Friday, April 18, 2008

Broadband: The great download rape rip-off*

Friday, April 18, 2008 8:35:51 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Just a few days ago I posted on this broadband business, and as I turned to page 22 in yesterday's Metro, there it was again! Below, I highlight some of the most important aspects of that article.

"BROADBAND users beware - you're probably getting a raw deal. High-speed internet customers receive an average of just 48 per cent of their advertised megabyte rates, it was revealed yesterday. One provider's 8Mb package delivers speeds closer to just 2Mb. Another well-known company's top-of-the-range 20Mb deal [Yes, they do have 20Mb deals!!] struggles to hit speeds of half that level, research found. The study tested thousands of broadband connections, comparing the maximum speed quoted for packages with the actual download rate. ...

Packages offering speeds of 2Mb achieved rates closet to those advertised, averaging 1.8Mb. High-end deals promising top speeds of 16Mb hit 8.6 on average. 'Providers are promising speeds far greater than they are capable of delivering,' said William Harvey of comparison web-site broadband-expert.co.uk, which carried out the survey.

'This is down to much more than the usual excuse of poor line quality or distance from the local exchange.' He said that providers were 'much less likely to upset customers' if they set realistic expectations of speeds that COULD be achieved."

Enough said!

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