Troubles with sluggish broadband? - Broadband Genie advises

Sept. 26, 2008 - PRLog -- The new website was set up to explain the pitfalls of only having access to a sluggish connection. Containing comprehensive explanations on what could be considered ‘broadband hell’, Be Broadband suggested that if customers were experiencing the following problems, they should look into switching to their service to see an improvement:

•    Buffering:  When you’re watching stuff on YouTube or iPlayer does it always stop and say ‘buffering’? It does that because your connection isn’t fast enough to handle the media you are watching.

•    Download: Does it take ages to download music, movies or TV shows? Check out what speed you can get right now by entering your BT number on the Be home page.

•    Lost Connection: Poor reliability can be tortuous, especially if you spend a lot of time doing stuff online.  Be prides itself on it’s service that’s one reason why Which? rated Be Broadband at 85% satisfaction and a Best Buy.

•    Throttling: Some broadband providers cram more customers in the local exchange than others. To make sure it still works they throttle their customers’ speed down, literally choking their fun. Be don’t do that and never have.

There is of course, an easier way to check up on your broadband speed without having to wait to see if these issues crop up during your daily online usage. Go to http://speedtest.broadbandgenie.co.uk/ and you can check your broadband speed within seconds by clicking on the ‘Test my broadband speed!’ button and waiting for the result.

“To get accurate results you need to make sure that you’ve closed down applications running on your computer like your email,” explains Ciaron Dunne from Broadband Genie.

“As the results can vary wildly depending on factors like time of day, it’s worth taking around three readings at different times so you can set an average.”

Once you have a better idea of the broadband speeds you are receiving already it’s far easier to compare new broadband services to see if you can get a better deal. Enter your postcode, your phone number and the speed you think you should be getting and you view all your broadband service options on one easy page.

“If you’re nearing the end of your broadband contract it is very important to check that you are receiving the level of service you’re paying for,” says Ciaron. “Never assume you will always achieve top speed with your provider – that’s very rarely the case. Instead, be aware of the details of your service and seek better options when you can.”

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Broadband Genie allows users to compare mobile broadband online, and is part of Genie Group.

Genie Group Ltd is a leading independent provider of internet comparison shopping services in the UK, and was set up in 2004 by Philip Wilkinson (co-founder of Kelkoo UK). Genie Group's unique selling point is 'the Genie', which makes personal recommendations to internet shoppers based on ground-breaking, intelligent technology. This gives Genie Group the ability to provide an enjoyable and satisfying internet shopping experience, and deliver an unmatched quality of sales leads to our affiliate merchants. Genie Group launched its flagship broadband comparison service Broadband Genie in January 2005.

More information can be found at http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk . Please direct all media enquiries to Ciaron Dunne. Interviews with Philip Wilkinson can be arranged on request.