Advertising promises and actual speed are often far apart when connected to the Internet. The Federal Network Agency has published measurement results for this purpose.
The most important things in a nutshell:
- Internet providers often deliver only a fraction of the promised maximum speed.
- We explain how you can check the speed of your Internet connection.
- Consumers may already be able to cancel without notice if they have been given too slow a connection.
If only 5 arrive instead of 150 megabits per second: Internet providers are happy to advertise their tariffs with the fastest possible connections. “Up to” is often small next to the impressive numbers. But especially those who live away from the well-developed areas, sometimes only a fraction of the transmission speed is delivered.
Internet quality often worse than agreed
Providers of fixed and mobile tariffs must provide information on the normally available transmission rate in a product information sheet before the conclusion of the contract. To this end, many Internet service providers carry out a preliminary examination before concluding the contract. Here, however, you as a customer must rely on the fact that realistic results are recorded and communicated to you in this way. Internet speeds promised by the provider prior to the conclusion of the contract are part of the contract and must therefore be achieved.
To check the speed of your Internet connection:
If you have already signed a contract, there are two different ways to check the quality of your Internet connection:
- Your provider offers a so-called speed test. However, the tests of the providers are carried out according to vendor-specific specifications and are therefore not uniformly and objectively calculated.
- You use the offers of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). This provides various measurement tools. You can use them to measure, control, log and compare your actual data transfer rate with the rate set in the contract free of charge. The measurement tools can be found at download time calculator by downloadtime.org .
A step-by-step guide to measurement with the offer of the Federal Network Agency can be downloaded from us free of charge.
The results of the test must contain current values for at least the following information:
- Download rate (speed when downloading data from the Internet)
- Upload rate (speed when uploading data to the cloud, for example)
- Package duration (duration for sending data packets to a destination and back)
How to get out of contracts
If there are disruptions or problems in the contractual relationship, customers can assert an extraordinary right of termination. A slow Internet or permanent disruptions can result in the Internet contract being terminated extraordinarily. The faults must be demonstrated in detail, in particular by recording a speed test.
If your Internet connection is much slower than advertised, you must first give the provider the opportunity to fulfill the contract properly, i.e. to produce the promised Internet service. You must therefore give the provider the opportunity to provide the promised Internet service within a reasonable period (usually 14 days). Therefore, ask him in writing – by registered mail – to produce the agreed service within this period.
If nothing changes after repeated requests, you can cancel without notice and even claim compensation if necessary. If the provider does not accept this, you must sue the provider. Even if the Federal Court of Justice already affirms a claim for damages for the failure of the Internet, disruptions of performance often involve protracted legal disputes.
Law needs to be improved
The current legal situation is still very unsatisfactory for those affected, as the law does not directly give rise to any claims and customers must first sue their bider in the event of performance disruptions. For this reason, consumer centres have long called for the law to provide more protection for consumers and for them to be able to adjust the tariff or terminate the contract without hurdles.
