At BroadbandChoices, we regularly get e-mails from students who want advice on the best broadband service for them. Shopping around for a broadband service can be confusing especially if you are beginning to pay your own bills for the first time. To help out, we've done the homework on how to choose an ISP.
Student Broadband
Students have specific needs when it comes to broadband packages. What works in a family situation may not be right for a student who’s about to leave the family home.
There are a number of considerations when you shop around for internet connections.
The most pertinent question for students is: how long do you think you’ll be living in your current house?
Contract length
If you think you’ll be moving house every 3 months or taking long holidays during term, the flexibility of a no-contract internet connection will doubtlessly appeal.
However, if you and your mates are signing a 12 month lease on your flat then a 12 month contract could offer major savings on your broadband. Most providers offer either a 12 or 18 month contract.
With a contract you can expect:
Free modem or router
Less expensive monthly service charges
No activation fee
With no-contract deals you can expect:
Activation fee (approx £40)
Modem charges (approx £50)
If you’re prepared to see out the entire contract duration then it will work out cheaper than a no-contract deal. Move on during your contract and the charges you incur will make it more expensive. If 12 or 18 months is too long to be tied in for you, then go for a no-contract deal.
Madasafish (www.masdafish.com)- speeds of 8Mb, £9.99 per month, £14.99 after 6 months, 12 month contract, free connection, free wireless networking kit
O2 (www.o2.co.uk/) – speeds of 8Mb, £12.50 per month, unlimited downloads, 12 month contract
No Contract:
Be Broadband (www.bethere.co.uk) – Be Unlimited is up to 24Mb, £18 per month with a £24 connection fee, unlimited usage and broadband, provide 3 months notice in writing to cancel without paying fees.
PlusNet - Option 2 is gives you 8Mb, £14.99 per month and, unlimited evening downloads, the downside is a £40 connection fee unless you opt for a 12 month contract.
Eclipse (www.eclipse.net) – offers one month contract on all packages beginning at £14.99 per month for 8Mb. You will have to pay an activation fee of £47 without a 12 month contract.
Sharing a connection
The easiest way for everyone to share the connection in the house is to connect to the internet via a wireless router. Many ISPs (AOL, Eclipse and Madasafish for example) will provide one for free when you sign up, and they are simple to install. Once you have a broadband connection, your router can support up to 4 to 5 concurrent users.
Alternatively, If you take the no-contract route, you can also purchase your own router and use it with a no-contract provider.
Download limits
A survey completed by ICM Research shows 65% of internet users aged 18-24 use their broadband connections daily to download films and music. 21% use the internet for downloads more than one hour a day.
With this in mind, shop around for packages with unlimited downloads or a high download limit.
Don’t forget, ‘unlimited downloads’ is just an industry phrase, you will never be able to download endlessly. All users are subject to fair-use policies and you may find that the fair-use amount is smaller than some limited-use packages. This is certainly worth checking.
Bundles for Students
A broadband bundle can potentially save lots of money on bills. With a student broadband bundle you will get one bill for a mix of home phone calls, digital TV, mobile deals and the broadband connection itself.
A bundle that might interest a house full of boys is Sky’s See, Speak & Surf, which includes TV, broadband and phone services from £19 per month. For a little extra money, you can add additional sports channels to the deal.
For chatterboxes who spend a lot of time on the phone, Tiscali also offers a good value broadband and TV bundle and includes line rental for £20.
With a bundle option, remember to check contract length and exit fees. In some cases, if you cancel your contract before the termination date you may have to pay for your router, activation fee and a cancellation fee which can add up to £150.
Mobile Broadband
You can purchase a USB modem which is known in the industry as a mobile ‘dongle.’ You don’t need a land line which is an advantage but you will have download restrictions. Mobile broadband is best for light internet surfing and emailing.
Mobile broadband is not the best choice for you if you download a lot of music and films. If you exceed your limit you can face charges at a high rate so be careful with your usage. 3 Mobile Broadband offers 1GB for £10 per month and no one-off costs. This option is not recommended however because the contract lasts for an eternity: 24 months.
Another option is to buy the ‘dongle’ and go with a month to month contract.
Legal Rights
When disagreements or poor service happens, there are people to help out. Just try to remember to communicate with your ISP about the problem first, taking care to keep notes, dates and names of personnel on all conversations and offered solutions.
If you’re not able to make any headway with your ISP, turn to CICAS or OTELO. CISAS (Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme) was established as an independent adjudication board in 2003, and applying to them is free. OTELO (Office of Telecommunications Ombudsman) provide a free and independent service designed to sort out disagreements between public communications providers and their customers.
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