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Broadband only deals

Our Broadband Expert says...

Loads of broadband providers now offer money saving bundles but if you really won’t use any of the extra services, then you need a broadband only deal.

Cable broadband

Using its cable network, Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) is able to deliver the country’s only truly standalone broadband packages - which don’t even require a landline.

It offers three broadband packages, with speeds of up to 10Mb, 20Mb broadband and even a 50Mb broadband package - the UK’s fastest, widely available download speeds.

Virgin Media delivers the fastest actual broadband speeds as well, research by telecoms regulator Ofcom revealed in July 2010. It delivers an average of 8.7Mb on its 10Mb package, 15.7Mb on its 20Mb deal and up to 47.4Mb on its 50Mb package.

However, you'll pay the top price if you choose to take broadband without a Virgin Media landline - and you'll only really save a few pounds a month by choosing one of its broadband only deals.

ADSL broadband only packages

Many other providers also offer broadband only deals, but as they use ADSL copper wire technology to connect you to the internet, you'll have to get a landline and pay line rental.

This can be as much as £13.29 with BT broadband (www.BT.com). But you can cut this to as little as £8.99 if you go for a smaller provider such as Primus.

Plusnet broadband (www.Plus.net) offers the cheapest standalone broadband in the UK - from just £6.49 a month for an up to 20Mb package with a 10GB download allowance - though you do get free overnight downloads. But as already mentioned, you will need to get a landline; Plusnet line rental costs £11.25 a month.

Sky broadband (www.Sky.com) is another big provider that offers great value standalone broadband packages. It only recently introduced its broadband only deal, which costs £15 a month for one of the UK’s only truly unlimited broadband packages - with no fair usage policy or traffic management and speeds of up to 20Mb.

Finally, O2 broadband (www.O2.co.uk) also offers some great packages - with discounts if you're an existing mobile phone customer. The provider has won a host of awards since launching in 2007, as well as coming top in the Broadbandchoices.co.uk customer satisfaction survey two years running.

Its Standard package comes with speeds of up to 8Mb broadband and costs just £7.50 a month if you're an existing customer, or £12.50 a month otherwise. Its other packages, Premium and Pro both come with speeds of up to 20Mb - allowing you to get a fast package for just £10 a month if you're an existing customer. O2 also offers very cheap line rental at just £9.50 a month - which also comes with free evening and weekend calls.

Mobile broadband

Mobile broadband - which uses the mobile phone network to let you access the internet - doesn’t require a landline, giving you a genuine broadband only deal.

But although mobile broadband allows you to connect to the internet wherever you are - as long as you have a mobile signal - there are a few things you need to double check before you sign up:

• Coverage - mobile broadband coverage varies depending on your provider and where you live, so it’s really important that you check what the signal will be like before you sign a long contract
• Speeds - download speeds on a mobile broadband dongle are typically much slower than a fixed line connection and you might only average around 1Mb so bear this in mind when choosing your broadband only package
• Download limits - mobile broadband download allowances are also much lower than typical fixed line packages. While you can get as much as 15GB or 20GB a month on the most expensive packages, most offer just 3GB or 5GB of data a month.

Choosing a broadband only deal

Before you choose your package, think about your needs as a user; if you're a light user who only wants the internet for checking emails and to do a little online banking then a mobile broadband deal or a package like Plusnet’s Value deal might be right for you.

On the other hand, if you need a fast broadband package with a generous download allowance, to download music and movies, watch the BBC iPlayer or share your internet connection with the rest of your household, then Sky’s broadband only Unlimited package or one of O2 or Virgin Media’s packages would be a better choice.

NB Best buy tables are always current.

Examples in the text of the article are correct at time of publication.

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