Last week’s report by Ofcom confirmed what we’ve all long expected - you’d have to live on the premises of a telephone exchange to receive the top speed advertised on your broadband deal.

Image: Chad was disappointed that the car was not performing to the advertised speed

With films, music and other media increasingly at our finger tips, the demand for high speed internet packages has rocketed in recent years, and, understandably, internet service providers (ISPs) fall over themselves to spread the word about their unlimited, mega fast deals.

The typical package is one boasting speeds of up to 8Mbit/s (Megabits downloaded per second). However, research monitoring the performance of the UK’s nine largest ISPs found that the average speed of their packages was 4.1Mbit/s.

That will not come as much of a surprise to anybody who has carried out a speed test on their internet performance (try broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk, mine’s 4.7Mbit/s, since you ask), but it is disappointing nonetheless. What does rankle is that just nine per cent of consumers on 8Mbit/s packages actually receive average speeds of 6Mbit/s or more.

In addition, people living in rural areas can all but forget about receiving speeds that are even half those advertised, while almost one in five broadband subscribers receives speeds averaging less than a paltry 2Mbit/s – a level of performance that the Government has set out as the minimum in its plans to deliver internet access to every home in the UK (an almost impossible target unless billions are spent on improving infrastructure and replacing 100 year old copper lines that are currently charged with supporting cutting edge technology.)

With this in mind, is it not time for a tiered system whereby, rather than paying a flat rate for an up to speed that is realistically never going to be delivered, consumers pay a monthly fee reflecting the downloading speed they receive? After all, ISPs are quick to enforce extra charges when customers exceed the fair usage policy on their supposedly unlimited broadband package.

Would it not also be fair for providers to include the average speed in their adverts, not in the small print for two seconds, but next to the up to speed? By the same token, advertising packages as having no download limits is disingenuous when they are subject to fair usage policies.

When subscribing to a package, press your provider to make clear what this policy is as, with streaming video on devices like the BBC’s iPlayer, we are downloading more than ever before, and exceeding it could cost a small fortune.

So what’s the answer? Well, according to the Ofcom report, Virgin Media’s up to 10Mbit/s package delivers the best speeds, with an average of between 8.1Mbit/s and 8.7Mbit/s. If it is downloading quantity that you’re after, then Sky’s Broadband Max package offers the UK’s only truly unlimited deal, with the fair usage policy removed last year.

James Henderson is a reporter for the Moneyfacts Group.

Apparently 5.4 million people in the UK are living in 'fuel poverty' due to the energy price rises we've been experiencing. On average a £380 increase per household compared to last year. Is it time to switch energy provider?

I myself, upon receiving my last energy bill found myself running around the house making sure that everything I had previously turned off wasn't actually turning itself back on again. I also took the chance to put an extra jumper on.

Now, I'm pretty good at not wasting energy of the fuel variety. I was brought up thinking for the first few years that my name was "close the door behind you". I've been informed and accepted that the red light on standby is to let me know it needs switching off at the plug. I even take the challenge of seeing how long I can last from summer into winter before the heating goes on. Basically, I thought my fuel bill would be 'smaller than ever'.

Well it certainly was like no other. I don't normally jump at the chance to call British Gas, but this could not be missed. I was of course sure that the meter reading must have been incorrect. It wasn't. Strangely, when I received my electricity bill a few days later, the queried reading was correct there too. It seemed that my 'estimated' reading was a million miles away from the 'actual' reading. Time to stump up.

Of course nowadays we consumers have the power to compare, to switch providers, to take up 'join us' offers etc. So we don't just need grumble, we can take action!

So this is what I want to do. Like everyone else, I want to make sure that I am getting the best deal I can. Dual Fuel? Direct Debit? What Tariff - Click Energy, Green Click energy etc?

I also want to be as green as I can too, to 'do my bit'. I've found that you can get some great energy and money saving ideas at energysavingstrust.org.uk. You can also see here if you're eligible for an energy saving grant. All useful things that can help reduce that dreaded fuel bill.

So I'm at the beginning of a journey of comparison, hopefully arriving at a cheaper fuel bill and not being told my current provider is in fact the best!