The UK's best and worst broadband providers

Virgin racked up the most complaints, while Sky once again generated the fewest. We look at how the major broadband firms compare in the latest Ofcom complaints tables.

Virgin Media has racked up the most official complaints among the UK's main broadband providers for the second quarter running, the latest figures from Ofcom revealed.

According to the regulator, the most common drivers for complaints were service issues (37%), poor complaints handling (32%) and billing issues (19%).

At the other end of the scale, Sky remained the broadband provider with the fewest complaints for the seventh straight quarter.

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How the best & worst firms are ranked

Every three months, Ofcom provides its breakdown of complaints per 100,000 customers that each major provider attracts. 

These stats take some time to put together, so the latest figures that we're discussing in this article cover the period between October and December 2023.

If your provider features near the top of the complaints list, or you simply want a cheaper deal, make sure you compare broadband deals in your area today.

It's straightforward and you could save hundreds, especially if you bundle your broadband with your landline and pay TV provider.

As a final point, while the figures below might sound low, it's worth remembering these aren't just for complaints made to broadband firms: they are issues that have been escalated to the regulator because customers have been unable to get their issues resolved directly with their provider.

The actual number of unhappy customers will be far higher than this as these only cover the documented, extreme cases.

As a case in point, Ofcom's report claims that one in five broadband customers had a reason to complain to their provider over the last year.

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Broadband complaints per 100,000 customers

UK's worst broadband providers

As mentioned earlier, Virgin was ranked the worst broadband provider, racking up 20 complaints per 100,000 customers.

That actually represents a significant improvement on the previous quarter (32 per 100,000), but still not enough to lift it off the bottom of the table. 

Now Broadband (18) once again racked up the second most complaints, while Shell and Vodafone both generated 14.

Your rights if your broadband connection goes down

UK's best broadband providers

At the other end of the league table, Sky retained top spot with five customer complaints per 100,000 (Get superfast Sky broadband (up to 61mbps) from just £28 a month - affiliate link).

EE and Plusnet were joint second on the list list with nine complaints per 100,000, with BT (11) the only other company to come in under the industry average of 12.

Below are the results over the past six quarters to give you a clearer picture of how well (or not) the various broadband providers treat their customers over time.

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Complaints to Ofcom per 100,000 customers 

Switching broadband is a lengthy farce: but it's still absolutely worth it

Should you switch even if you're happy?

The above figures give you a good idea of which firms have the worst track records for treating customers fairly. 

But even if you are with one of the better performers, it's seriously worth considering switching if you've been with them for more than a couple of years.

Why? Research has highlighted how broadband firms are charging existing customers the best part of £200 a year more for the identical service being offered to new customers.

So even if you're happy with your service, you should still ensure you aren't getting ripped off by regularly shopping around for cheap broadband deals.

Also, if you're currently mid-contract and your provider is planning to hike prices, there are new rules that should make it easier for you to ditch them penalty-free, which you can read about here.

  As a final point, if you're in receipt of Universal Credit you should definitely check out social broadband tariffs, which could save you a lot of money. Read more about it here. 

Which are the best and worst telecoms firms?

So, there you have it, your round-up of the UK's best and worst broadband providers.

Find out which other telecoms firms you should be dodging by reading The UK’s worst pay TV provider, The UK's worst home phone provider and The UK’s best and worst mobile networks.

*This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission on any sales of products or services we write about. This article was written completely independently.

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