TalkTalk ad banned over claims competitors could not beat its Wi-Fi signal

An advert for TalkTalk’s Unlimited Fibre broadband has been banned for misleading consumers with the claim that its Wi-Fi signal could not be beaten by competitors.

The television, radio and website ads, seen and heard on October 16, said: “For everyone who wants a reliable connection right throughout the home, TalkTalk Unlimited Fibre now comes with our all new Wi-Fi hub so you won’t get a better Wi-Fi signal from any of the other big providers.”

BT complained that the claims were misleading and unsubstantiated.

TalkTalk claimed testing results showed that the performance of their hub and BT’s hub were very similar, and significantly better than the performance of the Virgin, Sky, Plusnet and Vodafone routers.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the testing was only carried out in one test house with no accompanying tests in real consumer homes but TalkTalk needed to demonstrate that the environment was typical of normal use and conditions, such as interference.

The ASA said: “Because the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate that TalkTalk’s routers provided as strong a signal as any other major provider, we concluded that the claims ‘You won’t get a better Wi-Fi signal from any of the other big providers’ and ‘giving you a Wi-Fi signal that can’t be beaten by any of the big other providers’ … had not been substantiated, and were therefore misleading.”

The ASA ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form.

A TalkTalk spokesman said: “While we believe that our tests substantiate the claim, we have adhered to the ASA’s ruling and have removed the claim from all advertising.

“We remain committed to treating our customers fairly and providing reliable and affordable broadband to homes across the UK.”