Broadband speeds in the UK right away median 6.8Mbps (megabits per second) but there is still a outrageous hole between advertised and real speeds, according to Ofcom.
Almost half of broadband users are right away on packages with advertised speeds on top of 10Mbps but couple of accomplish this.
Ofcom's biannual inform in to the state of the broadband marketplace urged changes to advertising.
Virgin Media indicted rivals of dubious the public.
The inform found that the median broadband speed has increased 10% in the final 6 months as more people try out swift services.
But the hole between advertised and real speed has widened in the same period. The median advertised speed was 15Mbps, 8.2Mbps faster than the median real speed.
It moreover found that more than a third of customers on services advertised as "up to" 24Mbps obviously received speeds of 4Mbps or less.
"The investigate is still revelation us that a few consumers are not reception wherever nearby the speeds that are being advertised by a few ISPs," mentioned Ofcom arch senior manager Ed Richards.
The watchdog is propelling changes in promotion superintendence "so that consumers are able to make more sensitive decisions formed on the adverts they see".
Superfast broadband is right away existing to 57% of UK homes, the inform finds.
But three-quarters of broadband services are still delivered around copper-based ADSL technologies, that will always have speed stipulations formed on the stretch between the home and the write exchange.
Other factors that slow down a connection add the high quality of the electric wires in a residence and the time of day that the service is used.
Virgin Media is the usually ISP able to advance shut to advertised speeds since line services are not shabby by distance.
It has spearheaded the campaign to change the way broadband is advertised.
Jon James, senior manager director of broadband for Virgin Media, said: "The chasm between what's advertised and what speeds customers obtain continues to grow."
"We sojourn anxious that people profitable for swift broadband are still being misled and think it is definitely necessary that consumers have all the data they must be make an sensitive choice," he added.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is currently reviewing broadband advertising. Its inform is approaching in the next couple of months.
In a weird twist, final month it ruled that Virgin Media's campaign against fake promotion itself pennyless promotion rules.
Andrew Ferguson, co-founder of broadband headlines site ThinkBroadband thinks more needs to be completed to notify the differences between line and ADSL but is not certain changes to promotion is the scold way.
"Adverts will change to lifestyle promotion rsther than than real facts, and a few people might be denied access to products since they would draw towards the median speed down," he said.
Ofcom has introduced a ethics of use to help inform the open about their likely speed before signing up to a service.
It recommends that broadband customers should be given a speed operation rsther than than a singular guess of the limit speed on their line.
It moreover suggests that users be authorised to leave their provider without fine if they take a limit speed that is significantly next estimates.
So far, Virgin Media, BT, O2 and Sky have sealed up to the code.
Michael Phillips, of more aged website broadbandchoices, is not certain the ethics goes far enough.
"Ofcom's ethics of use has made a few stairs in the right direction, but without a few more clever thought, there's still room for a lot of confusion.
How will my silent know if a service gift 1Mb - 6Mb is improved or worse than one providing 2Mb - 5Mb? She needs to know what speed she's many likely to take many of the time," he said.
He thinks that 'typical speeds' should be made "the bullion typical for speed promotion in the same way that banks use 'typical APR' percentages".
