SuffolkOnline.net

What Support Do You Get with Internet Service Providers?

Suffolk Online recently completed a small research project to see what support you get with other Internet Service Providers and to see how we measure up.

2 friends and colleagues of Suffolk Online were used, who were not on Suffolk Online, and we called their Internet Service Providers up to see if they would assist with specific problems regarding their broadband connection and computer problem. The Internet Service Providers are both very large market-leading providers who have millions of subscribers across the UK. For the purpose of this research piece they will be called Internet Service Provider 1 (ISP1) and Internet Service Provider 2 (ISP2).

ISP1

ISP1 was called up and after waiting in a queue for 5 minutes we spoke to their technical support department we reported to them that we had a problem with our Internet connection, in that it wasn't connecting. They confirmed a few customer details and then asked what equipment we were using. We told them that it was a Linksys router that we had purchased ourselves. Straightaway we were told that they wouldn't be able to help us with this issue as we were not using the Netgear routers that they supply and support as standard. We were advised that it was best to look at their website for further support materials or to try and get hold of a netgear router. We double checked with them that we wouldn't be able to get any further support and they confirmed this was the case, adding that from a few initial checks that they couldn't see anything wrong with the telephone line but that a number of other issues could be causing a fault. The fault turned out to be a setting on the router that they should have been able to help with.

Suffolk Online as standard supports all routers and will assist in any problems with any equipment that you use.

ISP2

ISP2 was called and after waiting in a queue for 3 minutes, we spoke to their technical support department who requested that we confirmed a few customer details. Following this they asked us what our issue seems to be be about. We told them that we had a problem with our printer and that it was printing lines down the sides of documents. We were quickly told that they don't support customer printers or any other computer programs and hardware that aren't supplied by the ISP. The only services they would support are Internet and Email services they provide. We ended the call.

The call above and the outcome of it is not surprising as clearly they have no duty to support services they provide, however Suffolk Online as standard will assist in any non Internet and Email issues and try and help as best as it can. This is part of Suffolk Online's ethical and charitable nature. This fault was resolved by running print cleaning functions several times which improved the quality of the print.

Summary

We hope this research piece informs you not only about the level of support that you may get from other Internet Service Providers but also some of the added benefits you get from being a Suffolk Online subscriber.

These benefits include a excellent value packages, a local helpdesk with no phone line queueing, ethically based service delivery, help with any computer problem as best as we can and honest straight-forward advice when you need it, potentially saving you hundreds of pounds calling in on-site engineers.