Name: Broadband Deals
Brand: Uswitch
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.7 (21838 reviews)

Question 1

What's the best broadband in my area?

Accepted Answer

The best broadband in your area depends on two things: the different types of broadband you can get, and which deal is the best one for you.

When you compare broadband offers for your household, you should consider:

How many people will be using the internet in your household
What they will all be using the internet for
What extras you’d like to get (TV bundles, landline calls, mobile phone contracts, etc)
What you definitely want to avoid
What types of broadband are available in your area

See our Uswitch guide for more info on how to switch broadband to a deal that's better for you.

Question 2

How to find cheap broadband deals

Accepted Answer

If you're looking to save money on your next broadband package, many providers offer more affordable deals for people who don't use the internet very much.

Take a look at our range of cheap broadband deals on Uswitch for some great-value offers and exclusives.

If you receive Universal Credit or another type of financial support, you could also benefit from a low-income social tariff. These are usually the cheapest broadband deals you can get, but they're only available if you qualify for them.

See our guide on broadband social tariff deals to see if you're eligible for a heavily discounted broadband package.

Question 3

Will my prices go up mid-contract?

Accepted Answer

It depends on which provider you are with. With inflation hitting a staggering 10.5% in January 2023, this year has seen the biggest mid contract price increases for broadband ever.

Some providers like BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Vodafone have annual price increases set in their terms and conditions, which means you can’t cancel your contract with them early for free. This year, their prices are going up by 14%.

Others like Sky, Virgin Media and NOW usually increase their prices too, but you can usually cancel your contract early as a result without paying any exit fees.

And some providers (Hyperoptic, Cuckoo and more) don’t have any price increases at all during the length of their contracts.

Read our guide to learn all about why your prices might sometimes go up mid-contract.

Question 4

Can I switch broadband any time?

Accepted Answer

Usually you can’t switch broadband any time, because your provider will likely charge you early exit fees if you try to leave before the end of your contract. So the best thing to do is wait until the end of your contract before you switch. However, if you’re already out of contract and paying higher fees, you can switch any time you like (though you still have to give your current provider 30 days’ notice). Also, if your provider is increasing your prices mid-contract, but you only have a few months left of your contract, you might be better off switching to a cheaper deal and paying those few months' worth of exit fees. But make sure you only do so if you're actually making an overall saving.

Question 5

When is the best time to switch?

Accepted Answer

The best time to switch providers is just as your current contract is coming to an end. That way, you can move straight onto a new tariff without paying any early exit fees, and before your existing provider moves you onto more expensive out of contract prices.

You can find out your contract end date by logging into your provider’s website and finding your details. Plus, providers now must send you an ‘end of contract’ message when your end date is approaching, so keep an eye out for that to make sure you switch at the right time.

Learn more about when is the best time to switch broadband with our guide.

Question 6

Which contract length is right for me?

Accepted Answer

You can choose from a range of contract lengths, depending on what is best for your needs.

If you’re a student or renting your home, shorter contracts might be easier to align with the end of your tenancy period. Whereas if you’re a homeowner, you could likely get away with a longer contract if you’re unlikely to be moving home any time soon.

But it’s worth noting that shorter contracts usually come with higher monthly prices. So if your priority is keeping your monthly bills down, a longer contract might suit you better. However, it also means you’re tied into the same price for longer, which makes it harder to switch to cheaper deals as often.

Question 7

How do I know if I’m out of contract?

Accepted Answer

If you signed up for a Uswitch account when you got your last broadband deal, you should automatically get a reminder when your contract ends.

If not though, don’t worry — just log into your account with your provider online and check, or call them up and ask. They’re legally obliged to tell you if you’re still under contract, as well as when your contract ends.

You can then find the right broadband deal so you can avoid paying expensive out of contract prices.

Question 8

What should I do if my contract has ended?

Accepted Answer

If you’re out of contract, you might be paying much more expensive prices than you could be. The good news is, you can also switch to a new broadband deal any time you like.

So if you’re looking to keep your monthly bills down or upgrade to a better speed, there’s no better time to do so than when you’re out of contract.

Question 9

What are end of contract notifications?

Accepted Answer

End of contract notifications are emails, texts or letters that your broadband provider has to send you before your contract term ends.

