Broadband users are still receiving internet speeds much slower than those advertised, an investigation has revealed.

Almost half (45%) of 18-34 year olds have complained to their internet provider about their broadband speed, according to research carried out by ComRes for BBC Watchdog.

It also shows younger adults are more likely than older adults to say their broadband is not good enough to do everything they want to do online.

Brian Gray from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides uses provider BT for his internet.

    See also: Consumers lose out on broadband

Living on an island means he relies heavily on the internet. Mr Gray told the Watchdog programme that his broadband had been really slow for three weeks.

Advertising rules allow broadband providers to advertise 'up to' speeds as long as those speeds are obtained by as few as 10% of their customers.

This means as many as 90% of customers may receive speeds that are slower than those advertised and slower than those they pay for.

uSwitch broadband expert Ewan Taylor-Gibson told Watchdog that slow broadband connections could have a negative impact on peoples' lives.

"You can end up feeling really cut off," he told the programme, which was broadcast on Wednesday (9 November).

He added: If you're not in contract and getting a poor service then go out there and see what you can get. A lot of companies give cheap introductory rates."

A BT spokesperson said the telecoms company was sorry for the slow broadband speeds experienced by Mr Gray.

"We have attempted to help him to boost his speed by recommending a wired connection to his home PC and changing some settings on his Home Hub.

"While this has helped, we appreciate that Mr Gray still receives a slow connection, which is largely due to the remote location of his home."

The Watchdog programme can be viewed on BBC iPlayer here until Friday, 9 December.