UK Broadband Internet service providers with "issues"

Broadband use in the UK has seen explosive growth and with over 100 retail companies to choose from the innocent user finds it hard to choose an ISP at all, let alone choose a good one. The idea of this Blog is to name ISPs that should be avoided, and the reason for listing them. If ISPs address the specific issues then they will be removed from the list. I envisage a black list of "don't go there" ISPs to start with, perhaps adding a white list of ISPs that the user community are happy with later and maybe a "brown list" or "grey list" of ISPs with features that may put some users off.

It may also be necessary to list specific products if they have issues of their own but are supplied by an otherwise reliable provider.

To start the ball rolling I'm going to name two ex-ISPs who had a business model that was unsustainable and consequently failed. These ISPs were E7EVEN and Euro1net - both of whom seduced users with low cost pay in advance subscriptions - for example 2 years broadband for £240. The problem here is that £10/month is not enough to provide a broadband service in the UK using BT's systems, as the cost of the connection from the exchange to the user alone is £9.87 per month inc VAT.

ISPs to avoid :-

1. Any ISP with a "pay in advance for 12 months" model and an unsustainably low monthly charge such as £10/month. If this is their only product the company will fail and you will lose your connection, taking weeks to get back on line. Only ever pay in advance by credit card as the credit card provider is jointly responsible and you can make a claim against them.