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The UK's biggest broadband providers have been outperformed by smaller rivals in a Which? annual ranking.
Which? surveyed more than 4,000 UK broadband customers about their experiences, with score based on their satisfaction and likelihood to recommend to others.
The Big Four providers — BT (BT-A.L), Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media — featured in the bottom half of the consumer group's survey.
Virgin Media received the lowest score of the Big Four, coming in joint last place with Now Broadband, with a score of 60%. Which? said that it scored poorly on several areas including ease of contact, customer service, communication, technical support and value for money.
Virgin Media also fared poorly in the most recent Which? customer service research, having been named the worst broadband firm for customer service. Customers gave it a particularly low rating for how long it took to get in touch with someone who could help.
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In addition, Which? pointed out that Virgin Media customers face the highest annual price rise for standalone broadband, with the provider set to increase their bill by £3.50 a month — an extra £42 a year. The consumer group highlighted that the company is also being investigated by regulator Ofcom for its complaints handling and customer difficulties cancelling contracts.
In response to the Which? rankings, a Virgin Media spokesperson said: "Complaints to Ofcom about Virgin Media were at their lowest levels since 2017 at the end of last year, while 92% of complaints raised in the past three months were resolved within 24 hours, and call transfers and waiting times have fallen significantly."
Meanwhile, Now Broadband fared poorly for connection speed and ease of contact.
TalkTalk and Sky had the next lowest scores on the list, at 61% and 62% respectively, faring particularly poorly on connection speed. Sky was also rated poorly on value for money, along with BT, which got an overall score of 64%.
At the opposite end of the scale, Zen Internet came top of the rankings, with a customer score of 77% — nine in 10 customers said they would recommend the provider. Which? pointed out that Zen Internet had a contract price promise which meant that customer would not see their deal hiked mid-contract.
Plusnet rose to second place in this year's rankings, having floated mid-table in the past, earning a customer score of 73%. Which? said that while it was owned by same company as BT and EE – BT Group (BT-A.L) — Plusnet was "more consumer-focused, affordable provider than its stablemates".