Seven questions to ask an internet supplier, including us

Comparing internet providers is hard because the number on the front of the quotation, the speed, is the number they have all optimised. It is the easiest thing to promise and the least useful for telling two suppliers apart. These are the questions we would ask, and they apply to us as much as to anyone else.

What is the contention ratio, and is it written down? A shared line is normal and not a scandal, but how many premises share your capacity decides what happens at eight in the evening. A supplier who will state it is telling you something real. One who will not has answered anyway.

What is the upload speed? Most packages are advertised on download and most business pain is upload: video calls, sending drawings, offsite backups and cameras streaming out of the building all push in the direction the brochure does not mention.

What happens when it breaks, in hours? Ask for the target time to restore, ask whether it is different at night and at weekends, and ask what you get if it is missed. "We will send someone" is not an answer. A supplier with a real number has thought about staffing; one without has thought about sales.

Whose cable is it to the building? This sounds technical and is commercial. If your supplier is reselling somebody else's last mile, a fault becomes a conversation between two companies while you wait. Knowing who actually owns the fibre at your wall tells you who will be standing on the ladder.

Is the equipment yours or theirs, and what happens if you leave? Routers, media converters and the little box on the wall are sometimes included, sometimes rented, and sometimes quietly reclaimed on the last day of a contract. It is a small sum that becomes an awkward morning.

What is the total over the term? A low monthly price with an installation charge, a router fee and a year two increase can be the more expensive quotation. Add it up over the contract length and compare that figure, not the headline.

And finally: will you survey before you commit either of us? Anyone can sell a package over the phone. A supplier who wants to look at the route, the building and the existing cabinet before quoting is a supplier who intends to deliver what they wrote down. We survey before anyone signs, because it is the only way to quote a figure we can stand behind.

Ask the seven of anyone you are considering. If the answers are vague, the service will be too, and that is worth knowing while you still have a choice.