Forum Discussion
Poor download speed in rural Suffolk
DavidEl_2652456 My best guess is that Three customers get a better service for the simple reasons that a) Three owns the network and b) they pay more.
You say you moved for lack of tie-in to a contract and for price; the compromise may be that you get slower speeds and have a service that won't meet your needs.
What can you expect Smarty to say really? Something like: "Oh yes guv'nor, we have to tweak it down a bit for the money. Yer know mate, yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice" Wouldn't that be even more irritating?
Thanks for your comment. If Three had actually delivered a fast/reliable service, I'd have remained with them despite the contract and the price. The service delivered by Smarty is much worse than I'd expected given just the small reduction in the monthly price, and I think Smarty should be more transparent about the variability of their service, particularly in rural areas like ours. I'm now vaguely thinking about Musk's Starlink, although that will probably open an even bigger can of worms, and at a much bigger cost.
DavidEl_2652456 Hang on a minute!!!! If Three service wasn't that great, I can't see why you would expect Smarty to be any better; surely, at the very best, it could only equal it !
How can Smarty be 'transparent'? They don't know what service you get in your precise location and inside your home - that would be an impossible calculation. Don't forget that some people have signal reduction due to metal beams etc in theirproperpty.
The Coverage Checker is only an approximate guide for given areas.
I do feel your pain, but this is a problem for rural areas, as you say. On the plus side, think of the benefits of living there! Also, I'm assuming that you can get reliable broadband - wouldn't that be better?
I wasn't expecting Smarty to be better, just much the same as Three (i.e., pretty bad) without the contract and at marginally less cost - and as a stop-gap until I could find a broadband solution that's better. Sadly, I haven't found it, hence I'm considering Starlink - or I suppose we could just wait until our tiny bit of Suffolk does get a solution at less exorbitant cost. And yes, living in Suffolk in all other respects is great!
