I work online every day. And every day I am amazed at the difference in service I receive from my broadband provider. Some days it seems as if I have the fastest connection on the planet. Other days it seems as if a screen change takes an hour and a half. We have a business connection and pay a premium for it. Little wonder I get annoyed and constantly consider changing companies. I use one of the largest companies serving the UK and let me say I am not receiving via a converted phone line. Had I any idea that my connection would be so hit or miss I would have checked my provider's overall speed before signing a contract.
Of course one might think, how do you run a broadband speed test before you are a customer? Obviously you cant but you can check out the overall satisfaction of others who have come before you. This is accomplished by reading reviews of the various broadband companies serving your area. Had I studied Virgin Broadband reviews prior to signing with the company I receive service from I would gone with Virgin Media. Almost every broadband company has been reviewed. The
Plusnet broadband review available at Broadband Choices is a perfect case in point. The pluses and minuses of the company are all revealed.
While on the site I also recommend taking advantage of the free broadband speed test tool. This will allow you to compare the download quality you are currently receiving to that of the other companies serving your location. Consider that you might be paying for a 20MB speed unlimited download broadband package. If you run the broadband speed test and discover that you are downloading at less than 1MB you might want to look closely at your contract. No doubt you will discover that it says maximum potential speed of 20MB. While there is room for leeway, one doesnt sign up for high speed internet and knowingly receive only 5% of the advertised speed.
Usually the cause of a slow broadband connection is the congestion at the local terminals caused by too many people being signed on at once. This in itself is problem enough. The better broadband companies are constantly trying to expand the capabilities so that your overall speed is high. But did you know that a few UK broadband providers actually throttle back your download speed so as to prevent you using a greater total bandwidth? It is one thing if a system is overloaded with demand, but quite another if the company is purposefully limited the access you are paying for.
So what is the solution for this situation? What do we do when the speed test reveals that we are being governed so as to send our paid for share of a connection elsewhere? The solution is to compare broadband providers so as to find the best broadband deals and switch to the most honest company you can find.
