Is a low cost ISP worth it?
ISP - Its a term heard in all walks of life and quite openly. Sadly in some cases when you’re talking about your ISP with others you are also probably having some trouble with them, whether that’s a billing or technical issue.
ISP stands for Internet Service Provider and it’s the service element that is often lacking in the overall package. ISP’s, in simple terms provide a pipe from a building to the Internet. It’s not too dissimilar to the way your water supply is connected to your home, connecting you to a mains water supply for your area. ISP’s make the majority of their profits from selling you a pipe connecting you to the Intenret of a certain capacity, combined with a certain level of reliability or service. You’ll pay your subscription, the ISP deducts its running costs and what’s left is their profit.
Without getting too technical there are two things that make the difference between a good ISP and bad one; Speed and Customer Service. There’s no coincidence that these two items alone are also the ISP’s biggest costs. They can skimp on the speed of their network, which would mean you get slow speeds, especially in peak times and they can skimp on customer service/support agents (what’s the longest you’ve been ever been on hold to your ISP?).
The low-cost ISP has it’s place in the market but the next time you have a tehnical or billing issue and you’re on hold to them for two hours plus, you may need to consider how much you’re paying for the service. That really is the difference between a low cost ISP and a more expensive one.
A low cost ISP may be worth it for you but to help work this out, you’ll need to consider the cost of not having reliable and ultra fast Internet in each particular area of your digital life. If it’s at work and your Internet grinds to a halt for your office workers, then you’re losing hundreds of pounds a day and suddenly the low cost Internet is now costing you money than you anticipated, significantly so when considering staff wages and lost productivity.