Well, that’s a great attitude to take. You can’t be bothered so you just make do with a sub-standard service. Brilliant. Just brilliant. This is how ISPs in the UK have got away with it so long – they rely upon the utter apathy of the british web-surfing public. It is a hassle sure, but its always worth complaining when the service you receive doesn;t match your expectations.

I swapped to Be after nightmares with the likes of Bulldog many moons ago, and I have nothing but praise for them. They have been responsive, helpful and they inform me of service issues normally well in advance of them happening. And, what’s more, the actual broadband is pretty good too. It IS worth shopping around.

I view my stats and IPprofile as I want to receive what I pay for. If my ISP states up to 8mb they better do their best to deliver up to 8mb, not 2mb.

If I wanted 2mb I would pay for a 2mb line (non adslmax)

All of last year I was connecting at 7mbps, this year my ISP decides (well BT through their profiling nonsense) bought it down to 5mbps.

I complained and the connection is back up to 7mbps. Do people realise Sweden and other developed countries have 100mbps lines? All we have is the BT chairman complaining that they cannot deliver 40mbps, what is it to hard to work out how to do it?

Why do I need 7mbps? Well the internet has so many uses other than browsing, and those times you want to view emails, work remotely via vpn and download a show through iplayer I dont want to have my experience spoilt by a rubbish 2mbp line.

It amazes me how people in the UK put up with anything as they cannot be bothered to complain.

My wife and I complain to companies and have received redunds, discounts, and recently a free camera via canon’s ebay site because they failed to deliver a camera to my house. All it took was a couple of emails.

If Ofcom keep saying ‘everything is ok’, then we need to stand up and tell them its not. Show them test results done through the bt speed test site, and ask them for a written reply.

Post your replies so everyone can see what is going on…I could go on but rather enjoy my speedy connection :_) Oh I am with adsl24, which does not block ports, throttle my connection and offers a LLU connections.

“More than half of Britons haven’t got the first clue”

You could have stooped there. Except it implies that the edukashun system has improved around 3000% under new Labour. Perhaps that’s the real story “More than half of Britons now have a clue”

I’m with VM and get 10mbps as advertised, so, for reasons of gratuitous spite, I’m quite happy the rest of you have crappy internet connections.

Taxes are extracted from the taxpayer, with the ultimate sanction of going to prison if you don’t pay. Any organisation that is funded so comfortably has a HIGHER duty of service, performance and care. It also has the power and teeth to get its way. Without even a competitive organisation with which to fight for market share, OFCOM should be able to devote itself entirely to its mission.

OFCOM should set itself the task to set, monitor and achieve world-class standards. In a world where technology is fast-moving, the standard will be ever-rising. It should be easier to catch up, when we are lagging behind other countries and they are showing us how it can be done (if they can achieve higher standards, why can’t our ISPs? Part of OFCOM’s task is to find out if it doesn’t know).

One thing that would help would be a statutory requirement that by 2012 all software on UK computers must VISIBLY display the actual speed of broadband transmission being achieved (a) second by second, (b) minute by minute, and (c) average during the connection time within the past 24 hours. Not just hidden away on some obscure menu selection, but as a default pop-up panel on the screen that has to be actively removed if you don’t want it. Just like the Speedometer on a car is not hidden away under the bonnet, alongside the oil dipstick.

Even better, there could be a statistics table of such speeds being achieved by different providers in one’s immedate telephone district. Day by day, comparisons could be made. Press and radio could make reports. I know I would find this useful when my current contract comes to its end.

.

And I’m pleased to announce that John Hind wins the ‘Pedant of the Year’ award. Well done, John.

“Surely chocolate fireguards melt rather than crack?”
Only when heat is applied to them. Excessive cold or blunt trauma applied to an unheated chocolate fireguard could indeed cause it to crack.
Now, Mr Paxman, may I have his ‘Pedant of the Year’ award?

On topic, I find it ridiculous that we’re so far behind other european countries in terms of broadband speed and cost.
I remember i nearly fell off my seat when working in Maastricht several years ago. I was watching a TV advert for 20Mb home broadband for around 25 euros per month. Up until that point, I had been feeling smug for paying £50 a month for 4Mb, which was the fastest i could get.
Now, 4 years later, we have the speed available in some areas, but for a vastly greater price than the Netherlands were paying. I’m sure they’ve got some nice deals now!