One of my favourite sayings or truisms is that experience is something you get right after you need it. So the clue is in the title ‘Internet Connectivity’ – coverage and capability is the first element to consider.
It is pretty important to start at the beginning and know what you have presently. Have a check on your upload and download connection speeds.
http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk
1. Cut to the chase & compare
Knowing when and where to look around for value is half of the battle. Sometimes this much easier said than done. Thankfully, within the UK we are able to compare over two dozen home & mobile broadband providers on the uSwitch website. uSwitch is an online comparison and switching service that helps you to compare prices on a range of Broadband products and services.
https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/
2. What could be better than asking the experts?
What do we really need to hear and know from the experts, interestingly price isn’t the most critical factor for expert reviews below. They rate BT in the first place, with Sky following and Virgin Media completing their top three list. As most of the fixed line traffic in the UK runs through Openreach (BT) and Virgin Media, so most roads lead to Rome in that regard. However, depending on your postcode there can be a number of small Alternative Network suppliers. Many of these AltNet companies may use a variety of different technologies to enable their coverage for your postcode.
https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/guides/switching/switch-broadband
3. Netflix much? Just a bit.
Are you a Box set binger? Guilty as charged? Many of us are among the 95 million subscribers to Netflix. They get my money for bringing back Arrested Development and everything else is just a bonus as far as I am concerned. If you want to download the best new Documentary then try ‘Icarus’ by Filmmaker and cycling nutter Bryan Fogel. If we are bingeing then we need to bring up the download speed and look at that in our decision-making process.
4. Cloudy with a chance of storage.
Is your life in Cloud Storage land? If so, upload speeds are key for your needs. Especially if we are users of any of these big hitting Cloud storage destinations like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, Box, Drive. If so then the inverse to the Netflix binger is true, and a very critical element to focus on as Download speeds get the headlines, so don’t be fooled and miss the half of the equation that is most important for you.
5. Wanna put a sticky plaster on it and make it better?
Of course, the good news can be there are times it may not be necessary to upgrade our connectivity when a good tidy up will perhaps make things smoother. Also, we may be in the middle of a contract period or it just isn’t practical to change at the moment sometimes we make the best of what we have available. Below is a link to help things Go Faster.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Internet-Go-Faster
Forewarned is forearmed in the search for the right sort of connectivity solution and package. Have a look around and compare to find what seems to be best for your needs. As the last port of call it is great practice to go back to your current provider and speak to them and see if there is a simple way to get what is best for you, and the best market value with the least fuss, sometimes staying put after a market exercise is the way to go.
If you may have any tips or tricks not seen above, please share them below.