Guide to the Best Broadband Deals
(Updated Monthly: Last update July 2008)
The broadband market has never been more competitive with a host of new broadband providers
battling for our custom. Whether it´s top-notch customer service from broadband-only providers,
or cheap bundled deals that allow you to converge everything from broadband to TV and phone
calls, we want to help you find not only the cheapest broadband deal but the right broadband
deal for you.
In this monthly feature we examine the latest deals and also inform you of what you can expect
in the coming months so you can stay ahead of the pack. This month we’re putting the focus on
broadband speeds and examining deals from the top-performing providers according to our
broadband speed test
results.
So whether you're a newcomer who is sick of waiting for pages to download or you're just scouting
around for a better offer, read this feature every month and the market will be primed for your benefit.
To skip to a particular section of this article use our quick links:
Deal or no deal?
There are plenty of fantastic deals on the market, but it's important not to be fooled by a tempting
initial monthly subscription cost alone. Consider all expenses such as set-up costs
(ie activation, connection or migration fees) and hardware costs (ie modem). What freebies
do you get in terms of hardware and software? Do you already have it or actually need it?
Another factor is whether you're changing from a dial-up connection or from
one broadband deal to another — you might have to pay a cancellation fee or
get a MAC to make the change to a new provider. Once you've answered these
questions and feel ready to apply, visit comparison sites such as
moneysupermarket.com to compare the market and find the best deal.
Follow this link to find out more about broadband by visiting our
guide to broadband.
How much bandwidth do you need?
Well the simple answer is, the more the better. If you´re a
light, heavy or medium user the last thing you want is to be sat online watching what you download.
If you're wondering how much you're likely to use take a look at this rough
guide to how much bandwidth downloads usually take:
- A music track — 4 Megabytes (MB)
- A music album — 4MB x 12 = 48MB
- A feature film — 800MB. A movie encoded with DIVX can be 800MB-1.4 Gigabytes (GB).
- Online gaming — dependent on the game. Popular title World of Warcraft can take
from 4-10MB/hour, while CSS can be up to 40Mb an hour.
With these figures in mind, a download limit can disappear quickly. If you do exceed your
limit the broadband company is unlikely to switch your connection off. Instead
it may charge you for the extra capacity you use or switch you to another deal.
It could also 'throttle' your connection speed — reducing it to make downloads
unmanageable and much slower.
As a rough guide, more than 90% of UK users currently consume under 2GB of downloads
a month. You might want to start by choosing a product with a small download
cap and upgrading later. You can also switch to a product with an unlimited download
capacity and remove the problem of a download cap entirely.
Follow this link to find out what type of broadband user you are by visiting our
guide to broadband.
Updated Monthly: Our pick of the best broadband deals
Every month the broadband deals feature will give you our pick of the
best broadband deals currently available. These are the offers that might provide
excellent value for money, include unique services or come with enticing special
incentives that you might wish to consider. Indeed we can often offer our own unique
deals that you will not see anywhere else.
This month, we´re concentrating on the top performers in our broadband speed test
survey – to read more about our speed test survey visit the 'what´s new' section
of the broadband deals guide below.
The top three performers in this quarter´s results were O2, Sky and Talk Talk. O2 was the
clear leader producing average speeds of 5.39MB on its 8MB packages, 7.71MB on its 16MB
products and 8.80MB on its 20MB products. Though these are still some way behind the advertised
speeds – the 20MB package producing a result that is less than half the advertised download
rate – O2 was still the top performer in both the 8MB and 16MB+ product categories. So if you
want 'value for money' and want to get as close to the speed you´re paying for as possible,
these results suggest that O2 is your safest bet.
Here are the deals on offer from O2:
-
O2 Standard broadband
– Speeds up to 8MB and unlimited usage. O2 mobile customers´ price is £7.50 a month;
standard price is £12.50 a month.
-
O2 Premium broadband
– Speeds up to 16MB and unlimited usage. O2 mobile customers´ price is £10 a month;
standard price is £15 a month.
-
O2 Ultimate broadband
– Speeds up to 20MB and unlimited usage. O2 mobile customers´ price is £15 a month;
standard price is £20 a month.
Sky also faired well in our results. In the 2MB package category, it was the top performer and
actually produced an average speed in excess of the rate advertised at 2.47MB. In the 8MB and 16MB
categories Sky finished second to O2 producing speeds of 3.59MB and 4.81MB respectively.
Perhaps the key to Sky´s products however, is the ability to converge services – you can potentially
combine Sky broadband with both a phone and TV package. Let´s take a look at some of the options
available if you choose the top-performing 2MB Sky broadband deal:
-
Sky Base
– Available to existing Sky customers for free, this package includes downloads up to 2MB,
a monthly usage allowance of 2GB and a free wireless router.
-
Sky See Surf and Speak 3 for £19
– Up to 2Mb downloads with a 2GB capacity and a free wireless router combined with free
weekend and evening calls to UK landlines and four TV entertainment mixes. Bear in mind
you must pay a £15 set up cost if the TV package contains a Premium Mix.
-
Sky See Surf Speak 3 for £35
– The same broadband offer as the Sky Base package with the addition of free evening and
weekend calls to UK landlines and up to 76 digital TV channels including all Sky Sports channels.
Talk Talk took third place in our 8MB category with average speeds of 2.99MB. Currently, Talk Talk
is offering its
Talk Global Evening and Weekend + Free Broadband package at half price for the first
three months – down to £3.25 a month as opposed to £6.49 a month. This includes 8MB speeds and a 40GB
monthly capacity. Remember however, you still have to pay line rental at £10.50 a month.
Use this link to go straight to the broadband comparison tool
broadband comparison tool and compare the broadband deals available in your area and remember to come back every
month for the latest deals.
Updated Monthly: What's new and watch this space!
Not only will we keep you up to date on the best deals in this monthly article,
but we will also let you know about the offers you should watch out for in the
weeks and months to come as well as exciting features and industry news.
- Moneysupermarket hands out quarterly speed test awards.
Increasingly, broadband customers are demanding faster broadband speeds due to innovations
on the internet, such as video downloading. Over the last 12 months headline speeds have
doubled even though prices have fallen by 10 per cent according to industry regulator Ofcom.
During this period an increasing number of customers have expressed their concern about not
receiving the speeds that are advertised to them by providers. Broadband companies cleverly
advertise products as 'up to' a certain speed level – this is the speed that could be achieved
in ideal conditions. To achieve these speeds you would generally have to live close to the
exchange, have few people sharing the connection, have ideal weather conditions and be surfing
at off-peak times – for more on what determines broadband speeds, check out this guide.
As a result of this customer dissatisfaction, we created a broadband speed test
at moneysupermarket.com, where users can actually test their connection and see what speed they are
receiving. Using these results we´ll now be recognising one provider every quarter for achieving
the fastest actual speed compared to their advertised speed.
Over the last quarter there were more than 20,000 speed tests carried out at the site and O2´s 8MB package
was the overall winner with an average speed of 5.9MB. Sky and Talk Talk took second and third place respectively.
However, with the average result at just 2.9MB for all the tests completed, it´s clear that there is a
huge gulf between speeds advertised and the speeds consumers receive. Hopefully our quarterly report will
have some impact on the industry and push providers to work harder to provide the speeds they promote.
Stay tuned for more on the broadband market next month and don't forget to use the
broadband comparison tool
to find the cheapest broadband products in your area.
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