Would tend to agree with Nessus.

As helpful as these sites are, people who look at them with a view to changing ISP and find that the top one is performing twice as well as the ones lower down the ratings are very likely to migrate to the best at the time; which will undoubtedly lead to a poorer service with the new ISP in time.

I know all ISPs are in it purely to make money, it's a business after all; but it is a pity that so many let contention issues get so bad (before rolling out extra equipment) that they then slide down the ratings and the mass migration loop starts all over again.

There are still a few around who offer a good service but at a much higher price; I suppose in this life you simply get what you pay for (with the exception of Virgin who I am with).

It's a pity they all hype up their adverts and promise you the earth, when in reality they are much the same, with bad contention issues at peak times.

Mike.

In reply to:

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(B) Are you seriously suggesting that people['s] recommending an ISP (for no gain to themselves) is possibly one of the factors or conditions for that ISP's potential future downfall? Yes.

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I think you have this the wrong way round. If an ISP fails or becomes worse it is because they didn't manage the business properly i.e. not increasing resources, staff, capacity etc. to meet growing demand. To think that consumers are even partly to blame is missing the point wide of the mark.

In reply to:

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Keith_thfc: please do name the "decent ISPs" so that we all know where we stand when the day comes that BE falls. Without spending an absolute fortune, being capped greater and having lower speeds, I see nothing that comes even close to BE in the UK. Accordingly, it should be asked just how wise you are repeatedly to encourage more persons from here to join BE? After all, when BE falls (i.e., only a matter of time if general ADSL history continues to repeat itself- which would arguably be much longer without the help of questionably helpful 'promoters') where are we left? The current state of ISPs in this country, where throttling has become virulent, is not a pretty picture. And it's not getting any prettier as time progresses.

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I agree with a lot of what you say but at the end of the day we as consumers have to take some of the blame for this.

As the average person is more bothered about getting "free" or cheap broadband rather than something of high quality.

Over time I think customers will wise up and stop giving their money to the fake

Edited by deleted (Mon 19-Feb-07 11:47:49)