Our sister magazine ComputerActive has launched a campaign calling for service-providers to be more honest about broadband speeds.

A national survey of the actual performance of readers’ broadband connections, involving more than 180,000 speed tests, revealed that 62 per cent were consistently receiving less than 50 per cent of the speed they signed up to.

The Crystal Clear Broadband campaign, in partnership with comparison service BroadbandChoices.co.uk and web advice portal Thinkbroadband.com, aims to challenge the communications regulator Ofcom and the broadband industry to give people clear information about real throughput before they commit to a contract.

It also wants Ofcom to provide an independent speed testing service for users, so they can compare advertised rates with actual ones.

You can sign a petition calling for government action and download a Bandwidth Speed Test application here.