Broadband Guide

What broadband package should I get?

Thursday 28 April, 2011

By Garnet Roach - garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Need a cheap broadband package or superfast download speeds? Choosing the right package will make sure you get the best deal for your needs.

Broadband has become an everyday essential for many Brits, with more than 19 million lines connected to the internet around the country.

So no matter what you use the internet for; whether you're an occasional user who just wants to send emails, check Facebook and do a little online banking, a heavy user needing a fast connection to play online games and download movies or simply a large family that all want to get online at the same time, you'll need to spend a little time making sure you get the right deal for your household.

Monthly broadband costs

Cost is clearly a vital issue when choosing a new broadband package. You don’t want to pay over the odds, but at the same time, you need to make sure that any cheap broadband package you sign-up to will cater for your needs.

You can now get an up to 20Mb broadband package from as little as £6.49 a month, but before you rush out to sign-up, think about what else you need from your service too.

Broadband speeds

Download speeds vary massively depending on where you live, the technology your provider uses and the package you're signed up to.

The national average is 6.2Mb, according to research from telecoms regulator Ofcom, released in March 2011.

Some areas can only get online at speeds of up to 8Mb. But in other parts of the country - where fibre optic broadband is available - you can sign-up to 40Mb, 50Mb and even 100Mb broadband packages with suppliers like Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com), BT (www.BT.com), TalkTalk (www.Talktalk.co.uk) and Plusnet (www.Plus.net).

Again, the kind of speeds you need will depend on how you want to use your broadband package - heavier use and sharing among multiple devices will require faster connections if you don’t want your speed to suffer.

You should also remember that you'll rarely, if ever, get your advertised top speed. Consumers receive just 45% of their advertised speed, according to Ofcom’s research. But this can jump to as much as 78% with BT’s fibre packages or even 90-96% with Virgin Media’s cable network.

Broadband downloads

Download allowances vary widely from one package to the next and almost all come with a set download limit or “unlimited” data that is actually restricted by a fair usage policy.

If you're a very light user, then you might be able to get away with a 10GB download allowance, but this may not be enough if you want to do things spend time catching up on your favourite shows using the BBC iPlayer, for example.

But you can still get a generous download allowance at a low price; TalkTalk’s Essentials package comes with a 40GB monthly limit for just £6.99 a month.

If you need a very high download allowance, the Unlimited package from Sky (www.Sky.com) is the only truly unlimited broadband deal on the market - with no fair usage or traffic management - even when it comes to peer-to-peer filesharing.

Broadband suppliers’ customer service

Something that’s often overlooked is customer service.

Our own research has shown that broadband satisfaction is at a four-year low - so if you're signing a long contract, you want to be sure that any problems you might have will be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Compare broadband deals

The best way to find the perfect deal is to compare broadband packages online. Use our free postcode checker to see exactly what packages are available in your area.

Your results will automatically be ordered by first year cost, but you can pick from speed, download allowance, contract length or more, depending on what you're after.

Compare broadband deals

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