shows its publication date.