In Algeria no one switches because there’s only one ISP.
Customers must be very happy!
For me, it’s the price, and effort involved with researching cheaper/better providers. Maybe once a year I’ll look at competitors. If ISP raise price, that’s when I more seriously look at competitors.
I work for an ISP, we have 10 second to 3 minutes hold times before you’re speaking to a real rep, we have had downtime 5 times since I started working for them 4 years ago for maintenance (upgrading hardware to support larger bandwidth in different areas), we sell 1Gbps symmetrical speeds with unlimited data for $50/mo, we have 50k customers (in a specific area) and 5 customer service reps. Customer service quality is definitely important, but providing a service with minimal issues and great prices, that’s why the ISP I work for can get away with such a minimum amount of representatives and continue to get a 4.7 star rating on Google as an ISP.
It’s fun working for a company like this because you get to see how 50k customers paying for 1Gbps only use 70-85Gbps at any given time on average lol, people think they need a lot of bandwidth when in reality they just need a better router for their local network’s bandwidth. WiFi hasn’t been a great tech so far honestly, Wi-Fi 6 made a lot of improvements, maybe with WiFi7/8 that changes though. Big name consumer routers like Netgear have been dropping the ball with quality for years, but they still rake in the cash because at one point they made really great hardware.
I’ve learned a lot about networking because of this job, and it’s given me a really great perspective of how awful Comcast/Xfinity/spectrum and CenturyLink/QuantumFiber really are, how much they try to get in the pockets of the people who make the decisions for infrastructure in our cities, there were so many hate ads against the ISP I work for during an election season all paid for by Comcast and CenturyLink.
Anyways, customer service is great, but quality of service is much more important. Having both is a win all around.
1Gbps symmetrical speeds with unlimited data for $50/mo
God I wish I lived in the 2% or so of the geographic U.S. that had access to service like this. It’s $116/mo here for Comcast’s 1000/150Mbps service, capped at 1.2TB. Costs an extra $30 to remove that cap.
Canadian here. I got 500/500 for $50 cad after tax. 1000/750 is $65 but I’d have to upgrade my hardware.
I don’t mean to make you feel bad but in my area in the USA I get 10Gbps symmetric for $40/month, through an ISP that has awesome support, provides a /56 IPv6 range to each customer, lets you use your own router, and is publicly pro net neutrality.
Which isp is this? We nameshame, let’s honorname too.
And yet it gets worse the more rural you get. I know a buddy that lives 10 miles outside of the closest town and they can get up to 3Mbps. I know it gets even worse in the boonies. At least my cell service isn’t terrible up there. It was pretty atrocious ~15 years ago.
TBF they are right in my case. I pay for my ISPs small business offer, which is the former state own ISP, because they are the only ones who get me proper customer service in a reasonable time. (With 8h next business days. I could live with a few days. But it’s that or 4-8 weeks) And I need a static IPv4 which none offers for non-business customers anymore.
Damn. But that bill makes me cry every fucking month. Even fucking Starlink would be cheaper,but I do would get offline before giving money to Elon.
ISPs are generally all equally as bad (except for Spectrum. They’re probably the worst.). I stay with my ISP because they’ve never once complained about any of the torrenting I’ve done.
And where are they based?
That’s true for the larger ISPs, but the smaller ones can be a lot better. I use a small ISP and their prices are far better than the big ISPs, plus their support is really good. Some cities have municipal fiber internet (where the city runs it) which is usually great as the city’s motivation is to provide a good service to residents rather than to make money off of it.
Not to shill, but this is the primary reason why I’ve stayed with FIOS for the past few years. That and the fact that there are no contracts, it’s just a flat fee, forever. No promotion period or anything, either.
I’m contractually obligated to take it in the ass from the only ISP in town.
NO it’s because of the excellent customer service
I was lucky enough to have options after I moved a few years ago, and went with the smaller semi-local isp that offers better speeds for better prices, and no bullshit. The customer service is actually pretty good too. I hope more people get options like that, it felt so good to leave the big guys.
“excellent customer service” is a really weird to state “monopolistic practices”
It’s a good way to say, “customer service that blocks the exit,” though!
USTelecom, which represents telcos such as AT&T and Verizon, said that “the competitive broadband marketplace leaves providers of broadband and other communications services no choice but to provide their customers with not only high-quality broadband, but also high-quality customer service.”
That’s so much bullshit in so little space that I’m surprised it didn’t become a black hole.
competitive broadband marketplace
Represents multiple supposedly fierce competitors
I see the problem. Someone must’ve convinced them that opposite day was real in 4th grade, and they’ve been stuck that way ever since
All infrastructure should be owned by the government
Or at least community cooperatives. Having no voice or say in how your fixed infrastructure is operated is asking to be exploited
My ISP’s customer service is spectacular. It’s literally THE reason I’ve stuck with my ISP the entire time I’ve lived here. Well, that and the fact that they’re the only option.
Are ISPs transitioning to comedy now?
They’ve always been a joke
Ya, and the reason I’ve never been in a car accident is cause I’m a fantastic driver, not because I’ve never owned a car…
The only reason I take their customer service up my ass is because it always sucks no matter what ISP I use.
The only reason I do it is because I have no other choice. For me it’s either suffering with Comcast or using extremely shitty DSL (which is too slow for me to do my job properly). I live in a suburban area, but for some reason, my neighborhood has only one high speed option. And I know there are plenty of other people all over the country in the same predicament.
