ASA rules TalkTalk misled customers
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has ruled that TalkTalk misled customers by claiming that its router provided “the fastest speeds in the UK”. Last year, the company claimed that its routers carried “a stronger signal than BT, Virgin, Sky and EE," and "the strongest signal and fastest speeds in the UK," that "reaches parts of your home that the best routers from the other big providers can't". The ASA conducted 15 signal strength tests on routers provided by BT, Virgin, Sky, and EE in three different properties. The watchdog upheld BT's complaint on two counts, finding that TalkTalk's ad was unsubstantiated, misleading and breached rules regarding comparisons with competitors.

TalkTalk misled customers with the claim that its router provided "the fastest speeds in the UK," the country's ad watchdog has ruled after exhaustive signal strength tests on routers provided by BT, Virgin, Sky, and EE.

In May last year, TalkTalk bragged on its site that, among other things, its routers carried the "market-leading signal strength," "a stronger signal than BT, Virgin, Sky and EE," and "the strongest signal and fastest speeds in the UK,"—and that it "reaches parts of your home that the best routers from the other big providers can't."

BT successfully complained on two counts, contesting that the comparison claims were misleading and could not be substantiated; and disputing that sufficient information had been provided to verify them.

The Advertising Standards Authority finally delivered its response just over a year later, by upholding both complaints.

However, it wasn't idle over that year; in fact, the ASA conducted 15 unique signal strength tests on five different routers—one from each of the five main ISPs—in three different properties.

It said: "Five positions were chosen and measurements taken for the Wi-Fi type supported by each router. The strength of the Wi-Fi signal was captured using a software tool that provided a heat map showing signal strength for each point in the accommodation."

In the end, TalkTalk's so-called "Super Router" was found to be the best overall in the 2.4GHz 802.11n range, but generally lagged behind its competitors in the 5GHz 802.11n and 5GHz 802.11ac ranges. The regulator's ruling was pithy:

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We considered that consumers would understand the claims “Our Super Router provides a stronger signal than BT, Virgin, Sky and EE” and “Super Router delivers the strongest signal… in the UK” to mean that the Super Router provided a stronger signal than its rivals in all situations, not just for specific Wi-Fi types.

In a thorough response, the ASA fisked all of TalkTalk's claims, before concluding that they were "likely to mislead":

We noted the claim “[Super Router] Reaches parts of the home that the best routers from the other big providers can’t” was based on the assumption that if the router had the strongest signal it would automatically follow that it would be able to reach areas that routers with a less strong signal could reach and that TalkTalk believed the heat maps supported that argument. It provided heat maps for the best and worst performing routers for all three Wi-Fi types at each of the property locations. Although the Super Router results were strong for one of the three W-Fi types, the router performed less well for the other two. As with the stronger signal claims above, we considered that consumers would understand the claim “[Super Router] Reaches parts of the home that the best routers from the other big providers can’t” to mean that the reach was wider than competitor products in all situations, not just for specific Wi-Fi types.

It found that the budget telco's ad was misleading, unsubstantiated, and breached rules relating to comparisons with identifiable competitors. TalkTalk's Web-based advert must not reappear in its current form, the ASA said.

Currently, the front page of TalkTalk's website claims its new Super Router offers "faster wireless speeds than BT, Virgin, Sky, or EE"—a mere qualification which the ASA said it "welcomed."