Posted: 03rd Feb, 2005 By: MarkJ
The latest Which? survey has found that 95% of people find broadband easy to use, 92% like the speed and 87% feel it reliable. However, 48% were NOT satisfied with their ISP's customer support:
Of the three largest broadband ISPs, Blueyonder is streets ahead of rivals BT and NTL for customer support and value for money. Only 8 per cent of Blueyonder's customers are dissatisfied with the support compared with 29 per cent of NTL's. Similarly just 8 per cent are unhappy with Blueyonder's value for money, compared with 20 per cent of BT's customers.
Broadband is easier for hackers to exploit because customers are 'always online'. In a separate report, Which? enlists the help of an ex-computer hacker to look at the murky underworld of viruses and spyware. He says that hacking is getting easier: "It's served on a plate for people who want to do it."
Fortunately, good security software is available. ZoneAlarm was the best anti-virus and firewall1 combination on test, scoring a near-perfect 98 out of 100 and costing £41.It's also noted that customers were not happy when trying to switch ISP's (broadband still isnt flexible enough here). The problem of customer support is something we've also noticed a decline in (
HERE).
Despite the negatives, ISP's can at least take heart in the fact that broadband continues to be many times more reliable a technology than dial-up ever was. Users still share this opinion.