Ditch these rubbish broadband providers - quick!

Finding the best broadband deal can be incredibly difficult, but here's some idea of which broadband deals to look out for, and which ones to avoid.

More than 70 per cent of adults in the UK use broadband connections, either through a fixed line or through their mobiles, but information about the deals on offer is very difficult to decipher.

For one thing, the actual speed that you get with many broadband services is rarely as fast as the advertised speed. The media watchdog Ofcom found that while the average speed advertised by companies was 11.5 megabits per second (Mb/s), the actual average download speed in May 2009 was 5.2 Mb/s.

This disparity applies across all broadband speeds, although you can pick certain providers and deals that should make it less of a problem.

Firstly, I’ll run you through some of the factors to think about when buying a broadband deal, and then we’ll look at the best and worst packages available at the moment.

What are your needs?

How much do you use the web? Is it just for the occasional need to check emails and have a quick look at the BBC News website? Or do you spend hours online, regularly downloading music and TV programmes? The amount of time you spend online, as well as the amount of data you download, makes a big difference to what deal suits you best. Many broadband providers offer cheap deals for relatively slow speeds, while the faster speeds (20Mb/s or more) can, in some cases, cost many hundreds of pounds a year.

Cable is faster than DSL

The kind of wires that connect your computer to the internet also make a big difference to your internet speed. In this context, “cable” refers to optic fibre cables, while “DSL” effectively means your phone line, and the old network of copper wires that carry it.

Put simply, cable is capable of much faster speeds, which is why the UK’s largest cable broadband provider (Virgin Media) is now capable of offering an “up to” 100Mb/s service. DSL connections are generally slower. A particular problem with them is that the longer the distance of the copper wires between your home and the telephone exchange, the slower the internet speed. This doesn’t apply to cable.

You should bear in mind, though, that Virgin Media’s fibre optic broadband services do not cover the whole country. They are focused on the UK’s major urban areas, so if you live in more rural areas, it may not be available to you. In this case, Virgin Media can still provide broadband internet to you, but they will use your phone line, like other providers. You can find out what services Virgin Media provides to your area by putting in your postcode on their website.

When are you online?

Most web-users will be aware that their internet speed at peak times is slower than those at other times of day. Ofcom found that average download speeds between 8pm and 10pm on weekday evenings were just 75% of the average maximum download speeds recorded on the day. So, one solution to faster online surfing is simply to get your surfboard out at different times of day.

Your own wiring and computers

Another reason for slow broadband speeds is your own home wire network and the speed of your computer. If these are obviously out-of-date and in need of an upgrade, then that might be necessary to get the fastest broadband speeds.

Think about bundling

You can save money if you buy a bundle of services (including digital TV, landline phone deals, mobile broadband), instead of just picking up each of these services separately. Many major providers have these bundle deals, so they are worth checking out.

Finally, what you need to look for in the deal itself

• Speed. Be wary of packages with speeds of “up to” a certain number, as the actual speed might rarely (or never) reach this speed. That said, the faster the headline speed, generally the faster the actual speed you get.
• Usage limit. This is the limit on the amount of data you can download. Usually the limit is a monthly figure, but it’s worth checking this.

You can check the speed of your own broadband service here.

Please note that Virgin Media’s cable services were not available in my area.

The worst broadband providers for customer service

There are a whole range of factors to consider when looking at providers: value-for-money, customer service, quality of product and so on.

Today, I'd like to focus in on customer service. Specifically, how much broadband providers charge you when there's a problem with their service that you are forced to call up and speak to them about - and whether they actually manage to solve it!

More of us are calling broadband providers with our problems, up to 20 million calls made this year from 16 million in 2009. Here's a table with some revealing information about the different providers and their technical support telephone helplines. It is ranked on the basis of how many people were satisfied by the service they received on the phone (their “technical support rating”), so the worst-performing providers are at the bottom.

Source: uSwitch.com

None of these calls are very expensive, with 86p the highest average cost for a 15 minute call. But it’s clear that some customers were much more satisfied than others.

Orange has performed badly. Its customers had to wait on hold for a second longest time (6 minutes), had to pay the joint highest amount (86p) for the call, and were by far the least satisfied with the service.

TalkTalk also has not covered itself in glory with its performance. Just over half of its customers were satisfied by its service. Those who weren’t satisfied may have been irritated by the fact they had to wait an average of 7 minutes on hold.

Conversely, O2 and PlusNet have performed well in the poll, with almost three quarters of their customers satisfied with the service. Their customer service is quick (less time on hold), cheap (or free in the case of O2) and satisfies the majority of customers.

Yet overall, this is not a stellar performance from the broadband providers. An average of just 58% of customers were satisfied by the technical support at a time when the number of calls to the helplines of providers is increasing. This arguably makes it more important than ever that you are careful when selecting your broadband provider.

It's also worth noting that last week, Ofcom had to warn TalkTalk to stop breaching telecoms rules after the company was found to be wrongly billing customers for services (including broadband) that were not actually delivered. You can get much worse service than a service that the company charges you for - and doesn't provide!

The top 5 broadband deals out there

Here’s my choice of the top 5 deals for broadband packages for an average user, based on my own research using the post code search tool on the Ofcom-accredited website, www.broadbandchoices.co.uk.

It includes packages that combine broadband with other services.

Source: www.broadbandchoices.co.uk

Tell us about your experiences with broadband

Have you got any good tips for finding the best broadband deals, and avoiding the worst?

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