TalkTalk Survey Warns Slow Broadband “Load Rage” Driving Brits Barmy

A new survey of 2,000 British adults by Mortar, which was commissioned by UK ISP TalkTalk, has revealed that slow broadband comes top in a list of household bugbears for 2017 and as a result this is causing people to lose their cool as often as 138 times a year (aka “Load Rage“).

The study found that UK homes can have as many as 14 WiFi enabled devices connected at any given time and 35% of respondents also spend at least 4 hours online at home per day. However 33% said they struggled to stream online video (films and TV) and 34% faced problems with completing their online shop.

Top 10 British Household Bugbears in 2017:
Slow broadband (45%)
Noisy neighbours (35%)
Finding the bin is full and no one else has bothered to empty it (30%)
Family members leaving washing up to be done (24%)
Losing the remote control (23%)
Hair in the shower/ sink plughole (22%)
The toilet seat left up (19)
Running over your data allowance because you’ve had to use your data instead of Wi-Fi at home (17%)
Finding someone else has used the last of the milk (13%)
Queueing for the bathroom (11%)

The Top 10 Causes of Load Rage:
Wi-Fi enabled calls cutting out at home due to slow broadband (20%)
Missing crucial parts/ endings of TV shows/ films (19%)
Video game interrupted (17%)
Missing key moment/s in other sporting match/event (14%)
Missing last remaining size/ item/ tickets before getting through checkout while internet shopping (13%)
Losing work/documents (13%)
Missing a goal in a football game (11%)
Falling out with family/ friends (7%)
Missing a key message from a loved one (6%)
Missing a work deadline (5%)

Apparently so-called “Load Rage“, or simply plain old ‘anger’ for those of us who aren’t PR marketing execs, is now so common that 21% would even be willing to give up either chocolate or alcohol if it meant they’d be guaranteed faster internet. However the survey didn’t ask respondents how much ‘faster’ is fast enough for them to be happy.

Laurent Kretzchmar, Head of Product at TalkTalk, said:

“With everything from our mobile devices and game consoles, to our TVs and even the heating thermostat all connecting to one router, the reality is that the connectivity needs of many households across the UK have surpassed traditional broadband. Just as many homes used to have to wait to make a call because someone else was using the internet, now we see households taking it in turns to do everything they want to do online.

We’ve recently seen a surge in new customers choosing fibre, because it’s important for households to be able to stream, download and upload all at the same time. While it won’t solve all our household bugbears, we know how important a speedy internet connection is to daily life.”

Naturally TalkTalk claims all of this indicates that “most busy households have outgrown a standard broadband connection” and as a result they’re keen to sell you on upgrading to their ‘up to’ 38-76Mbps capable “fibre” (FTTC) packages instead, which might indeed improve your online experience.

On the other hand it’s worth remembering that many of the problems described above may not always be caused by your ISP or broadband connection (e.g. it could be a computer / device fault, issues such as slow home WiFi or problems caused by remote websites and servers) and they won’t always be improved by simply connecting to the Internet at a faster speed.

Similarly TalkTalk is certainly not immune to complaints about slow broadband speeds and so-called “Load Rage“, which even happens on their FTTC “fibre” packages that don’t always deliver the promised “superfast” speeds. However experiences do vary and the majority of people should still see a benefit from upgrading.