Home movers face eight-day average wait for broadband to start, survey suggests

People who moved home were forced to wait more than eight days on average for their broadband connection to be up and running, according to a survey.

Bristol was identified as the worst hit area with a delay of 15 days, while those in Edinburgh and Brighton came out best with five days.

The research, which involved 2,003 people who moved in the last five years, suggests that PlusNet users were held up the longest, going an average of 9.9 days without a connection.

However, some companies such as PlusNet and Vodafone, said they offered users mobile dongles to make up for the wait.

Virgin Media came out as the quickest at 6.6 days, meaning customers of major broadband providers faced at least a week’s hold-up for their main connection to start.

The findings, conducted by Uswitch.com, come at a pivotal time when many still rely on broadband to work from home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Moving house is one of life’s most stressful experiences, and a long wait for a broadband connection can only make the process more torturous,” said Catherine Hiley, broadband expert at Uswitch.com.

“The amount of time it will take to get your new connection set up depends on your provider and where you live.

“So spare a thought for the poor people of Bristol who spend more than two weeks on average without a connection.”

One in three movers (29%) said they had to use up their mobile data allowance in order to keep their main computer online, while one in 10 (11%) had to take annual leave as they were unable to work without broadband.

However, the majority of respondents were more concerned about their ability to stream movies (26%) than continue working (16%).

PlusNet responded to the findings, saying: “We understand customers have relied on our connection over the last year, more than ever before.

“We’ve worked tirelessly with our network partners, Openreach to keep customers connected while prioritising the most vulnerable.

“We know moving house is a stressful time, so we help home movers who are completely without connection – offering dongles and mi-fi devices to keep them going, and compensating them when we’ve failed to deliver our usual service.”