What to Consider When Comparing Broadband Deals:

Broadband Download Speed:

When comparing broadband deals, consider how many users are hopping onto your home Wi-Fi and what they’re doing. A household full of binge-watchers and online gamers will need faster broadband than a home of occasional email checkers. Speeds are represented as megabits per second (Mbps) and the headline number will be the download speed.

Standard, 10-11 Mbps : Ideal for occasional or light internet users and single person households.

: Ideal for occasional or light internet users and single person households. Superfast, 24-99 Mbps : Ideal for frequent internet users, especially those streaming videos, playing games, and downloading content, and for households with multiple users and devices sharing a network.

: Ideal for frequent internet users, especially those streaming videos, playing games, and downloading content, and for households with multiple users and devices sharing a network. Ultrafast, 100-499 Mbps : Ideal for heavy internet using households, especially multi-person households, in areas where these connections are available.

: Ideal for heavy internet using households, especially multi-person households, in areas where these connections are available. Hyperfast, 500-999 Mbps : Ideal for heavy internet users, especially those living in remote or rural areas where speeds are eroded on other connections over great distance.

: Ideal for heavy internet users, especially those living in remote or rural areas where speeds are eroded on other connections over great distance. Gigabyte, 1+ Gbps : Ideal for internet superheroes.

Broadband Contract length:

Broadband deals range from 30-day, rolling contracts to longer-term tariffs, lasting for 12, 18, or 24 months. You can save money and earn perks, including free setup, by signing up for a longer deal, but you’ll sacrifice flexibility.

Overall Cost:

Consider not only the monthly bills, but also any upfront costs, which can include equipment fees for routers. The full contract cost will total all of these fees over the length of the term.

Bundling options:

Want to throw in a pay TV subscription? Consider the channels and streaming packages offered by the providers. Typically, Sky and Virgin Media have the best TV selections, but you can also go for a provider like Now Broadband, who bundle in their Now TV on-demand service.

Perks:

Some providers give your signing bonuses, including cashback, gifts, or other rewards.

Customer service:

Check and see how well your considered providers perform on customer service league tables. You don’t want to sign a lengthy contract with an ISP known for billing errors, long phone waiting times, and connection problems.

Terms and conditions:

It’s important to read the fine print of any contract, so you know what you’re signing up for. Look out especially for any information about exiting the contract, including penalties for leaving early and the circumstances under which you can duck out without fees.

Broadband Download limits: Are the best broadband deals always unlimited?

As the data appetites of British households have grown, the download limits ISPs used to enforce have fallen away. Nowadas, most fixed broadband packages come without caps, so you can stream and game to your heart’s content.

But internet usage isn't entirely unrestricted. Under ‘fair usage’ policies', some ISPs restrict speeds during peak times on the heaviest users. But you’re unlikely to be curbed unless you’re downloading Blu-ray films for month straight—and then only at high-traffic times in the evening.

Some providers still offer packages with download limits. These tend to have smaller headline costs, but once you exceed that limit the price can skyrocket. For instance, BT charges £1.80 per extra gigabyte of data consumed over your budget.

Types of Broadband Connection

What broadband technology should you consider? How many gigabytes of data do you need? Which providers offer the best TV bundling options? And can finding a package without line rental save you money? Before you look through specific broadband options, you should know what type of deal you’re after—whether it’s a superfast connection with a TV package or a slower tariff with a download limit and lower costs.

Superfast Fibre Optic Broadband:

Fibre optic broadband delivers internet over fibre optic cables. Superfast broadband connections (available from quite a few different broadband providers) with download speeds of over 24 Mbps, are usually FTTC broadband, or fibre to the cabinet.

These connections use fibre optic cables between the local phone exchange and your street cabinet, but make the final leg of the journey, to your doorstep and router, on the copper wires of the telephone network.

Ultrafast & G.Fast Broadband:

A few providers offer ultrafast broadband, which delivers average download speeds exceeding 100 Mbps. Ultrafast broadband isn't available everywhere in the country, and tends to cost more than standard fibre. If you're a heavy user, however, it can be worthwhile.

G.Fast is a fibre optic/copper phone line hybrid, which uses different frequencies to deliver internet over the same infrastructure FTTC does, at speeds of up to 300 Mbps. However, G.Fast connections are only available to a small percentage of UK homes. A postcode search will tell you if these ultrafast connections have reached your neighbourhood.

ADSL Broadband:

ADSL, or standard, broadband operates over the copper wires of the landline phone network and delivers average download speeds of between 10 and 11 Mbps.

ADSL plans are the cheapest broadband deals on the market, starting at around £17 a month including line rental. But the speeds they offer typically won’t be sufficient for heavy internet users or households with multiple people and devices sharing the network.

Broadband & TV Bundle Deals:

Many ISPs bundle together broadband connections with live or on-demand TV packages. If you want more channels and streaming options than Freeview and a Netflix subscription can offer, you might want to consider a triple play (that’s broadband, landline, and TV) bundle from providers like Sky, Virgin, BT, TalkTalk, and NOW TV.

With the exception of some deals from NOW TV and Virgin, available on a 30-day rolling basis, you’ll usually need to sign up to a 12+ month contract to access these services. But after signing up you’ll typically get a set-top box, with the ability to pause, rewind, and record live TV, and access to dozens of channels, movies, and box sets.

You’ll want to cater your provider choice to your TV viewing habits:

A fan of the buzz-worthy US TV imports that typically land on Sky Atlantic? You’ll want to sign up for a bundle from Sky or one through NOW TV that packages some Sky channels.

Want the most channels possible, and the ability to view them on multiple devices simultaneously? Consider Virgin or Sky, which offer the most comprehensive TV packages.

Broadband Without Line Rental:

Most broadband packages come with line rental fee, of around £15 to £17 a month, that technically covers your landline connection. You’ll usually have to pay this regardless of whether you ever make any landline calls.

Broadband deals without line rental are available, but they won't always be much cheaper than othe plans. See our broadband only page for more.