A survey of the UK’s broadband suppliers has found that BT beat off rivals across a range of performance tests.

NTL will be pleased that its latest purchase, Virgin, came second in the survey by internet testing firm Epitiro. The survey has not been released to the public before as it is normally sold back to ISPs.

Demon, AOL and Orange took third fourth and fifth positions respectively. NTL was not included in the test because it uses cable.

The tests – taken over three months – are pure performance indicators and did not take into account price, availability or customer service. Epitro used software that connected to services every 15 minutes to test various variables including download speeds and connection failures.

Gavin Jones of Epitiro told the BBC: “If people are considering which ISPs to go for, this would just be one part of the equation.” Jones said BT also provided the fastest service as a percentage of its theoretical maximum.