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Internet service is viewed as a basic utility now in most circles, much like water, sewer, and electricity. Few homes and businesses can do without it. Your current ISP enjoys a huge field of business because of the Internet’s popularity. In fact, there is an ongoing movement that believes Internet access is not just another commodity, but a basic human right.

This proliferation of Internet Service Providers (ISP) has created a digital black hole of despair for consumers. Evidence of this black hole can be found as you scroll through customer reviews of the top 5 ISPs. At the time of writing of this article, one of the top 5 ISPs had a 1.75 out of 5 stars rating with Consumer Affairs. I counted 32 1-star ratings on just the first page.

The bottom line is, you get what you pay for. Bad grammar but true, nonetheless. To keep MRC's low, your service can suffer. Great service, fast service, and cheap service cannot all be had together. You can only choose two. In most cases, fast and cheap does not equal good.

Why are the Top ISPs Such Poor Quality?

With the resources these enormous companies have at their disposal, consumers should enjoy unprecedented quality service, speed, bandwidth, and equipment. Instead, those in the industry term the current state of sorry affairs a “race to the bottom.”

Instead of focusing on providing great service as a way to increase revenue, the top 5 ISPs are instead doing whatever they can to cut corners and reduce expenses. Survival at the top has become a race to reduce the cost of doing business in order to maintain profits. The proof is in the astounding number of negative consumer reviews for all of the top 5 ISPs.

The Selection Bias

Now, of course, most are familiar with the ‘selection bias’ philosophy. It maintains that the people who choose to go through the effort of submitting an online review likely possess a more extreme view of the service or product being reviewed. This can be for high or low reviews. Following this theory, those with a lukewarm opinion typically don’t bother with posting a review.

Even if you accept this philosophy as a valid argument, it bodes ill for the top ISPs. The fact that so many of their customers rate them extremely poor, and feel so strongly that they were compelled to write a review, says more than anything about the poor level of service that is commonly experienced.

Sample 1-Star Reviews from the Top 5 ISPs

Just in case you think I’m blowing an ill wind over nothing, let’s examine a few actual 1-star reviews of the top 5 ISP companies. I’ll avoid mentioning their names to protect the guilty, but you can search reviews on your own and find this same current of negativity.

Avoid Being Lured by Cheap ISP Offers

Everyone likes to cut costs and get a deal, but beware the low special offers to sign with one of the top 5 ISPs. They can cut those up-front costs because they are not spending anything for quality service. Businesses especially cannot afford sloppy Internet service that hinders how you carry out operations and communication with your clients.

If your company wants good quality, you can typically get it by looking to local providers who care about the quality of their service. Smaller ISPs typically have fast response time service level agreements, a quick install time, and less reliance on third party infrastructure.

Are you ready for real quality Internet services from a local ISP? MHO is an Internet services provider offering high-speed data services. Contact us for more information about Internet solutions for your business.