Terrible Broadband Service. Advice?

VonLuck

I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding broadband. I won't name the company but I think about 2 years ago, maybe less, I got wireless broadband. I live in the countryside so its really the only viable broadband option available (phone lines cant take broadband).

About 9 months ago we upgraded to the best package available, 2mb download with a contention ratio of 24/1. It was working okay until about a month ago when internet speeds became extremely slow between the hours of 5-12 at night.

It is so slow that I cant stream videos, cant play games online (without a latency of over 600) sometimes I cant even load pages! I also experience regular disconnections. I am paying €50 a month for this service and I am really not getting my moneys worth. I would probably be better off on dial up.

I have contacted the company a number of times, each time they tell me that an engineer will look into it and get back to you, but no improvement nor phonecall back.

Is there anything I can do/say to resolve this issue? Its the only provider in the area so I cant really say "if you dont fix it I will go to another provider" but at the same time they advertise 2mb, but I dont even get a fraction of that. I know I wont get 2mb with the contention ratio but surely there is a limit to where it starts to become unfair. Are they legally allowed to advertise 2mb broadband yet I am barely able to load pages?

I'm not sure what the situation is here so if anyone can shed some light I would appreciate it. Thanks.

jock101

Paying 50quid for a 2mb line in 2011 is just another classic example of how backward is Country is! Unfortunately if you dont live in certain high population urban area's, Decent BB speeds of 10mb and up are just a pipedream for the foreseable future!

VonLuck

Indeed. But seeing as its the only option available to me surely they must provide a usable service?

I know when purchasing goods that they must be of merchantable quality and fit for the purpose intended but does the same apply to broadband services? Are they allowed to provide such slow broadband and just blame it on contention ratio?

SgtBob

Best thing I would suggest is read their terms of service thoroughly. The contention ratio can be easily blamed by bb companies.

You could consider getting in touch with Com Reg, though I don't know how much use they will be.

I had similar problems with my wireless connection, same as you, I live in the middle of nowhere. It took me about 2 months of constant nagging to the company in question before it was satisfactorily sorted.