Beforehand, providers could get away with increasing your monthly price by a huge amount once you fall out of contract, often without even telling you. But now, Ofcom has made it mandatory for them to tell you when your contract is ending - plus what other deals are available for you to move onto for a cheaper price.

For more information, read our full guide on end of contract notifications.

Question 10

How do I work out the right speed for me?

Accepted Answer

The right broadband speed for you is one that lets you do everything you need to online quickly and smoothly.

This goes for your whole household - you need a speed that lets everyone you live with stream, download, game and work from home without any buffering or frustratingly slow loading times.

However, you should also make sure you don't choose an extremely fast speed that you don't need. The price of a deal will likely go up as the speed gets faster, so make sure you don't end up overpaying for something you'll never use.

There will likely be lots of different speeds available in your area, so it's good to figure out what you need first before you sign up to a particular deal.

Read our guide for more detail on what broadband speed you need.

Question 11

What’s my broadband speed?

Accepted Answer

You can find your current internet speed by running a broadband speed test while you’re at home and connected to your Wi-Fi router.

Our Uswitch broadband speed test will tell you the download and upload speeds you have with your package at the moment, and compare it to the average broadband speed in your area. You can then use that reading to search for broadband deals that match your speed criteria.

Just be aware that internet speeds change constantly, and one test might not be a clear view of the speed you usually get. That's why providers advertise their packages with 'average' speeds, which they measure over a longer period of time.

Question 12

What can affect your broadband speed?

Accepted Answer

There are a number of things that can affect the broadband speed you get:

1. The type of connection you have

The various types of broadband available in the UK all work quite differently, and some are much faster and more reliable than others.

The speed you can get will depend on the types of broadband that are available in your area, so it's always important to search with your address. That way, you'll only be comparing deals you can definitely get at your home.

In general, fibre broadband offers much faster and more reliable speeds than copper ADSL internet. It has fewer interruptions, slowdowns and outages than the copper wires ADSL relies on.

The most popular fibre connections right now still use some copper cabling to get to your home. So you're not immune from these slowdowns if you have a superfast partial-fibre connection.

However, those with a full fibre connection don't have to rely on the older copper technology at all, and their internet is much steadier (and faster too).

If you happen to use a mobile broadband connection, mobile network signal is much less consistent than a fixed-line broadband cable, so your broadband speed could vary a lot more.

2. How far you live from the broadband exchange or cabinet

As we've mentioned, fibre broadband doesn’t necessarily mean your connection is serviced entirely by fibre-optic cables. In a lot of cases, it just means that most of it is.

If you have a copper ADSL or superfast partial-fibre package, the fibre-optic cables only travel as far as your local street cabinet. The rest of the journey to your home is serviced by the same traditional copper wires as ADSL broadband.

So the farther your property is away from that cabinet, the more your connection relies on copper cables, which means your broadband speed might be slower. But it's still a lot faster on average than ADSL broadband, usually offering maximum speeds of around 70Mbps.

Full fibre, which is now available to over 40% of the UK, fixes this issue. It connects fibre lines straight from the broadband exchange to your property, which eliminates the slowdown you get between the cabinet and your home. It also gives you the fastest connections available, with gigabit speeds of 1000Mbps (1Gbps) and higher potentially in reach.

3. Where you put your router

If you’re experiencing slow internet speeds, the solution could be with your home setup. Improving your speed could be as simple as moving your Wi-Fi router to a better spot in your house or flat.

Let’s face it — routers aren’t the prettiest of things, so we tend to hide them behind furniture or in cabinets. However, this could affect the Wi-Fi signal in your home and slow your internet connection down significantly — especially if it’s blocked by thick walls, surrounding metal, or even a fish tank.

For a better signal throughout your home, you should keep your router in a central, open area of the home and ideally away from any other electronic devices.

Take a look at our guide for more help on how to fix broadband connection problems in your home.

4. The time of day

Just like rush hour traffic, the busier the internet is, the slower it tends to be.

With more people using their Wi-Fi during peak times, the demand on internet providers drastically increases, which can result in slower speeds for each household in your area. Again, this is an issue that mainly affects people on copper broadband plans.

