I've been with IDNet for a few years. My connection has been reliable although IDNet has at various times over those years suffered very badly with congestion due to the oversubscribing of their network. Currently speeds seem reasonable, so I've been happy to stay, if only because the inevitable inertia that many of us suffer means I can't face the hassle of changing ISP and email addresses. Internet access is not a mainstay of my life, so I've been prepared to put up with their average service. However, if I were a newcomer to the web, I would NOT use IDNet based on my experiences so far.

I'm technically competent so have had little need to use support, although on the few occasions I have contacted them I've found them polite but generally not very interested or competent at dealing with difficult problems. Their first line of defence has ALWAYS been to blame BT, even on the occasions that have been proven (and subsequently admitted by IDNet) to be IDNet's fault and/or responsibility.

Recently I've been suffering some problems that I could not fix myself and thought were IDNet's problem, not BT's. This is where IDNet falls down badly.

Firstly, it's virtually impossible to get support during the evenings and weekends. Emails and answerphone messages seem to be ignored until 9am on Monday.

Secondly, if you're lucky enough to suffer a problem during the few hours that their support is open, you'll be dragged through all the usual "check your router, filter blah, blah, blah" before they'll accept that they might have a problem. As an example, during a recent incident where I could not connect to any websites, and where other IDNet customers were suffering the same problem and posting on their user forum about it, I was told by a female support operative that their service was fine and that I should "clear your temporary files" to solve my connection problem. It was only when I told her that other users were complaining of the same issue that she grudgingly admitted that IDNet was at fault and a fix being worked on.

The web is becoming ever faster and more reliable, so price and high quality support are the only real points of difference and should be at the top of every ISP's list. IDNet are averagely priced but their support is dreadful. Truly dreadful. It's no good answering the phones quickly and being polite if what you then say is downright wrong or incompetent or misleading or disinterested.

In short, if you don't envisage ever needing support, IDNet might suit you. For anyone else, IDNet is best avoided.