Broadband package reviews: How to buy home broadband
Prices depend on connection speed and how much data you download
Cost of home broadband
Standalone home broadband services start from as little as £10 a month up to a maximum of around £35; prices vary according to the broadband connection speed you opt for, and how much data you download or upload.
You can often save on your monthly broadband cost by bundling it together with another service such as digital TV or home phone, as we explain in the Which? review of phone, internet and TV packages.
Unlike with some dial-up internet services, with broadband you don't pay for the time spent online.
Home broadband speed
Over the past couple of years, home broadband speed has been on the rise. Up to 8 megabits per second (Mbps) is the norm with most internet service providers (ISPs). An increasing number of companies – including BT, Orange and TalkTalk – are introducing speeds of up to 16-24Mbps in some areas.
Virgin Media now offers a broadband speed of up to 50Mbps in its cable network area and is trialling a whopping 200Mbps in some areas. BT offers 40Mbps to customers in some parts of the UK and plans to roll out this superfast broadband service to 10 million homes (40% of the UK population) by 2012.
Advertised broadband speed vs actual broadband speed
However, what you pay for isn't necessarily what you get – a 2007 Which? broadband speed test found that most people promised up to 8Mbps actually achieved less than half that speed on average, and recent research from broadband regulator Ofcom confirms that many broadband customers are getting well short of headline broadband speed.
For more on this, and reasons for the difference, take a look at the Which guide on how to boost your broadband speed.
Which home broadband speed to choose?
In practice, most people will find home broadband speeds of 1 or 2Mbps are adequate for their needs if all they want to do is surf the net, send emails and download the odd music track.
But if you fancy taking advantage of some of the newer, more data intensive things you can do with home broadband – such as downloading films, watching online TV such as the BBC iPlayer, or online gaming – you're more likely to see the benefits of a faster broadband speed.
Home broadband availability
According to the government's Digital Britain report, 11% of UK homes can't get broadband speeds of 2Mbps, and some locations can't get broadband at all.
Though the problem is spread across the whole country and affects some towns and cities – even parts of greater London – you're more likely to run into difficulties getting a decent broadband service if you live in a rural area.
Read more about how the government plans to tackle this problem in our Digital Britain – broadband for all page.
Home broadband contract length
Many broadband ISPs insist you sign up for a year or even 18 months. Some smaller broadband ISPs, such as Zen Internet, offer one-month contracts – but you'll usually have to pay for broadband equipment and connection upfront.
Details of fees for cancelling within a long term contract are available in the Which? home broadband reviews.
Home broadband start-up costs
You may need to pay upfront for home broadband line activation (around £25-50), though some home broadband ISPs waive these fees in return for tying you to a 12-month contract.
Some also throw in a free broadband modem or router in exchange for a 12 or 18-month contract, though you may have to return the broadband equipment if you switch away.
Home broadband usage limits
Many broadband ISPs put a limit, or cap, on how much internet data you can download and upload – this can be anything from 1 to 75 gigabytes (GB) a month. A limited home broadband service could save you money but, if you watch online TV or video via an online service such as the BBC iPlayer or YouTube, download movies or other large files and send lots of emails with attachments, an unlimited broadband deal could be a better option.
1GB a month would let you surf the internet for two hours a day, send and receive 100 emails a week, and download 30 music tracks a week. Note, there’s no mention of online TV or video in that estimate – downloading or streaming TV or film can really bump up your broadband usage.
Some broadband ISPs charge for exceeding the limit. Typically costs for exceeding limits range from around £1-2 for each extra GB.
Not sure how many GB you need per month? Use the Which? broadband usage calculator to work it out hassle-free and find out which Best Buy broadband deal is right for you.
Home broadband fair usage policies
If you opt for a home broadband service with no limits, look out for ‘fair usage policies’, which may result in warning letters, restricted broadband speed or, at worst, cancelled services for people who abuse the broadband fair usage policies.
You’d have to try pretty hard to exceed most home broadband fair usage limits, though – for example, AOL Broadband gives the following examples of excess downloading in a single month: more than 12,000 music tracks, more than 30,000 high-quality photos or around 60 movies.
ISPA (the Internet Service Provider’s Association) has told its members that they must inform customers of broadband fair usage policies in their sales and marketing literature. Broadband regulator Ofcom also requires this as part of its broadband code of practice.
Home broadband technical help
Check how much it costs to call your home broadband ISP's technical helpline, particularly if you’re new to broadband. Prices for calling a broadband technical helpline range from free to 10p a minute from a landline (costs can be much higher from mobiles if companies use a phone number that starts 084 or 087 – see how to avoid 0870 and premium-rate numbers).
If you run into difficulties with your home broadband service, you'll be glad you have a free or low-cost technical helpline. We give details of broadband technical helpline costs on the Which? broadband product pages.