CUSTOMER SERVICES * Percentage of survey respondents who do each activity weekly survey, only two internet service providers (ISPs) made the grade. Our research found a big gap Broadband for all between Best Buys and their nearest rivals. Waitrose scored 68% – a drop With broadband expected to be available to the whole UK of nearly 10% from its September by 2012, Which? reveals the Best Buy service providers 2008 rating. Plusnet (68%) and Greenbee (67%) join it as runners up. We found that the UK’s four biggest an’t get broadband because the whole UK, as part of its plans for a ISPs don’t impress. BT, TalkTalk and of where you live? Or maybe Digital Britain (see opposite). Virgin Media all hover around the you have broadband, but it’s 50% mark, while Tiscali languishes as Cso slow you might as well be Pick a broadband winner a Which? Don’t Buy, scoring 39%. using two cans and a length of string? If you can get broadband but are frus- Check how your ISP did using our If, like many Which? members, you trated by poor service and reliability, Best Buy and Don’t Buy summaries want to take part in a wide range of don’t despair. Our latest survey reveals plus our full results table on p63. If web activities, such as watching video four Best Buy home broadband you’re looking for mobile broadband, clips and downloading software, a providers – Zen Internet, O2, Utility you’ll find the results of our survey at below-par internet speed can make Warehouse and Be. In our previous www.which.co.uk/mobilebroadband. your online experience frustrating. But it looks as if the UK won’t be stuck OUR RESEARCH other measures, including less than 40%. In May 2009, in the broadband slow lane for long. Best Buys must have a reliability and customer 11,431 Which? online panel The government has announced plans Which? customer score of service. Don’t Buys have a members told us about their to bring broadband with an up-to- 80% or more and do well on Which? customer score of broadband experiences. 2Mbps minimum speed within reach of SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTOGRAPHY 60 | September 2009 www.which.co.uk ISP SATISFACTION Expert view UK-wide broadband access Which? broadband expert Ceri Stanaway explains plans for the future of broadband in the UK Broadband started taking off around Poor broadband speeds can be Customer 10 years ago – and with it came the caused by home wiring problems service levels, concept of the internet ‘digital divide’. – you can try to resolve this using usage limits Because broadband companies self-help solutions such as BT’s and how well an ISP deals with invest in profitable metropolitan Broadband Accelerator (see problems are all key too, so use the areas first, some communities have www.bt.com), but some will need the full range of Which? advice when been left behind as broadband assistance of an engineer to resolve. making your choice. technologies improved. Recently, prices have fallen and Is 2Mbps good enough? Superfast broadband for all? speeds increased to 20Mbps or Some industry experts argue that BT has announced plans to bring up higher, with Virgin Media piloting 2Mbps is already outdated – and to 40Mbps broadband access to 10 speeds of up to 200Mbps. This has recent research suggests UK million homes by 2012 – but that’s only heralded an age where downloading broadband consumers receive 40% of the UK. The government says TV shows in minutes (see our Top average speeds of 4.1Mbps. You can it’s concerned that if investment in Gear chart, below) is commonplace. see how this varies by provider at broadband networks is left to market But if you live in a rural area that www.which.co.uk/broadbandspeed. forces, many areas will be left behind. lacks broadband investment, But a reliable 2Mbps compares It wants investment in broadband’s you may be being left behind by favourably to no broadband and ‘next generation access’ to ensure ISPs busy concentrating on urban should be plenty, unless you’re it’s available to the whole country. areas. You’ll usually pay more for a heavy broadband user. It’s fast To fund this, the government is likely slower broadband, while in some enough to use popular internet to levy a 50p a month supplement areas, still reliant on dial-up internet services such as BBC iPlayer. on all fixed phone lines as a access, downloading that Top Gear And it isn’t just about speed. ‘national investment’ in broadband’s episode would take more than a day. Which? survey respondents say that future. Low-income