I’ve just read an article on the BBC Technology web page regarding broadband speeds meted out to users, under the title of:
UK ‘misled’ on broadband speeds, says Ofcom report (give it a click to read the article)
Well all I can say is ‘no shit, Sherlock’.
As someone who has seen broadband ‘develop’, (if thats what you can call it), in Lincolnshire I can assure ‘the BT spokesman’, who clearly has his head up his own arse; people largely DO NOT get what they pay for.
The best system in Lincolnshire for broadband transmission is cable. Now owned by Virgin. It is robust and usually offers upwards of 75% of what people are promised when they sign up. Personally, I sometimes get 7 of my 10 meg service but usually it’s less. ADSL customers, however, in my experience rarely get half of what they are told when they sign up and it’s usually a LOT less.
I am staggered that the average broadband speed is 5.2 meg. What that indicated to me is that a few people are on VERY high download speeds while the rest of us can’t muster a couple of meg.
The article goes on to indicate that there are all sorts of reasons why broadband speeds are not whats quoted. I can’t be bothered to go into those reasons but it’s enough to say that if these ISP money grabbing twats were more open about their supply failings and stopped giving premium service users broadband at the expense of average use users we’d all be better off.
In my opinion, NEVER believe what your ISP tells you your download speed will be. When all your kit arrives (after your jumped ship to get a better deal) test it straight away. If speeds are not what they claim, complain STRAIGHT AWAY. Expect all technical support to be none existent (if it’s ok, then you’re on to a winner) and always renegotiate your contract at the earliest convenience.
