Internet Speed: Are you getting the best for your money? - National Business Communications

Internet Speed: Are you getting the best for your money?

September 2, 2021

Everyone wants the best value for money when it comes to paying for services. However, there’s nothing more irritating than realising that you’re paying too much for a product, when you originally thought you were getting a good deal. Internet speeds are constantly evolving, reaching faster and more reliable speeds suitable for your business and home. Broadband and internet connection is a vital component nowadays in order to run your business, you need a fast and reliable service, but at an affordable price. 

But how do you know you’re getting the best for your money when it comes to internet speed? We’ve compiled a list of helpful points to guide you and so you can find out how to get the best value for your money and to figure out what is a good internet speed.

How to work out your current internet speed

Before being able to work out whether or not you’re getting good value for money when it comes to your internet speeds, you first should check the speed you’re currently getting. Speed tests are very quick, easy and help to provide valuable information regarding your current speeds. They measure real-time data, so the overall results can vary, but majority of the time they are very accurate ways of measuring internet speed. 

Internet speed test results can show you if you are receiving the broadband width you are paying for, if the speed is not up to what you need then it may be time to switch providers. Speed tests are a very reliable way of getting a real time record of what speeds your devices are achieving. Although they can seem a little confusing to understand, once you’re familiar with the jargon, they are helpful pieces of information. 

Mbps refers to Mega bits per second. This is the form in which internet speed and how fast data is transferred. It’s important to note that there are two varieties of connection speeds:

It’s good to note that the speed you’re getting can be impacted by several different factors such as the type of connection you’re using or the distance you are sitting from the router or internet server if you are using wireless internet. There are several different types of internet connections. Here are a few of the most common:

What is good internet speed?

If you’re not exactly tech-savvy then working out what good internet speed is can seem totally confusing. However, at NBC, we’re here to help. Here is a brief summary of the different levels of internet speed and what capabilities they have for different needs. 

To help you break down those figures, an average household in the UK will need around 10Mbps as a minimum download speed. By having this speed, or higher, will comfortably allow multiple users of the same household to browse the web and stream videos online.  

As you can imagine, the minimum speeds required for small to medium businesses are much greater. The more people that need access to the internet at the same time, will require a server that can keep up with demand. The amount of staff you have will greatly impact the minimum download and upload speeds you’ll need. Because of this variation, it’s difficult to put a specific required minimum speed for a small businesses. However, 100Mbps is a good benchmark speed for around 20-30 staff members.  

If you would like more information and to run your own internet speed test, visit NBC’s speed test page where you can find out more and check the real-time speed you’re receiving.

How is internet speed calculated?

The maximum rate that data can be received through the internet is called the downstream bandwidth (download speed), whereas downstream bandwidth (upload speed) refers to the maximum speed that data can be sent from your devices onto the internet. As mentioned previously, data speeds are measured in Mbps, which is sometimes shortened to Mb. Because more users download more online data than upload data onto the internet, the download speed (downstream bandwidth) is used to measure connection.

How do you know if you’re getting the best for your money?

Of course, when it comes to how much you’re willing to spend for decent internet speed, it’s a spectrum and varies from person to person. When you sign up for a new broadband or internet service, you’ll often be given a range of speeds that you’re likely to reach with the provider. If you feel that your internet speed is too slow for what you need it for, then you should run a speed test. It’s important to remember that sometimes speeds can drop out of nowhere due to poor weather or maintenance works are being carried out, so this should be taken into consideration. 

To ensure that it’s an issue with the connection or package and nothing else that is impacting your speeds you’re getting, you should carry out a handful of tests over the span of several days. By doing this you can be sure that the results aren’t going off on one occurrence and you can get an overall average speed to review. Once you’ve gathered your test results, compare them with the speed package you were quoted from your provider.

 If the results are much lower than the package offers, then there is an issue and you probably need a new package provider. Think about what you use internet for and compare it with what the recommended speeds are. You may have underestimated the amount of data and speed you require. Consider upping your speed package in order to ensure that you’ll have the correct speeds for your home or business.

How can NBC help me find the best price for my internet?

Finding a good internet speed for your requirements doesn’t need to be a huge chore. If you’re not currently satisfied with your current internet speeds, then you should contact NBC today. Our team of experts work effectively to find you the best broadband speeds at a competitive price. If your business requires fast speed internet to host calls, upload large files and collaborate with clients, then you need a broadband service that you can depend on. 

NBC works closely with a variety of service providers who specialise in offering broadband services to small to medium businesses. That’s why you won’t find us on comparison sites. By working directly with providers, we can source you the best deal specific to your business requirements. This also means that you only pay for the services you actually need, without the need to pay for large bundles or features you don’t want. 

Our teams work hard to not only provide you with fast internet speeds, but also are on hand to offer technical support whenever you need it. Contact NBC now to get specifically tailored broadband and internet packages to suit your needs perfectly. Alternatively, you could visit and use our availability checker tool to establish what products are available to get started. 

Get started with NBC today

Share this post