Re: [LUG] Fwd: UK 'misled' on broadband speeds

On 28 July 2010 10:02, Gordon Henderson <gordon+dcglug@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Wed, 28 Jul 2010, Terry Hill wrote:

I don't because I never allowed myself to be signed-up for a long-term
contract in the first place. Actually not quite true - when I got my BT line
8.5 years ago there was very little choice at the time, so I had to put up
with a 1-year contract on it, however that's long-gone. I pay them quarterly
and I'm on a quarterly contract, which I could get down to a monthly one by
migrating the line to another provider.

Braodband too - everyone has a choice of over 100 ISPs to choose from,
regardless of LLU in their exchange. Some, like BTretail will insist on a 12
month or longer contract, but others (most others) are monthly.

Obviously you have the experience, understanding and confidence to pick
through the minefield that is choosing an ISP Gordon. Not so for many
millions of users in the UK, who do the best they can - and are looking for
a bargain as they are making another little monthly hole in the bottom of
thier money tanks.

People in-general seem to want everything yet aren't willing to pay for it. That's not my problem it's theirs.

That's a pretty sweeping and cynical view of the populace tbh.

You work in IT and therefore (probably) meet many businessmen who want you to provide the world for nothing - that's your problem, not the problem of the rest of the population.

Example: I've just got my first diploma on the way to my nursing degree, and I met about 70 nice people this year on the same access course. About 3 of them were truly "computer literate". The rest had other things to do with thier time, including a range of sports and interests, clubs and organisations. Some spent thier spare time collecting things to to make up boxes to send to the poorer countries, others owned ipods and went to the beach a lot. Others were young and wanted to spend thier time surfing. None of them were high earners, there was one "rich kid" I know of. Pretty much all of these people had an internet connection at home, about half ran their own households so I'm guessing paid the bill. Pretty much all of these people had to use the internet extensively in thier studies. I had a few chats over the year about home access, from giving advice on how to fix problems with wifi

All of these people will want a connection "that works without sitting around for ages" and to pay the least amount of money for it.

Of course, you'd look at the ones with the ipods and assume they have money to spend, as they own ipods and live near a beach.

10 minutes of googling and asking about will give you the information you need to know regarding picking an ISP or phone company.

For you, yes. For Rhona, 54, a lovely lady on my course, a complete nightmare. For Craig, a 22 year old scaffolder, funniest guy you'll meet, "I havent got a clue mate" would be his reply. Just because you see something as easy, don't assume it is for others.

And it always boild down to the old addage:

Cheap, Fast, Reliable.

Pick two. Because that's all you'll ever get.

...if you accept it and then repeat it as a mantra. There's probably a T-Shirt somewhere.

Most sheeple pick cheap and get one of the others. I chose fast and reliable, but am prepared to pay for it. I didn't have any slow downloads during the world cup or wimbledon. My broadband doesn't slow down at 6pm, it just keeps on going, but I pay 30 quid a month for that. (plus 12 to BT)

Again, most "sheeple" havent got a clue. This isn't laziness or the behaviour of a scrooge. It's down to what they know and what they don't. And in the meantime the adverts singing about "neon rainbows" seem quite attractive when you've got hardly any money to spare.

>From my point of view, I'm mightilly pissed off at the way the marketing droids get away with misrepresenting broadband and phones - BT have been reported in the past to tell punters that they can only get BT - which might be true in the sense that they only have BT Wholesale to deal with, but it's not the truth in that they only have BT retail to deal with. Others employ high pressure sales droids and the vulnerable and lazy just go with the flow and pick what they think is good - ie. BT.

"Always on, truly unlimited (unless you file share), service may become busy
at peak times" (or something similar) and then provide a range of connection
speeds for a range of prices. Meter the system, so if you get less than you
sign up for you drop down and pay for what you got.

Of course, the suits that run the world would never put up with such a
straightforward system - not enough profit in it.

And that's the bottom line. Profit and dividends for shareholders...

Agreed. High time for a revolution. Or a Union perhaps....