TV addicts should consider switching their Internet service provider if they want to lower their risk of frustrating buffering and slow downloads, new data from Netflix has revealed.
The entertainment portal has released the latest edition of its ISP Speed Index, ranking five of the UK’s major service providers in terms of their Internet speed, with Virgin Media retaining its crown as the fastest and most reliable service.
The Branson-backed provider recorded an average speed of 3.30Mbps, leading it to edge out BT (2.96Mbps) and Sky (2.74Mbps) for the top spot.
TalkTalk came bottom of the rankings with an average speed of 2.59Mbps, taking the place of EverythingEverywhere, which rose one place with an average speed of 2.62Mbps.
Virgin Media’s performance was also significant in that it was faster than the top three providers in the US, where Cablevision – Optimum came out on top with an average speed of 3.10Mbps, followed by Cox (2.99Mbps), Suddenlink, and Charter (both on 2.86Mbps).
However, the nation’s major providers did not fare as well, with Verizon, which recently blamed Netflix’s ‘mismanagement’ of video services for slow speeds on its network, slipping two places to 12th overall, recording an average speed of just 1.58Mbps.
Verizon had said that the company was working with Netflix to establish new, direct pipelines to improve the quality of video streaming for customers, so will be hoping for a performance boost in Netflix’s upcoming tests.
Based on data from its 48 million members across the world, the Netflix Speed Index analysed over 1 billion hours of TV shows and movies streaming at peak times from the service each month.
"A faster network generally means a better picture quality, quicker start times and fewer interruptions," the company said.
