Broadband in Southampton: an impressive range of deals with good connectivity across the city
At the time of writing, lists over 300 different broadband deals in Southampton.
If this is your home city, you’re enviably situated to capitalise on the UK’s impressively diverse – and competitively priced – home broadband market.
All the big hitters are present, including phone companies (EE, Vodafone) and broadcasters (Sky, NOW), alongside retailers (John Lewis) and dedicated broadband firms (Plusnet).
And while line speeds on the south coast aren’t the best in England, they’re more than suitable for most households’ needs…
How to choose the best broadband in Southampton
From Hillyfields to Hedge End, the suburbs south of the M27 are packed with underground cables bringing high-speed home internet services to domestic doorsteps.
Residents of the interwar terraces around Sholing train station can receive 500Mbps connectivity if they choose, as can the occupants of Rownhams’ modern executive villas.
Gigabit broadband may be hard to come by in this corner of Hampshire, but half-gigabit speeds are more than sufficient for most households.
We’d always recommend considering what level of connectivity your property really needs, rather than automatically signing up to the fastest package available in your postcode.
After all, almost half of UK households can’t identify their current broadband speed.
Many people end up paying more than they really need to, especially if their usage is modest – web surfing, social media activities and the occasional work-related email, for instance.
You might have a bias towards a particular brand, or antipathy towards a certain company, but in truth, broadband customers are lodging record-low numbers of complaints with Ofcom.
In most households, Fibre to the Cabinet connectivity will be sufficient.
Undoing a bundle
It’s also vital to consider what additional services – if any – you might require over and above home broadband.
ISPs often enmesh customers in their offerings long-term by offering competitive discounts on triple-play and quad-play services.
It’s then difficult to move to another provider, since you’d have to renegotiate not just a broadband deal but also landline provision, and potentially TV services and mobile phone coverage too.
Companies offering triple-play and quad-play deals include Virgin Media, Sky and BT.
If your priority from your next internet contract is value for money, the best broadband deals in Southampton may be provided by a smaller ISP with a more focused product offering.