UK consumer watchdog "Which?" recently reported that users in the UK often see a third of the speed stated in advertisements. The group found that buyers of an "up to 8 Mbps" tier actually achieved 2.7Mbps on average, and some didn't see speeds any faster than 0.09Mbps. Nobody surveyed saw speeds faster than 6.7Mbps.

Regional incumbent British Telecom is cashing in on the problem by promising users they can increase the speed of their connection by a guaranteed 500kbps, regardless of their carrier. That is, of course, if they pay a new £90 ($175) fee for BT's new "Accelerator" service. For a fee, BT will have a tech replace internal wiring and jacks if necessary, but they'll probably spend most their time using tweaks & tricks even Luddites could perform for free.