Find the broadband, phone or TV deal that's best for you

FAQs

Why should you use broadbandchoices.co.uk?

If you’ve had the same broadband package for a few years there’s a good chance you’re paying over the odds. And, if you’re doing more and more online, it may no longer be able to keep up with you. Or perhaps you want to upgrade a package that includes phone calls, TV or something else.

This is where we come in. Put your postcode into our comparison calculator - and we’ll show you what deals are available where you live clearly and simply. You can then tailor the results and find exclusive deals.

Place your order online and that’s it - the provider will take care of the switch from there. We’ve also got loads of guides and videos put together by our experts to help you choose the right package and get the most out of it, as well as a speed tester so you can work out if you need to switch broadband.

Can I save money switching provider?

We make it our business to find a great choice of deals for consumers - switching may, and often does, mean you can get a cheaper deal on your broadband, phone or TV service, especially if you take out an exclusive or limited-time deal.

However, for some customers, cost isn’t the biggest issue. It is a matter of getting more for their money - a faster connection, free calls, higher usage allowance, more digital TV channels for example. It all depends on your needs, and the best thing about our switching service is that you can set your preferences so the packages offered will be tailored to suit your particular needs be that price, or speed, or additional features. Hey presto - happy customers with the right packages for them.

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See our pick of the best broadband deals here

Can I keep my email address if I change provider?

This depends entirely on who your current provider is. If your email address is from BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, or Plusnet, you'll still have access to your emails at least temporarily - but we'd suggest changing over to a free service like Gmail or Outlook so you don't need to worry about losing all your emails just for switching broadband.

See our guide for more info.

Which broadband provider’s the best?

There’s no straightforward answer to this one, as the broadband provider that’s best for you might not be the right choice for everyone. It depends on your budget, what’s available where you live, and how much you want from your broadband package. For example, if you’re bundling with TV, Sky has the biggest range of channels overall and because it’s delivered by satellite you can get Sky TV just about anywhere. However, Sky is one of the more expensive broadband providers, so it isn’t right for everyone’s budget. When you’re thinking of switching, take the time to weigh up the costs and benefits of all the packages available.

Click below to find the best deals available based on the services you're after:

• Best broadband deals
• Fibre optic deals
• Broadband and TV deals
• Unlimited broadband deals

Can I save money by bundling TV, phone and broadband?

Yes you can. Providers like Sky and Virgin Media offer competitively priced bundles, comprising broadband, home phone and TV, and getting all three services from the same place often leads to significant savings. It also makes it easier to manage finances, as all services come on a single bill.

Can I get broadband without a phone line?

Cable giant Virgin Media is the only major UK provider to offer broadband without a telephone line. Its fibre optic network is completely separate from the copper phone wire network that ordinarily connects you to the web. Aside from this, the only alternative is to use mobile broadband instead - then you have no requirement for a landline. But, if your internet use is anything other than particularly light, this might just prove to be too slow or too restrictive to need your needs.

See broadband-only deals here

Do you list every broadband provider and package on your site?

We make sure we offer a wide range of providers and packages to give our customers a great choice of local deals.

We don’t list all providers but the providers we do list include all of the major players as well as a number of the smaller ones too. We don’t list every single broadband package from each of the providers on our site, but you can be assured that the ones we do list are the amongst the most competitive deals on offer, and we regularly have exclusive deals so we can offer broadbandchoices customers even better value.

We try to always list deals that provide the best possible value to customers, and to ensure that it's straightforward to compare packages. In some cases, results may be excluded from our listings.

For example: We only list existing customer deals if the provider supplies the information to us. We typically list a phone plan that's included in the base package. This means some packages will not be listed with inclusive evening and weekend, mobile, or international calls. We do this partly due to low customer interest in these options, and also to ensure that the results grid does not get too confusing and remains as easy to use as possible.

There are many permutations of broadband and TV packages available from providers, particularly when sports and movie channels are included. In some cases, there may be more than one configuration of the same services, but at different prices. In these cases, we will only display the lower-priced option. This is to reduce confusion and help users find the better-value package.

