If you’re an avid Netflix viewer, the streaming giant reckons Virgin Media, on average, provides the fastest experience. Although only just!
In the latest (February 2020) UK ISP rankings published by the company, Virgin Media leads the way with an average streaming speed of 4.68Mbps, narrowly edging out BT, averaging 4.65Mbps.
That sees Virgin retain its lead over its main UK rival, although the gap is narrowing. At the last count, BT trailed by 4.56Mbps to 4.62Mbps.
While such a tiny margin would never be noticed by Netflix fans, unless they have some sort of extra sensory streaming speed perception, it does give Virgin Media continuing bragging rights for now.
Talk Talk Fibre (4.52Mbps) makes the podium, while EE (4.44Mbps) remains in fourth place with Sky cracking the top five (4.31Mbps), replacing Plusnet (4.30Mbps).
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Netflix is quick to point out that the speeds represent peak time Netflix performance rather than any other metric pertaining to the quality of the network, or how other streaming services might perform.
The company writes: “The Netflix ISP Speed Index is a measure of prime time Netflix performance on particular ISPs (internet service providers) around the globe, and not a measure of overall performance for other services/data that may travel across the specific ISP network.”
The current leaderboard does show that it’s very much-of-a-muchess when it comes to streaming speed, with little more than half a megabit per second covering the top 7 providers. Only Talk Talk DSL is the outlier, way back on 3.48Mbps on average.
Of course, these speeds only account for averages at peak times, and is in no way representative of the top speeds it’s possible to achieve on any of the UK ISPs in question. The fact of the matter is that you’re highly likely to be fine streaming Netflix with any of these providers on those speeds. The comparative reliability of those networks and the level of service provided is another matter altogether.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
