Kiwis less satisfied with internet providers

More than half of Kiwis surveyed said they experienced problems with disconnections and dropouts, with 15 per cent saying that happened regularly. File photo / Thinkstock

Kiwis have become more dissatisfied with their internet service providers, with telecoms giants Vodafone and Spark more likely to leave their customers feeling frustrated than smaller competitors, a new survey shows.

Overall satisfaction with internet service providers (ISPs) was just 68 per cent, the Consumer New Zealand survey said, dropping from 74 per cent since the last survey in 2013.

Smaller companies Actrix, Inspire Net and Snap rated as the top three performers, with more than 90 per cent satisfaction, leaving large established firms Vodafone and Spark in their wake.

Both telecoms giants came in below average in nearly every category, Consumer NZ said, with a score of 70 per cent for overall satisfaction.

Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said the survey results showed a decline in reliability ratings -- a key measure of which was connection and speed.

More than half (57 per cent) of those surveyed said they experienced problems with disconnections and dropouts, with 15 per cent saying that happened regularly.

Only 20 per cent said they had never experienced slower-than-expected speed.

Actrix, Inspire Net and Snap have been among the top five performers for the past three years, Consumer NZ said, while Slingshot and Orcon showed improvement in overall customer satisfaction, up 9 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

A total of 10,742 Consumer NZ members took part in the ISP satisfaction survey.