Tired of being in the broadband slow lane?

Gone are the days of access to the internet being considered a luxury. Nowadays it can almost be considered a basic right. So much of our lives are based around our gadgets and online access, many consider the internet a household necessity.

However, our research tells us that 63% of you suffer problems with your broadband, and just under half have reported issues with slow connections. A little over half of those said that it was something they experience regularly. Moreover, more than a quarter of you told us you’ve been kept waiting two days for a problem to be fixed and nearly one in ten have had to wait a week or more. A week is a very long time in the desert of no-internet connection.

Streaming movies online

So we’re calling on broadband providers to sharpen up their act. We want companies to give you written speed estimates at the outset of your agreement, this should be a range as well as an accurate assessment for your house. This should be accompanied with information about what sorts of things you should be able to do at those speeds, for example whether you’ll be able to watch movies online. If you find, at any point in your contract, that you are regularly unable to achieve the minimum speed we’re calling for companies to let you out of that contract without penalty.

We also want providers to commit to fixing problems quickly and crucially we think that they should all commit to providing a refund for any period during which you were unable to connect to the internet. Finally we want to see providers committing to taking the lead in resolving problems, not passing their customers from pillar to post.

We think you should get the broadband you pay for. So much of day-to-day life revolves around access to the internet that we think it’s important you get the best service possible. Have you experienced problems with your broadband supplier? We’d love to hear from you.