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OK... Red wire or black... *Clickety* You've emailed the schematic? Yes, got it! It's opening. And... WHAT? NO!

Survey: 6 in 10 have 'experienced' crap connectivity

Perennial complaints about crap internet connectivity feel like the digital equivalent of people grumbling about potholes. So it's no surprise that six in 10 of us have moaned to Which? of problems in the last year.

In a survey of just over 2,000 by the consumer action group, nine in 10 to have experienced problems said they felt "frustrated" as a result, with four in ten forced to stop their online activities.

One in five said that connection problems have had a negative financial impact on them, with three in 10 unable to bank or pay bills online.

Of all the age groups surveyed, 18- to 24-year-olds were most frustrated by poor broadband. Presumably they were forced into the tedium of having to have a conversation as a consequence.

Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at broadband advice site Cable.co.uk, said the majority of us experience some sort of internet issue within the space of a year, so the results of the survey were "not entirely surprising."

He said: "It is worth adding, however, that 'problems' as a general category vary greatly in severity, from the odd bit of Netflix buffering during peak periods, to full-blown local (or even national) outages."

Ofcom has introduced new rules to allow consumers to more easily switch provider if they have failed to provide an acceptable level of service.

"Just as consumers are required to meet monthly payments, providers are obliged to deliver the service we pay for – failure to do this is a breach of contract and may mean you can vote with your feet without fear of cancellation fees," said Howdle.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home services, said the body has launched a free tool to help ​people improve their connection.

“There is nothing more annoying than your internet cutting out​ when you're streaming your favourite programme​, ​or ​when you’ve spent ages filling your online ​shopping​ basket but your connection is too slow to get you to the checkout. ​Far too many people are experiencing problems with their broadband across the country and we want to help people to​ fix ​it.” ®

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