I hope you've remembered that you must make sure that nothing else at all is using the internet in your house when running a speed test. Not even background downloads of updates.

I too got 36mb from our new PC beside the router (bog standard Plusnet) but only 17mb on my old PC 3m across the room on wifi. Connecting the old PC by ethernet cable immediately gave 36mb. As if I haven't been advised so many times that speed tests may not work properly via wifi ...

MrSaffron,

I think you may have hit on the main reason why my wifi-based speed is so low.

Much as I'd like to blame Vodafone (or indeed anyone other than myself), I have a sneaking suspicion that the laptop may be the main culprit.

It's a mid-range Toshiba that I bought in - er - 2010. I have no idea whether it has a single wifi antenna but it seems likely. As for the wifi chipset you mention, I suspect that mine is steam-driven by comparison with today's kit.

It is likely it is an 802.11g chipset then - if you wanted to carry on with that laptop and want higher speeds then you could get a USB wifi adapter - but the question would be is there anything you want to do on that laptop that would benefit much from greater than 17Mbs anyway?

ref ian72's point that I might not actually need anything higher than 17 mbps on my laptop...

That's true, but I went for a higher broadband speed because I believe our increased use of TV streaming in the short-term future would warrant a higher rate.

Of course, the TV signal is wifi dependent because an ethernet connection isn't really feasible. Many of you probably know how to analyse the wifi function on a smart TV but I'm afraid that's a technical bridge too far for me.

I once had an old Morris Minor (ask your grandad, kids). Every time something went wrong on it, I'd replace it with a new part. But the new part would then transfer extra pressure onto another part further up or down the mechanical tree. That extra pressure would then prompt the next part to crack up under the strain. After a while I realised that I was locked into a chain reaction that would only be broken when I sold the thing. Which is exactly what I did.

Thank you all for your interest and help.

For the TV check to see if it has a web browser. If it does then you might be able to run a TBB speedtest directly on the TV. However, you would still be limited by whatever wifi standard the TV uses and more difficult to upgrade it than upgrading a laptop.

What make/model is the TV? Does it do 4K streaming? If it doesn't then 17Mbps would be more than enough to support whatever video the TV is likely to be doing... If it is 4K then I would expect it to have a better wifi adapter in it so you might find it is just fine.

In reply to a post by Banksy1:

ref ian72's point that I might not actually need anything higher than 17 mbps on my laptop...

That's true, but I went for a higher broadband speed because I believe our increased use of TV streaming in the short-term future would warrant a higher rate.

Of course, the TV signal is wifi dependent because an ethernet connection isn't really feasible. Many of you probably know how to analyse the wifi function on a smart TV but I'm afraid that's a technical bridge too far for me.

Well your TV might support better WiFi than your by your own admission old laptop. So you might get more in total. On the other hand the screen itself often acts as a shield that attenuates the WiFi signal.

That said the basic rule of thumb is to reserve your WiFi bandwidth for devices that are actually mobile or don't have an ethernet port, and wire anything that is in a fixed position and has an ethernet port up. The result is a thousand times more reliable.

At the end of the day no ISP can guarantee any speed with WiFi because there are too many variables, with things like the size of your property, the materials your property is made from, the presence of competing WiFi signals from your neighbours, and other devices like baby monitors in the 2.4GHz band effecting what can be achieved. It's why the basic rule of thumb is to use ethernet if you possibly can.

Being a simple soul my attempts to connect our new Sony via wifi caused much frustration and bad language. Our router 15m away behind solid stone walls has an ethernet cable to a Devolo plugged into the mains alongside, the second Devolo has a 1m ethernet cable into the TV. Instant success ...

Have you tested the speed your laptop gets on a friends WiFi where they themselves get better WiFi speeds? Or get a friend with a newer laptop to test the speed on your router.