45% of broadband customers have experienced at least one outage lasting over 48 hours. But who pays the most for their outages? Is there one area of the UK or a provider which stands out, for good reasons or bad? We polled 3,200 broadband bill payers to find out how much they spend each month on their broadband and how many outages lasting over 48 hours they have experienced in the past 12 months. We calculated how many outages customers face for every £100 they spend.
Where in the UK pays the most for broadband outages?
Broadband customers in Scotland encounter 0.67 broadband outages, the most for every £100 they spend. Whereas, bill payers in Yorkshire and the Humber deal with 0.15 outages for every £100 they spend.
| Rank | Region | Spend on broadband | Outages for every £100 spent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scotland | £36.87 | 0.67 |
| 2 | Northern Ireland | £37.38 | 0.57 |
| 3 | London | £35.37 | 0.53 |
| 4 | South East | £38.34 | 0.34 |
| 5 | North West | £42.41 | 0.31 |
| 6 | East of England | £38.52 | 0.29 |
| 7 | North East | £36.64 | 0.27 |
| 8 | East Midlands | £36.26 | 0.25 |
| 9 | South West | £39.55 | 0.24 |
| 10 | West Midlands | £42.46 | 0.23 |
| 11 | Wales | £39.53 | 0.22 |
| 12 | Yorkshire and the Humber | £38.78 | 0.15 |
What our experts had to say
“No one should be paying over the odds for unreliable broadband. It’s unbelievable that bill payers have to tolerate outages after spending hundreds of pounds.
“We always recommend that consumers check independent reviews, especially in their area, as provider reliability can vary by location. At the very least, ensure their provider is signed up to Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme.
“And, if you do lose connectivity, make sure you put that claim in. It's your money, and you're entitled to it!"
- Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie
Which cities pay the most for broadband outages?
Here, we break down the results by city. Broadband customers in Glasgow experience the most outages for every £100 they spend on their internet connection.
Among the top five cities where customers pay the most for outages per £100 spent, two are located in Scotland.
Two capital cities, Belfast and London, complete the top three. Broadband customers in these cities experience an average of 0.57 and 0.53 outages for every £100 they spend.
Customers in Gloucester have far fewer issues, and receive 0.02 outages lasting over 48 hours for every £100 they spend.
| Rank | City | Outages for every £100 spent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow | 0.94 |
| 2 | Belfast | 0.57 |
| 3 | London | 0.53 |
| 4 | Brighton and Hove | 0.48 |
| 5 | Edinburgh | 0.42 |
| 6 | Coventry | 0.41 |
| 7 | Chelmsford | 0.37 |
| 8 | Manchester | 0.34 |
| 9 | Swansea | 0.34 |
| 10 | Portsmouth | 0.33 |
| 11 | Bristol | 0.32 |
| 12 | Cambridge | 0.30 |
| 13 | Southampton | 0.30 |
| 14 | Aberdeen | 0.28 |
| 15 | Newcastle | 0.27 |
| 16 | Leicester | 0.25 |
| 17 | Cardiff | 0.24 |
| 18 | Liverpool | 0.22 |
| 19 | Birmingham | 0.22 |
| 20 | Norwich | 0.21 |
| 21 | Plymouth | 0.18 |
| 22 | Leeds | 0.17 |
| 23 | Oxford | 0.17 |
| 24 | Worcester | 0.16 |
| 25 | Sheffield | 0.14 |
| 26 | York | 0.14 |
| 27 | Wrexham | 0.07 |
| 28 | Wolverhampton | 0.07 |
| 29 | Gloucester | 0.02 |
The best and worst providers for outages and customer spend
Reliability is so important when it comes to choosing a broadband provider. Here we've pivoted the results by provider. This shows which providers cause the most and fewest outages for every £100 their customers spend.
BT takes the top spot, followed by TalkTalk, Plusnet and Virgin Media. Customers with these providers recorded fewer than 0.3 outages for every £100 they spend.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the results tell a very different story. Cuckoo, BeFibre, Trooli, and Gigaclear customers usually face more than one outage lasting over 48 hours for every £100 they spend.
“We were expecting the provider results to follow closer to the location results. It’s a real surprise some providers break this rule. The data shows that providers using the Openreach network, such as BT, TalkTalk, and Plusnet experience fewer outages relative to what customers pay.
It’s usually out of the customer’s control how many outages they experience. However, they can at least reduce the amount they pay each time their internet goes down. In the UK, 8.8 million broadband customers are out of contract and can switch to a cheaper deal.”
- Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie
| Rank | Provider | Outages for every £100 spent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuckoo | 1.48 |
| 2 | BeFibre | 1.33 |
| 3 | Trooli | 1.23 |
| 4 | Gigaclear | 1.18 |
| 5 | Direct Save | 0.91 |
| 6 | Three Broadband | 0.82 |
| 7 | Youfibre | 0.78 |
| 8 | Community Fibre | 0.74 |
| 9 | Zen Internet | 0.71 |
| 10 | Hyperoptic | 0.71 |
| 11 | KCOM | 0.69 |
| 12 | Vodafone | 0.49 |
| 13 | NOW Broadband | 0.48 |
| 14 | EE | 0.40 |
| 15 | Sky | 0.31 |
| 16 | Virgin Media | 0.29 |
| 17 | Plusnet | 0.27 |
| 18 | TalkTalk | 0.22 |
| 19 | BT | 0.17 |
What can you do if you get a broadband outage?
We have a useful guide on what to do if your broadband is slow. Here you can read how to restart your internet the right way and tips to give it a helping hand if it’s slow.
However, outages are usually out of your control, and sometimes it will be a wider issue only the provider can fix.
Until your provider fixes the issue, you can tether your smartphone. This is where you connect your device to your smartphone and use your mobile data. Remember, your smartphone wasn’t designed to be a router, so this will increase battery consumption. Check your data allowance before you burn through it, to avoid a hefty bill at the end of the month if you exceed your data allowance.
If it’s an outage that lasts longer than a day, you may be able to claim compensation back for the downtime.
How much compensation can I claim for a broadband outage?
You can claim £10.34 for each day your internet remains unfixed after the first two days of an outage. Your provider needs to be signed up to Ofcom’s voluntary automatic compensation scheme to be able to claim. We go into more detail and how to claim in our guide to automatic compensation.
How to claim compensation if your provider isn’t part of the scheme
If your provider isn’t part of Ofcom's scheme, you can still try to claim compensation. You will need to go through your provider’s complaint process.
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Methodology
Broadband Genie polled 3,200 broadband bill payers. The price of their broadband deal was collected and respondents were asked ‘how many outages lasting over 48 hours have you experienced in the past 12 months’.
Outages for every £100 spent = outages/annual broadband cost X 100.
Regions, cities, and providers were ranked from top (most outages per £100 spent) to bottom (fewest outages per £100 spent).