Broadband Guide

Reliable broadband: finding the right package

Wednesday 15 February, 2012

By Editorial - news@consumerchoices.co.uk

Don’t suffer with unreliable broadband. Follow our tips to find the perfect package and make sure you always stay connected.

The right broadband package is about so much more than price and speed. A reliable connection is equally important; 44% of consumers said they either “don’t know” or “don’t care” how fast their broadband is “as long as it works”, revealed a YouGov survey for Sky (www.Sky.com) in October 2010.

However, many of the faster broadband packages are also the most reliable, as they use the latest technology to get you online.

Research your broadband provider

One of the best ways to find out if your new provider will be able to offer a reliable service is to do a bit of research. Read broadband reviews online and see what existing customers say about the service they’re getting.

You can also check out what consumer watchdogs, like Which?, have to say. For example, Zen Internet (www.Zen.co.uk) has been a Recommended Provider since 2005, while BE (www.Bethere.co.uk) took second place in its latest customer satisfaction survey with a 76% satisfaction score, followed by Utility Warehouse, Plusnet broadband (www.Plus.net) and O2 (www.O2.co.uk).

You can also see how many complaints are made about the biggest broadband providers. With 450 complaints a day about internet, phone and mobile providers, telecoms regulator Ofcom took the decision to publish complaints details about the biggest suppliers.

Ofcom only published details about the UK’s four biggest providers, looking at complaints made between October 2010 and February 2011.

TalkTalk was named the most complained about broadband provider, with 1.78 complaints per 1,000 customers - which it said was due to the “complex process” of transferring customers to its new network and billing system.

TalkTalk was followed by Sky (www.Sky.com) with 0.41 and BT (www.BT.com) with 0.37 complaints per 1,000. Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) had the least complaints of the four with just 0.21, said Ofcom.

However, you shouldn’t rule out the smaller suppliers that are sometimes left out of such research. Because they have fewer customers, these providers often try to distinguish themselves from the pack by delivering reliable connections and a high standard of customer service.

Check your wiring

If your internet service is delivered via your home phone line then you have a traditional copper wire - or ADSL/ADSL2+ - broadband connection.

This means that the speed of your internet will be determined by your distance from the local telephone exchange, but also that the reliability of your connection will depend on the quality of your wiring.

ADSL broadband uses the old copper wire telephone network, which wasn’t originally designed for the internet. Because of this, some homes are connected using quite old and sometimes degraded wires - while some are even linked to the exchange using aluminium wires, which do not perform as well.

Ask your provider how far you are from the local exchange, the kind of wires that connect you and what kind of speeds to expect before you sign-up.

iPlates and microfilters

If you're having problems with your home broadband connection you could try fitting an iPlate. BT, which offers its own version known as the Broadband Accelerator, says that the device increases speeds by around 1.5Mb as well as improving broadband reliability by removing the electrical interference caused by the old “bell wire” in phones.

If you're an ADSL customer, you should also make sure that you have good quality microfilters fitted on each socket in use. A microfilter has two sockets, one for your broadband and one for the telephone, functioning to stop your voice service and your broadband signal interfering with each other.

Fibre optic broadband

One of the easiest ways to improve the reliability - as well as the speed of your connection - is to upgrade to a fibre optic broadband package.

By carrying more data at faster speeds than traditional copper wires, Superfast broadband can offer speeds of up to 40Mb, 50Mb and even 100Mb broadband and more. The fibre optic cable technology used for superfast broadband is capable of speeds of up to 300Mb and as such, is considered "futureproof". Broadband delivered by fibre cables does not suffer the same degree of speed degradation as its copper wire counterpart, and is not affected by your distance from the nearest telephone exchange.

When Ofcom tested broadband speeds in November 2011, it found that BT Infinity's (www.BT.com/Infinity) up to 40Mb package was delivering an average of 90% of its advertised speed - that is around 36Mb.

Customers signed up to fibre optic rival Virgin Media's up to 50Mb package managed to enjoy an even better performance, receiving an even more impressive 98% of their advertised speed - an average of 49Mb.

Fibre optic broadband prices are dropping all the time. If you do decide to make the switch though, you should remember that you might also need to upgrade hardware like your router to ensure the fastest, most reliable connection.

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