Tip #3910 - Best and Worst ISPs
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Q:
Do you happen to have any suggestions on which ISPs are the best or which
ones are the worst? I'm thinking about switching to a new one, but I don't
really know who to go with. Please help!
A:
It's very interesting that you asked that question today. I was actually
browsing through our message board the other day and I found a posting
from one of our members about a recent survey that was done by PC
World magazine entitled "The Best and Worst ISPs." So,
this was the perfect source for me to use to answer your question. I was
actually quite surprised by some of the results too. There were even a
few ISPs on the list that I've never even heard of, so this survey really
gave well rounded results.
Now, just in case
you're not sure, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. They're basically
the ones who handle your Internet connection. Your ISP is who you connect
with to get on the Internet everyday. If you're thinking about changing
your ISP (like the person who asked this question), you'll want to take
a good look at the survey results, because they will provide you with
a lot of information you can use to choose the best one for your needs.
Or if you're content with the ISP you have right now, you might be interested
in seeing where it ranks in the list. So, what do you say we take a look
at those results?!
The survey was divided
into different criteria that each ISP was tested for. Those included connection
type, overall satisfaction, connection reliability, download speed, upload
speed, customer service, technical support, e-mail service, spam blocking
and antivirus/security. Each ISP was given a rating of above average,
average or below average. And lastly, the ISPs involved in the survey
were Verizon Fiber, Cablevision, Cox, Insight Cable, Earthlink Cable,
Earthlink DSL, AT&T Yahoo! (formerly known as SBC Yahoo!), Time Warner
Cable (also known as Road Runner), Verizon DSL, Comcast, Qwest, Earthlink
Dial-up, BellSouth (now known as AT&T), MSN, AOL and Charter.
After looking over
the chart, it looks like Verizon (the fiber version) made the top of the
list, getting an Above Average ranking for each set criteria. Charter
came in last, only getting two Average ratings throughout the whole survey.
Some of the other ISPs that came out on top were Cablevision, Cox and
Insight Cable. To be honest, those actually surprised me, because when
I think of ISPs, I don't think of any of those right away. But it just
goes to show that just because you have a popular name, you're not always
at the top of your class.
Now, when you look
at the results, it obviously depends on what type of Internet connection
you're using. For example, Earthlink has dial-up, cable and DSL services,
so make sure you're looking at the correct type for whatever you use in
your home or office. Other than that, the results are pretty straight
forward and self-explanatory. For your convenience, I have copied the
full chart and you can check everything out for yourself right here:
So, go ahead and look
up your ISP and see how they ranked. If yours didn't do so hot, don't
worry about it too much. If your ISP is still working well for you and
you're getting everything out of it that you want, you don't need to panic
and switch to another one. As long as you're happy with the service you're
receiving, the results don't matter. On the other hand, if you're very
unhappy with your ISP, you may want to consider another one that got rave
reviews from PC World. The choice is yours!
Either way, I'd like
to thank PC World and Pelican56 from our message board for helping
me out with this tip. I really hope it will give some of you a little
help with your ISP issues. Enjoy!
~ Erin
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