The short answer is: it depends. Most internet providers own the router so when you upgrade or switch to a different ISP they will ask you to return it.

If you’ve bought your own router, and it’s compatible with the broadband you’re buying, no problem.

But if you didn’t buy it, it belongs to your previous internet provider.

If it is fairly old technology it’s less likely they’ll bother asking for it back. Still, if you’re upgrading to fibre broadband, your old router may not work anyway.

It’s worth remembering to read the letter you receive with your new router. They may still demand it back and include the shipping labels required.

Ultrafast broadband is a term that describes broadband speeds between 100Mbps and 500Mbps. The only UK-wide ISP that falls into this category is Virgin Media.

Unlike other ISPs, Virgin Media uses its own unique cable network to connect customers to the internet.

This network is much faster than the Openreach network that most other ISPs use.

According to Ofcom, ‘ultrafast’ defines speeds between 300Mbps and 1000Mbps. This margin is far too wide for any real-world use as a 300Mbps connection is significantly different from a 1000Mbps connection in terms of network technology.

Instead, ‘ultrafast’ is used to describe Virgin’s cable network speeds. ‘Hyperfast’ is reserved for full-fibre speeds of 1Gbps or more – also known as gigabit broadband.

If a broadband package is listed as ‘unlimited’, there are no restrictions on how much or how often you can use it. By contrast, a broadband deal with a specific data allowance will only let you use a limited amount of internet each month, and going over this limit could cost you.

The problem with a data allowance is that it is very hard to accurately calculate how much data you’ll need in a month. Any online activity, from downloading files to browsing websites and watching videos will add to your data usage and it is very hard to keep track of all your online activity.

Even worse, you often can’t tell how much data something will cost you until you’ve already used it.

Unlimited broadband avoids these stresses but you could end up spending more money than you really have to.

Throttling is a process that ISPs use to artificially limit the speed of a connection.

There are several reasons why an ISP might throttle an individual connection, but the most common reason is when a customer goes beyond their data allowance.

If this happens, your ISP may throttle your connection until your data resets at the end of the month.

Specific online activities that ISPs frown on, such as torrenting (file-sharing), might cause your ISP to throttle your broadband connection.

Throttling is also used more generally for management but that often results in faster internet for customers than if the connections weren’t throttled – similar to how traffic lights improve congestion by slowing down cars.