Why Your Speed Test Shows Less Than Promised in Poland

# Why Your Speed Test Shows Less Than Promised in Poland

Paying for "up to 600 Mb/s" but your test shows 320? That's not always the provider's fault — but sometimes it is, and in that case you have a real right to push back. Here's what actually affects the result and when the gap stops being normal.

Quick summary:

• "Up to 600 Mb/s" is a maximum, not a guarantee — Polish contracts must also state a "normally available" and minimum speed.
• Testing over Wi-Fi will almost always show less than testing over a cable — that's not the connection's fault.
• Time of day, network load, and router quality genuinely change the result minute to minute.
• A persistent, regularly repeating gap between the contract and reality is real grounds for a complaint under EU law, which applies to Polish ISPs too.
• Before you call to complain, run several tests over a cable, at different times — one result proves nothing.

"Up to 600 Mb/s" doesn't mean 600 Mb/s

Every ISP's ad shows one number — always the maximum, theoretical figure achieved under lab conditions. In practice, that number has little to do with what you'll see running a real test at home in Poland.

EU Regulation 2015/2120 (the "Open Internet" regulation, which applies across the EU including Poland) requires providers to state four different speed figures in the contract: minimum, "normally available," maximum, and advertised. The "normally available" figure is the realistic one to compare your own result against — not the maximum from the ad.

The catch: almost nobody reads that part of the contract. What sticks is "up to 600," and a test showing 400 immediately feels like something's broken.

What actually lowers your test result

Before you assume it's the provider's fault, check these — each one can eat up to half your speed on its own.

Wi-Fi instead of a cable. Wireless signal loses throughput through every wall, door, and piece of furniture it crosses. A router in a different room than your laptop can easily mean a 30–50% drop. To see what the connection itself actually delivers, plug an Ethernet cable directly into the router before testing.

Time of day. In the evening, when half the neighborhood gets home and starts streaming, the provider's network carries more traffic than at noon. That's a normal pattern, not a fault — but if the gap is large and repeats at the same time every day, it's worth noting.

An old or weak router. Hardware from a few years back — especially the free unit that came with your contract — may not support your connection's full speed, even if the line itself is fine.

Number of devices on the network. Smart TVs, phones, a game console, cameras — each one shares the available bandwidth. Testing while something else is downloading a large file in the background will understate your real speed.

The test server itself. Results also depend on which server the test connects to and how far away it is. Run more than one measurement rather than trusting a single number.

When it's no longer normal fluctuation

A single evening dip isn't grounds for a complaint. What matters is a persistent, regularly repeating gap between your contract and reality — Article 4 of Regulation 2015/2120 calls this a "non-conformity of performance" and requires the provider to tell you what remedies are available under national law when it happens.

In practice: collect several cable-based measurements across different days and times, note the dates and results, then file a complaint with your provider referencing the "normally available" speed written into your contract — not the number from the advertisement.

How to check this properly before you call

1. Connect your computer with a cable, not Wi-Fi.
2. Close other programs and devices using the network.
3. Run our speed test — it takes about 30 seconds and shows download, upload, ping, and jitter, not just download speed.
4. Repeat at different times of day — morning, midday, evening.
5. Compare the average against the "normally available" speed in your contract, not the advertised number.

If the gap is clear and repeats after several measurements like this, you have real evidence for a complaint — not just a feeling that "the internet feels slow."

And if it turns out the connection genuinely can't keep up at your address, that's a different problem — worth checking what's actually available at your address before you renew for another year.

FAQ

Is a phone speed test reliable? Less than a cable test on a computer — a phone connects over Wi-Fi, and its network chip and processor have their own limits too. Treat it as a rough indicator.

How often should I test my internet? A few times a month, at different times of day, is enough — no need to do it daily. Worth re-testing after changing your router or if something suddenly feels much slower than usual.

Can my provider penalize me for filing a speed complaint? No — reporting a service that doesn't match your contract is your right, not grounds for any penalty from the provider.

What if the ranking on this site shows a different result than my own test? The ranking is based on the median of many real measurements across a city; your single test is one data point — some difference is expected, not a sign of an error.

Does this regulation cover upload speed too? Yes, Regulation 2015/2120 covers both download and upload speed.

Have your own speed test story?

What did your test show in the evening versus the morning — and was the gap large? Leave a comment, I'd like to compare notes.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Article 4 — EUR-Lex