Great Hunt: What stops you switching broadband?

scrimperdave · 9 September 2015 at 11:54AM

I've had most of my email addresses for about 20 years. As an early adopter of (dial-up - remember that?) internet I snagged nice simple email addresses which are just variations on my name without dots or numbers in them. I like them, I want to keep them, and it's worth it to me to stay with BT at 19.68 MB/s (measured) .

As the sole user of my connection, I neither need nor want higher speeds, I don't want the hassle of switching, and I certainly don't want to put money in Murdoch's pocket.

Having said that, if BT customer service gets much worse (conning me into signing up to 24/7 Techies, a business run by a former BT manager) I'll probably be provoked into switching.

sylviesinc · 9 September 2015 at 12:41PM

We've been with our supplier ever since we first had internet access way back in the dial up days! It was Worldonline when it began, which was taken over by Tiscali, which was taken over by Talktalk. We have broadband only and you can't get that nowadays, you have to take line rental as well. That's the main reason we won't switch, plus I'm happy with 6 Mbps as we don't download films etc and we never lose connection. I've also had the same email address all this time and it would be too much hassle to change that.

slbhill · 9 September 2015 at 12:45PM

I did just switch, but it took a long time to do it. What held me back, in order of priority;

1. Hassle factor (too many options, broadband, call costs, tv tie in), or perhaps just simple laziness

2. Concerns about speed in my slightly remote area (I was on TalkTalk years ago and it was snail-speed but that didn't become apparent until I'd already got the contract)
3. Got attached to my TiVo box
4. Wasn't sure how hard it would be to get "normal" tv back because the Virgin engineer cut through the wire from the aerial when he installed their new cable. (I didn't realise at the time, or would have got it dealt with then).

Elisecas · 9 September 2015 at 1:00PM

I don't want to pay for a phone line when I don't need a phone. That pretty much leaves me with Virgin Cable. It's not the best ever, but it's not bad enough to consider a phone line.

onomatopoeia99 · 9 September 2015 at 1:09PM

Hadders wrote: »

What really annoys me is that I have seen the BT fibre optic cable outside my house but BT will not connect to it and even deny it is there!

Just because there is a cable outside your house doesn't mean it's one connecting your local cabinet to the exchange to enable FTTC availability.

BT will not just connect your house directly into part of their network infrastructure.

CCP · 9 September 2015 at 1:19PM

I'm with Sky, who offer me a measly 4MB - but that's a vast improvement over anyone else who operates in my area, who can offer only 0.5MB. Fibre hasn't yet been installed in my area so it's pretty much Sky or nothing if I want an even halfway usable internet connection.

edjc · 9 September 2015 at 1:58PM

I did switch and regretted it.

Sky was very reliable. Switched to Plusnet and at times the router/their network decides it needs a bit of a breather. Not what you want. :mad:

Of course you have no way of knowing this before you buy. So I can see why people don't switch.

Friday_Girl · 9 September 2015 at 2:02PM

I have been with TalkTalk/Tiscali for over 10 years, I have always had at least one annoying issue each year but these last few months has been a perpetual nightmare with problems connecting to my emails. Originally they were very cheap and I put up with the 3rd rate service, now they are virtually the same price as others with a 3rd rate service.

I am loathed to change because of the complexity I have changing my tiscali email address - many years ago I asked if I could pay just to retain it and was told no - if I could I would be gone in an instant!

Bungalowbilly · 9 September 2015 at 2:30PM

I switched some years ago to Virgin because of the fibre optic speed. There are no other providers in my part of town that can match it. Will compare prices when there is some competition - or when kids leave home and speed is not such an issue!

Benjamin_Joseph · 9 September 2015 at 3:13PM

I'm with Sky and have been forever. I have a modest TV package, unlimited fibre (38Mb) and line rental.
I'm not perfectly happy with Sky but I stay because they always offer my 50% off every time my contract is up for renewal. Nobody else compares on price when they do that.
I'm actually fairly happy with the TV package, but i still wish my broadband (38Mb) was as fast as Virgin's (152Mb) and I really wish the Sky router had gigabit ports like Virgin's does so I had a faster network at home. But I'm not a heavy user in terms of data so these are just things that would be nice for me to have. If I was a heavy gamer then maybe it would be more of a problem.

Overall, the things that stop me switching from Sky are:
Sky have given me excellent discounts every time I ask for them
Sky have the best TV package for me
I'd like faster internet but I don't want to lose my current TV package as it would cost far more to get the same thing elsewhere.

So I guess it comes down to a compromise between faster internet or the widest selection of TV channels for the money.

(Plus my friend is with Virgin and he's now on his 4th TiVo box in 2 years as they keep breaking down or wiping all his recordings. He hates Virgin and warns me off them whenever I've almost made the switch.)

Great Hunt: What stops you switching broadband?

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