Sometimes a provider's Fair Usage Policy measures will kick in, which might occasionally cause slower speeds for you if there are others in the area who aren't getting their fair share of bandwidth.

Read more about the Fair Usage Policy in our dedicated Uswitch guide.

Advertised broadband speeds are averages

You won’t always get the advertised speed every time you use the internet at home. This is because the speed you see when browsing deals is an 'average' speed, which the provider has measured over a certain period of time.

In order to be advertised accurately, average speeds are measured during peak times — between 8pm and 10pm when most people are online — and must be available to at least 50% of users in the area.

This means you’ve got a 50/50 chance of getting speeds above or below this number every time you use your broadband. But if your connection is reliable enough, you should rarely see a huge change from the average speed you're paying for.

Question 13

Can I get fibre broadband in my area?

Accepted Answer

You very likely can get fibre broadband in some form. It's much more widely available than you think, with 97% of the UK able to access superfast 'partial' fibre packages.

Superfast fibre broadband is typically quite reasonably priced these days, often costing roughly the same as standard copper deals. And full fibre is rapidly expanding across the UK, too - with around half of UK homes able to access its ultrafast speeds.

The majority of providers offer fibre broadband deals that are well worth the few extra pounds per month. Compared to standard copper broadband, fibre has a couple of significant benefits:

Much faster speeds: Fibre broadband will always be faster than copper ADSL. Even slower fibre speeds of 30-60Mbps offer a huge upgrade compared to the 10Mbps you get from ADSL - and these speeds are on offer for roughly the same price nowadays, too.
More reliability: Thanks to better quality cables, fibre broadband offers a more consistent, robust connection than ADSL. Plus, fibre-optic cables can carry more data than copper wires, so it won’t be as sluggish or slow during peak usage times.

Depending on whether you a have superfast partial-fibre or full fibre broadband connection, these benefits will be felt quite differently. But since full fibre coverage isn't everywhere just yet, superfast is still a perfectly reasonable option in 2023.

Question 14

Can I get satellite broadband?

Accepted Answer

You probably can get satellite broadband, but it'll likely be expensive.

Starlink, which is run by SpaceX, is now available anywhere in the UK — but its prices are very high right now as it's a new service that costs a lot of money to run.

There are other satellite broadband companies in development like the UK's OneWeb, but they aren't currently available to regular customers.

Question 15

What’s the fastest broadband available to me?

Accepted Answer

The fastest broadband deal in your area depends on what types of broadband are available to you.

A growing number of areas have access to full fibre, or even Virgin Media’s ultrafast network, which are currently the fastest types of broadband in the UK. But these connections aren’t as widely-available as slower connections like partial-fibre.

While they're slower than the speeds offered by full fibre or Virgin Media, partial-fibre speeds are much more accessible across the whole country, and they still offer plenty of bandwidth that many households will find absolutely fine for everything they do online.

Question 16

What broadband deal should I choose?

Accepted Answer

The right broadband deal for you isn't always the cheapest, the fastest, or the one with the most attractive extras — it's the deal that is best suited to you and your household.

By comparing different offers from a range of providers, you can find one that matches your needs the most at a price you're comfortable with.

If you only use the internet occasionally for email, checking the news or social media, a good broadband deal would probably be the cheapest one you can find. However, a great broadband deal could also be one that offers the fastest or most reliable connection. Especially if you:

Stream TV shows and films in HD or 4K quality
Regularly work from home
Live in a household of three or more people
Download big games and play competitively online

By searching for a broadband deal with Uswitch, you could save an average of £162‡ per year. Our 4.7 Trustpilot score shows that we can be relied on to help you make a confident decision with your broadband.

Question 17

Can I get broadband without line rental?

Accepted Answer

You might be able to get broadband without paying line rental, but it depends on what types of broadband are available to your home.

The most common broadband connections still rely on phone lines to get to your home, so you will still have to pay line rental for those. But if you have full fibre or Virgin Media’s network in your area, you could do away with that payment.

Find out how to get broadband without a phone line.

Question 18

Is it cheaper to bundle TV with my broadband?

