How can I find the best broadband offers in my area?
Broadband availability depends on where you are – and it can really make a big difference. Your neighbour a street away may have blazing fast full-fibre wifi, while you’re still crawling along on old-fashioned ADSL.
Finding the best broadband to suit your lifestyle and your wallet can be daunting, but don’t be put off!
At BroadbandDeals.co.uk we’ve already done the hard work of hunting down all of the best offers from internet providers all across the UK. All you have to do is enter your postcode to see what’s available in your area.
Our supercharged database will hunt down every broadband option on your street, and one click takes you straight to the provider’s website to get set up.
Which providers can I get broadband from?
BroadbandDeals.co.uk works with a wide range of UK ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to bring you more broadband deals than any other comparison site.
For those who want everything, we have offers on broadband, phone and TV from the big players like BT, Sky and Virgin.
We also have a huge choice of deals on cheap broadband from budget providers like TalkTalk, Direct Save and Onestream.
And if speed is what you need, get the fastest full-fibre broadband from newcomers like Gigaclear and Hyperoptic.
How do I find out what’s included with a broadband package?
Luckily for you, we’ve already found out everything there is to know about each broadband offer listed on BroadbandDeals.co.uk. After entering your postcode, you’ll see a full list of the deals available in your area, and each deal can be expanded by clicking the ‘more info’ button.
There you’ll see a comprehensive breakdown of all the costs involved – we show both up-front and monthly fees, including line-rental. You can even compare deals based on the cost of a full year of service.
That’s not all. We know you want the full picture before choosing a broadband provider, so we also include information on the Wifi router that comes with each deal. And if the deal you want includes TV, we have you covered with a full channel list too.
Our broadband comparison tool has loads of handy filters, so you can narrow things down. Looking for an unlimited fibre broadband deal that also includes a subscription to the Disney Channel and unlimited landline calls? There’s a filter for that!
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What is full fibre/FTTH/FTTP?▲
Full fibre, FTTH and FTTP are one and the same thing. FTTH stands for Fibre to the Home, and FTTP stands for Fibre to the Premises.
FTTP is a more popular term and you’re likely to see this one being used than FTTH.
The most common way of describing this type of broadband is to call it “full fibre”.
So what is it?
It is a fibre broadband connection that uses only fibre-optic cables, that is not mixed with slower copper wiring, to deliver a broadband connection right into your home, and not via a green street cabinet.
This contrasts with the older technology of Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), sold as “up to 38Mbps” or “up to 76Mbps. Fibre to the Cabinet does use a mix of fibre-optic cables and copper, and delivers home broadband through your closest green street cabinet.
Full fibre can produce speeds of up to 1,000Mbps – commonly called ‘gigabit broadband’ and written out like this: 1Gbps.
Speeds are ‘symmetric’, which means that you can get similar upload and download speeds.
By contrast, older technology like ADSL or Fibre to the Cabinet can only produce ‘asymmetric’ speeds, meaning that uploads are 10 times or more slower than downloads.
The two main companies who offer full fibre (or FTTP) broadband are Hyperoptic and Gigaclear.
These full fibre networks are still being built as we speak, so not everyone in the country will be able to get full fibre to their home just yet.
In fact only 2% of the population can get full fibre. More progress is expected throughout 2018 and into 2019.
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Can I keep my phone number when I switch broadband?▲
If you are changing broadband providers you can normally choose to keep your phone number.
It’s not a difficult thing for ISPs to do, especially if your old provider and your new provider both use the Openreach network to give you broadband.
So even if you’re changing from Sky to TalkTalk, or BT to Plusnet, you should be able to keep your phone number.
Just ask your new broadband provider and they’ll help you through the process.
The main exception is Virgin Media. They build their own cable and fibre networks, so if you are switching from an Openreach broadband connection to Virgin, your phone number will need to be transferred to the new network.
Simply tell Virgin that you want to keep your number when you sign up for a phone or broadband deal and they’ll take care of the rest.
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Why are broadband speeds listed as ‘average’?▼
Broadband speed advertising changed in May 2018. Providers are now required to quote the average speed available to customers on the package. That speed must be available to at least 50% of customers.
The truth is, the speed you can get depends on more than just the connection the ISP has sold you.
The maximum speed possible for your broadband depends on where you live and how many other people are sharing the connection, which can slow down in the post-work ‘rush hour’, or first thing in the morning. A connection can only be as fast as its slowest point.
Connecting to a server involves communicating over a long network made up of lots of different parts – your broadband line is just one part of this long connection.
Even if you’re on an incredibly fast 1000Mbps broadband connection, accessing to a server that can only handle 10Mbps means you won’t see more than 10Mbps.
ISPs often can’t guarantee the speed you’ll get until you’re actually connected, so their speeds are listed as the average value instead.
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Will broadband give me free WiFi at home?▼
The short answer is yes.
Nowadays, almost all routers can emit a WiFi signal. So when your new router is plugged in and turned on at home, you will be able to get free WiFi that you can access on a laptop, smartphone or tablet.
Using your own WiFi is completely free, but if you don’t have unlimited data as part of your broadband deal, connecting to the WiFi will use up your data allowance.
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Why is my broadband so slow?▼
There are many reasons why your broadband could be slow.
In general, the further away your home is from a green street cabinet, the slower your type of broadband connection will be.
The more people that use the same WiFi, the slower it will be. This applies both to the people inside your house, and to your neighbours.
Electrical interference or poor weather conditions can also disrupt broadband speeds.
There may also be a problem with your ISP or the company that supplies your broadband.
If you are using wireless internet at home you may find it slower or less reliable than a wired connection.
If you do have trouble connecting in this case, try plugging your device into the router and you’ll probably notice a difference. As wireless connections rely on a frequency, they can be susceptible to interference – from neighbour’s WiFi for example.
If making a wired connection isn’t possible, you can also try moving your device closer to the router or investing in a better quality aerial or signal booster, to better move the data around.
Always keep in mind, the more users on a network, the more demand for data and the slower it will be.
If you’re in a busy environment with several devices connected at once, you may want to check your speed when there are fewer people around.
