» Ofcom investigates bonded ADSL speeds

Bonded ADSL goes under the microscope

Ofcom report to compare ISPs

Ofcom is requesting UK volunteers to help it research bonded ADSL and broadband speeds.

The communications regulator wants to install high-tech tracking devices in homes across the country; these will monitor performance levels without storing web histories or home network information.

Ofcom will then use this data to create a map of UK broadband speeds, and to explore whether certain internet service provider (ISP) upstarts are living up to their promises.

A spokesperson for the study explained: "What we're looking to measure in the forthcoming project is how this ISP performance will improve as consumers switch to services which are being advertised as significantly faster."

In recent years, uptake of bonded ADSL has increased markedly as more and more UK businesses are drawn in by the lure of high-speed broadband..

At Managed Comms, customers can be confident of getting what they pay for because the bonded ADSL speeds advertised are actual throughput figures rather than hypothetical maximums.

The company also operates a fully uncontended network.

What this means is that a Managed Comms bonded ADSL solution offers more accurate speeds and greater reliability because there is no danger that the network will get overloaded at peak times.

In 2009, an Ofcom report noted a significant rise in the quality of upload and download rates across the country.

The regulator's latest study is expected to find that broadband and bonded ADSL speeds are continuing to rise, while pointing out that some ISPs offer much better levels of performance than others.