households a reliable connection is as important on social telephony schemes Nationwide broadband access as speed. Advertised speeds should would be exempt. According to the government’s be viewed in the context of ISPs’ If you’re concerned about the Digital Britain report, 11% of UK small print – most have policies that impact on your phone bills, look for homes can’t get broadband speeds might limit speeds at certain times other ways to save, such as switching of 2Mbps, and some locations can’t or for heavy use. providers, bundling (see www.which. get broadband at all. co.uk/bundles) or online billing. In order to tackle this, the government proposes creating a nationwide broadband infrastructure Top Gear countdown that provides up-to-2Mbps broadband access to all by 2012. The scheme How long would it take to download a will be funded by a mix of public and typical one-hour episode of Top Gear private investment – including around (725MB) from the BBC iPlayer? £200m underspend from the Digital TimE to dowNLOAD TOP GEAR (miNUTES:SECONDS) Switchover Help Scheme – into 2 48:20 upgrading existing networks. 8 12:05 How speed will be improved 20 4:50 For some with poor or no access BROAdbAND to broadband – particularly those SPEED (Mbps) 40 2:25 that live far from their telephone 50 1:56 exchange – phone lines will be upgraded as part of the proposal. 100 1:00 Download would take more Priority will be given to those who than three hours at 0.5Mbps 200 0:30 can’t get broadband. www.which.co.uk September 2009 | 61 Zen Internet O2 Customer score 87% Customer score 85% A Best Buy since 2005, Despite its relatively Zen deserves its excellent recent entry to the broadband customer service reputation. market in late 2007, O2 home It scores the maximum five broadband impresses with stars for everything but value five-star ratings across the board, for money, with packages including value for money, connection starting at £17.61 for a 5GB cap. For most reliability and customer service. Which? Which? members, Zen’s ‘marvellous members also liked O2’s freephone customer support’, reliable connection technical support line. Standalone and willingness to go ‘the extra mile’ to broadband is reasonably priced, starting Pushing your limits resolve problems are worth paying more at £12.23 for an unlimited, up-to-8Mbps The way you use the internet affects the for. You also like its one-month contracts service on a 12-month contract. O2 monthly broadband cap you need – Zen relies on service quality rather mobile customers get £4.89 off their than lengthy tie-ins to keep customers. monthly broadband fee. You can see on p60 how Which? members like to use the internet, but how does this type of online activity Utility match up to your monthly broadband usage limits? Be Do you really need an unlimited deal, or would Warehouse Customer score 80% a capped service be more than adequate? Customer score 81% Be was one of the first Below, we show how much typical usage of a range Despite scoring a respectable ISPs to offer up to 24Mbps in selected of different activities eats into your broadband usage 72% overall in September areas as far back as 2005, when BT’s limit, and give you a running total if you want to see 2008, Utility Warehouse standard offering was just 2Mbps. how it all adds up. You may be surprised at how low a deserves praise for not resting A Best Buy in our September cap you really need – especially if you don’t watch on its laurels. Instead, it has continually 2008 survey, Be was relegated online TV or download movies. worked to improve, and as a result it’s from our broadband premier HOW MUCH WOULD YOU USE? hit the standards required of a Which? league in March 2009, but has broadband Best Buy for the first time. regained its place. Be’s efficient a b c E B) S Utility Warehouse offers standalone technical support was highlighted for B) G G LY LY G H broadband from £18 a month, or as praise by several members. Its cheapest AL T N NNIN a bundle with home phone – you can up-to-24Mbps service costs £17.50 for Age ( Age PIC O S TY U WEEKLY M U RU ( TOTal add energy services too. See www. an uncapped, 12-month contract – it Surf the web 7 hours 0.54 0.54 which.co.uk/bundles for more. also has a cheaper up-to-8Mbps service. Send/receive emailsd 50 emails 0.22 0.76 DON’T Buys Download software updates 1 update <0.01 0.77 Watch short video clips 3 clips 0.06 0.83 As in our last survey, AOL, Karoo, Orange and Pipex are Which? Don’t Buys. Disappointingly, Tiscali now joins them.