Accepted Answer

It might be cheaper for you to get a broadband and TV deal, but it depends on how much TV you already watch.
If you're happy to stick to a similar TV package to what you’re already using, you’ll likely pay a lower amount per month by bundling it with a broadband provider that offers both. But if you choose a larger, more expensive package, you’ll likely have to pay more to access more content. So when considering this option, you should seriously consider how much you're willing to watch and pay, so you don't end up with an expensive set of channels you never click on.

Question 19

How do I find the best broadband provider for me?

Accepted Answer

A great way to find the best provider for you is by seeing which ones are considered the best for the different things you care about.

The right provider for you could be based on a number of aspects, including internet speed, value for money, reliability, customer service or TV bundles. And depending on which parts of a broadband service you value the most, some providers will be better suited to your needs than others.

We have in-depth expert reviews of the biggest broadband providers in the UK - backed up by a 10,000 person customer survey on what they like the most (and least) about their provider. So you can easily find out which one is considered the best in a number of different categories.

If you want to learn which provider might be best for you, read our Uswitch broadband provider reviews.

Question 20

Which are the most popular internet providers in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The most popular UK broadband providers in terms of the number of customers are BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk. But that's not the best way to judge a provider's popularity. It's just as important to find out which providers are most popular with their customers.

In our 2022 Uswitch Broadband Awards, we crowned BT the Most Popular Broadband Provider, using a mixture of our Awards customer survey results and sales data on the Uswitch site.

See who else won for customer service, reliability and value in the Uswitch 2022 broadband awards.

BT broadband

BT is the UK’s oldest and largest telecommunications provider, and has a company history spanning back over 160 years.

BT broadband deals are slightly more expensive than other providers as they often provide more services. Its customer service is very comprehensive, with many measures in place to make sure you're getting the best experience with your broadband. And there are a range of add-ons you can access from BT's extensive range of products and services.

Sky broadband

Sky is best known as one of the biggest TV brands in the UK. You can enjoy a great selection of Sky TV and broadband bundles, and its new streaming TV options, Sky Stream and Sky Glass, now offer seamless ways to access its premium TV content without a satellite.

Its broadband is supplied by Openreach, the same network as BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Vodafone and more.

Virgin Media broadband

Virgin Media is one of the few providers that runs broadband and TV services on its own dedicated high-speed network, offering some of the fastest speeds in the country.

The provider recently merged with mobile network operator O2, and introduced a huge new bundle called 'Volt' that includes broadband, TV, home phone and an O2 mobile SIM.

TalkTalk broadband

TalkTalk is well-known known for its range of competitively-priced packages that focus on value for money. It's one of the 'big four' broadband providers in the UK.

Plusnet broadband

Plusnet is a popular brand for value-led broadband products and great customer service. To prove this, it won both 'Broadband Provider of the Year' and 'Best Customer Service' at the Uswitch Broadband and Mobile Awards 2021.

Vodafone broadband

Vodafone, one of the UK’s largest and best-known mobile network operators, also provides superfast and ultrafast fibre services with discounts available for mobile subscribers.

It offers a range of high-speed connections at reasonable monthly prices, but also services a number of 'Pro' packages, which give you a Wi-Fi guarantee, access to expert advice and 12 months of internet security all for an inclusive fee.

Hyperoptic broadband

Hyperoptic is a full fibre provider that prioritises connecting blocks of flats and urban areas. It offers speeds up to 900Mbps, and is one of the less expensive full fibre providers.

It offers social tariff broadband deals for customers on Universal Credit, so if you're receiving financial support from the government you will be able to enjoy its ultrafast speeds for a heavily discounted rate.

Question 21

What happens when I switch providers?

Accepted Answer

Switching providers is usually a very simple process. When you're signing up to a new broadband service, your new provider will show you a clear rundown of all the charges you'd be expected to pay throughout your contract period.

And most of the admin is done on their end, too. You likely won't even need an engineer to come round and install your new connection, because many providers use the same Openreach broadband network.

However, this is different if you're switching to a provider that uses a different network. For example, if you're moving from BT to Virgin Media or from Sky Superfast to a Vodafone full fibre product.

In this case, you still need to cancel your contract with your existing provider while you're switching to your new one. And you may need to book an engineer visit to install your new connection.

But even then, it should still be nice and straightforward. You'll be able to choose a convenient date and time for an engineer to set your connection up. And once they arrive, it should only take around half an hour until your new connection is up and running.