Australians plagued by slow internet

Poor internet connection and slow speeds have been affecting the majority of Australians, according to the latest CHOICE internet satisfaction survey.

The survey shows that 62% of Australians experienced issues with their internet over the past six months.

Telstra and Dodo customers were the least satisfied with their internet providers.

“Our satisfaction survey asks ADSL, Cable and nbn customers to rate their internet retailer on connection speed, reliability, value for money, bill clarity, ease of set-up, customer support and technical support,” said CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland.

81% of Australians who said they had a problem mentioned speed and reliability related issues with their provider (slow speeds, disconnections/dropouts, connection issues), while 83% of Australians on ADSL/ADSL2 or 2+/Cable who said they had a problem mentioned issues relating to speed, variable performance and connections.

In addition, 76% of Australians on the nbn who said they had a problem mentioned slow speeds or disconnections/dropouts.

“Although internet service providers such as Dodo might spruik ‘superfast broadband’, in reality most Aussies who reported an issue with the nbn complained about slow speeds and connection issues,” Kirkland said.

Internode, iiNet, iPrimus, Optus and TPG all performed above average, but Telstra and Dodo were ranked as below average.

For Telstra, value for money, customer support and technical support dragged its score down.

Dodo’s main issues included connection speed, having a reliable connection, customer support and technical support.

“To make matters worse, some of the slowest providers also scored poorly when it comes to value for money and customer and technical support,” said Kirkland.

“Telstra’s poor ranking on value for money is not surprising given CHOICE’s investigation last year, which found consumers add up to a 92% price premium to access Telstra’s network.

“Although some higher cost telcos point to the value of their offer coming from an array of bundled extras, like content or a landline phone, our research found bundled services were the least important factor for selecting an internet service provider.

“Overwhelmingly, consumers place importance on a reliable (95%) and speedy (94%) connection and value for money (94%).

“With so many Australians experiencing issues with their internet service, we want to get to the bottom of speed issues to make sure people can expect to get what they pay for.”

CHOICE has joined forces with technology testing company Enex TestLab to gather information on actual broadband speeds experienced by consumers across the country.

“If you have an nbn connection and would like to join our project to monitor service provider broadband speeds, we want to hear from you,” Kirkland said.

In addition to its annual ISP satisfaction survey, CHOICE will be reporting regularly on a range of metrics, including advertised speeds versus actual speeds, average download and upload speeds, average monthly downtime and disconnections per month.

For further information on the ISP satisfaction survey, visit choice.com.au/ispsurvey.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Petrovich12

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