Research carried out by Uswitch has revealed that nearly 20 million UK households have experienced speed-related problems.
This figure is despite 95 per cent of the country having superfast broadband available, with 19.6 million households (71 per cent) encountering speed issues.
However the comparison and switching service has launched a service to educate consumers on what the best broadband speeds are for their household – rather than the average number for their postcode.
Uswitch reported that nearly a third (31 per cent) of consumers have had buffering issues, with 37 per cent moaning about slow loading pages and more than a quarter (27 per cent) citing slow download speeds.
While 16 per cent of respondents claim that their internet crashes regularly, as more than a third (36 per cent) claim this happens unexpectedly.
Uswitch broadband expert Ernest Doku said: “It’s concerning that there are still millions of households suffering day-to-day with sluggish or unreliable broadband connectivity, either too slow to do many online tasks, or drops off without any warning.
“There continues to be a clear disconnect when it comes to the poor broadband connection speeds endured by many. More awareness and education is needed in terms of service availability, what those services offer and how much they will cost.”
The study also found that nearly half of consumers (44 per cent) don’t know the difference between regular, superfast and ultrafast broadband.
Regular broadband speeds usually average 11Mbps, superfast around 30Mbps and ultrafast broadband is around 300Mbps.
Doku added: “Terms like superfast and ultrafast can be confusing, and with the full fibre rollout gathering pace it is only likely to get more complex. Therefore it has never been more important to cut through the jargon and get a real view of the services that can actually make a difference to your everyday life.
“Our new Network Checker is designed to do just that. It will help you better understand what services are available at your home, so you can see exactly what’s on offer and get the best deal for everyone in your home.”