In some cases, a provider will offer multiple contract lengths on the same package. We will feature the deal that represents the best value, and may exclude other contract lengths if we think it represents a worse deal.

The broadband market is constantly shifting so we update the provider and package details on a regular basis to ensure the results you see are up to date and accurate. However, if you spot an error anywhere, please do let us know so we can correct it.

How do we rank your results?

We currently default the ranking of results by First Year Cost (a version of our listings which is Ofcom accredited). This is the total amount you will pay in the first year of your contract. In comparison calculations, bill credit and cashback are deducted from First Year Cost.

We are also testing defaulting to a Recommended sort order (not currently Ofcom accredited). We feel this highlights the best deals for our customers, by taking into account how popular they are with users and how easy it is to buy them on the provider's website.

Recommended deals are defined by four factors: we take into account first year cost, the proportion of users that click to view a deal, the total number of clicks a deal receives, and the number of users who purchase that deal on the provider's website.

However, you can also rank the results to suit particular needs by using the drop-down ‘sort by’ menu at the top of our results page. You can rank providers by:

• First Year Cost - The total amount you will pay in the first year of your contract
• Average Monthly Cost - The average cost of your contract per month (actual monthly payments may differ)
• Total Contract Cost - The total amount you will pay over the length of your contract
• Setup Costs - Any upfront costs
• Contract Length - The number of months your contract will run for
• Speed - The speed of your broadband connection
• Usage - The amount you can download each month
• Channels - The number of channels included in the TV package

We do have some sponsored listings, such as the Featured Deal. This is either a sponsored ad or a deal we strongly recommend. Some deals may also be marked as Editor's Pick. This is a sponsored deal but it does not affect its position in the results grid.

What is traffic management?

Traffic management - also known as traffic shaping - is a technique used by broadband providers to prioritise, ration and even restrict how networks and connections are used by customers like you. This is done to ensure a smooth-running service, even when a lot of are people using the internet at the same time.

Think of broadband as a motorway. When the ‘motorway’ gets congested, traffic management is like a priority lane that keeps certain types of traffic moving. The kind of traffic that’s prioritised differs from provider to provider, but in general things like streaming video content - watching EastEnders on BBC iPlayer, for example - are given right of way to keep it from buffering or cutting out.

Traffic that doesn’t necessarily need to get anywhere quickly, like downloading movies and music, is usually kept to the regular lanes during peak times - rush hour if you will - as is light traffic like emails, which can get to its destination without needing a lot of space on the road, kind of like a motorbike.

These days, most major broadband providers do not practise traffic management. Still, always check out your chosen provider's policy before taking out a plan with them, just in case it'll affect you.

Read more about traffic management

How does broadbandchoices make money?

broadbandchoices receives commissions and advertising fees from the companies that appear on our site. This does not push up the cost of any service that you might subscribe to through our site and we do not charge you for any of the services we offer on the website. Our listings include the providers that comply with our strict listing criteria - relating to the quality and comprehensiveness of each provider’s service. In addition to this, our commercial arrangements do not impact on the way we list the providers or packages that appear in your results list.

Our calculator lets you compare costs against other broadband providers, check for hidden costs and fair usage policies so you can make sure you are choosing the right deal for you.

Our ‘Featured deals’ table contains sponsored listings chosen by broadbandchoices. For the wider list of packages, sorted according to your chosen criteria, you can enter your postcode in the postcode box.

Why do we need your postcode?

It allows us to find broadband, phone and TV deals in your area, as what’s available depends on where you live. Different kinds of broadband - whether BT Infinity, or Virgin Media's cable network - have rolled out to different areas of the country, and this varies a lot by postcode.

However, we take your privacy very seriously, which means we won’t pass it on to any other companies or organisations. For more on this, please take a look at our privacy policy. This means you can put your postcode into our comparison calculator and look for a package that’s both better and cheaper than the one you’ve got safe in their knowledge that you won’t be bombarded with junk mail in the near future.