Broadband: How to get the best broadband deal Top tips to find the best broadband provider

The best broadband providers offer great service

The best broadband deal can be hard to pin down. There are literally hundreds of broadband providers competing for your custom, all making claims about being the best for broadband speed, reliability, price or customer service. 

Our independent broadband comparison tool lets you narrow down your choices to the best providers for you based on broadband price, speed, contract length and customer satisfaction.

So if you know what kind of broadband you want, head on over to the Which? broadband review. 

But if you're not sure what you need from a broadband deal, first you need to work out how you plan to use your service and what your broadband priorities are.

Are the best broadband providers also the cheapest?

Standalone home broadband services start from as little as £10 a month up to a maximum of around £35. Generally speaking, higher costs mean higher broadband speed and a bigger monthly usage allowance. 

The cost of going over your broadband allowance can be painfully expensive, so if you think you'll be online a lot it's best to opt for a higher broadband cap. 

Broadband equipment and set-up costs

When you're signing up to a new broadband package, don't forget to factor in any start-up costs such as:

• Broadband line activation (typically £25-50) 
• An internet modem, router or wireless router - the equipment that lets your computer connect to your broadband service. 

Some companies waive line activation fees and may include a free modem or router in exchange for tying you in to a 12- or 18-month broadband contract.

Some wireless routers performed poorly in Which? independent lab tests. Check whether any wireless router included in your broadband deal might let you down or whether it's worth buying one separately in the Which? review of wireless routers.   

Broadband speed

Broadband speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Up to 8Mbps is the norm with most broadband internet service providers (ISPs). An increasing number of broadband suppliers – including BT, Orange and TalkTalk – are introducing even faster maximum 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 superfast 200Mbps broadband speeds 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.

What's the fastest broadband you need?

You'll probably find a home broadband speed of 1 or 2Mbps is fast enough if all you 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.

Bear in mind that the speed you get in practice rarely matches advertised maximum speeds - you can find out what affects broadband speed in the Which? broadband speed guide.

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 capped home broadband service might cost less in basic line rental 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. A single film download is typically between 1.5 and 2GB. 

Many broadband ISPs charge for exceeding your monthly cap, which can add up if your usage limit is too low for your actual broadband use. Typically costs for exceeding limits range from around £1-2 for each extra GB.

Don't pay over the odds for an unsuitable broadband usage limit - use the Which? broadband usage calculator to work out the limit you really need and find out which Best Buy broadband deal is right for you.

Broadband fair usage policies

Even if you opt for an unlimited broadband deal, watch out for fair usage policies which may result in warning letters or restricted broadband speeds if you're a very heavy broadband user. We've got details of all companies' fair usage policies in the Which? broadband review.

Broadband postcode lottery

You'll often get faster broadband and cheaper deals in more populated areas where companies have invested in upgrading equipment and wiring. This is sometimes referred to as 'local loop unbundled' (LLU) broadband. If you live in an area that hasn't been upgraded by the broadband provider you opt for, you can expect to pay £5-£15 more for broadband. 

Don't assume that because you're not in one company's upgraded broadband area that you won't be in any. The percentage of homes with access to upgraded broadband equipment varies from 50-80% depending on the provider, so shop around. 

The Which? broadband review highlights what percentage of UK homes can get each deal in our broadband comparison.

Mobile broadband

BT, O2, Orange, 3, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Virgin now offer services whereby you can access broadband on your laptop or PC wherever there's a 3G mobile signal – at home or when you're out and about. 

Because mobile broadband operates in a different way from normal, fixed-line home broadband, we haven't included mobile broadband services in our fixed-line broadband product comparison, but you can select from hundreds of deals over on Which? Mobile.

Laptop users will benefit most from mobile broadband - avoid picking a poorly performing laptop by using the Which? review of the best laptops on the market.