Every saving made on monthly bills is appreciated and home broadband is no exception. By shopping around and sniffing out broadband offers, we can all find connections that are both affordable and fast. Ready to find cheap deals? Follow this guide to learn how!

The prices that broadband internet providers charge are always changing. This makes it difficult to identify the cheapest at any given time, but some are known to be more affordable than others.

Here we’ll highlight four providers offering fibre broadband deals worthy of attention:

TalkTalk. This value provider offers Fibre packages starting from under £30 per month, with average speeds of 35Mb or 67Mb.

Vodafone. Vodafone’s entry-level fibre broadband boasts an average download speed of 67Mbps for less than £25 per month including landline. Unlimited usage allowance, an intelligent WiFi router supplied and no upfront fees for a 24-month contract are all attractive specs on a budget.

NOW. NOW Broadband’s fibre deals start with its fibre packages at around £20 per month across a 12 month contract. Average speeds are 36-63Mbps with unlimited downloads, line rental included and no activation fee.

Shell Energy. Shell’s Superfast Fibre and Superfast Fibre Plus options are priced attractively around £23 per month. Both are on 18-month contracts but with free month deals and promise no extra costs for average speeds of 38-67Mbps.

The quickest way to check broadband availability is by using a postcode checker.

Comparison websites have these to help you find the best broadband deals. Broadband providers like Plusnet and Hyperoptic also provide them on their own websites to help you check service coverage in your area.

Totally safe and anonymous, it’s the best way to find the connections you could get based on your property location. This is always a guide however and is not a 100% guarantee that those broadband packages will definitely be available to your home.

But as an ideal place to start looking, a postcode checker is a very useful research tool.

What are the different types of broadband?

There are several typical types of broadband connections associated with deals intended for home use. To avoid any confusion, we will identify the main four options and give a general guide to the key differences between them.

ADSL is the most basic, lowest speed broadband. It only requires a phone landline and although this makes availability very widespread, ADSL has generally been outdated in favour of fibre. While it should be cheaper in price, the difference is actually very slim and not necessarily economical in comparison.

Fibre broadband is a faster fibre optic connection. It still uses a home phone line and standard socket but benefits from updated fibre wiring to your street’s cabinet (fibre to the cabinet or FTTC). Fibre’s increased availability, speed and affordability makes this the most popular, typical option for most UK households. FTTP or “full fibre” is the next level, offering higher speeds but requiring additional installation from cabinet to home.

Cable broadband from Virgin Media is similar to an FTTP connection, using a special cable to deliver services instead of a regular phone line. Virgin offers super fast download speeds above normal fibre rates, but at premium prices. Availability is more restricted than some other types of broadband and installation isn’t suitable for all properties.

Mobile broadband uses no cables or phone lines at all, just mobile signal and a special Wi-Fi router. Using the 4G and 5G networks it promises comparable fibre speeds at similar tariffs and contracts. The obvious benefit is availability in remote areas but this depends totally on network provider coverage – so always check!

Broadband price tends to be linked most with the connection speed. Faster speeds typically come at higher prices and longer contracts as you might expect.

But there are exceptions to the rule that speed costs more. For example, an ADSL broadband deal could rise in price during its contract lifetime to become as expensive or more so than an entry-level fibre package. Similarly, some full fibre options could rival regular fibre deals from bigger, pricier providers.

This is why taking enough time to shop around and compare the market is so important.

A breakdown of internet speeds:

Broadband transfer speed is generally measured in Mbps, or Megabits per second. So if a package is promising a download rate of 36Mbps, you can expect the connection to shift 36 Megabits of data every second.

This transfer speed is often referred to as bandwidth. Fast broadband connections have a bigger or wider bandwidth that allows for fa quicker, freer data flow. In this section we’ll identify some terms for how broadband is described and the associated speeds.

ADSL (standard broadband) is often capped at a maximum speed of 8Mbps, but in fact the average is typically 10-11Mbps for many connections. ADSL2 and ADSL2+ can push this limit to 24Mbps where those network upgrades are applicable.

Superfast broadband is generally fibre or full fibre connections ranging from 24-300Mbps in bandwidth. More generally, typical standard fibre broadband packages average between speeds of 30-80Mbps.

Ultrafast broadband is used to describe connections that exceed 300Mbps, but fall below 1000Mbps. However, some providers can class 100Mbps+ as ultrafast.

Gigabit broadband or “hyperfast” broadband has a speed of 1000Mbps or 1Gbps+.

It’s worth remembering that these descriptions are not officially defined names across the industry. Such broad terms and phrases are often used by providers to promote and market broadband service while simplifying projected speeds.

The natural assumption is that faster speeds are better. While there is truth to this, it isn’t always what you necessarily need and therefore isn’t always cost effective.

To get a better understanding of what your home connection requires is about considering how it will be used:

• How many people are going to be active, regular users at any one time?
• What kind of favourite internet activities will be performed often?
• What types of devices will be connected to the network, and how many?

Lots of users and devices on the home network creates what is known as traffic. If this traffic includes data-heavy activities like video streaming (Netflix, YouTube etc) or online gaming (Steam etc) then performance can get congested.

So while a single-person that mostly just emails or browses web pages could be fine with a cheap, slow connection – this won’t suffice for families or shared environments.

For this reason, most standard fibre broadband plans are designed to cater for typical households. Remember also that most providers will allow you to “up-rate” packages should they prove too slow, but not the other way around!

Let’s break down a broadband package and identify the key elements to watch for when picking the best deal:

• Low monthly cost. Make sure the actual, full monthly tariffs are clearly within budget.
• Starting cost vs overall cost. Setup fees may apply initially but aren’t always expensive. Compare first year costs with overall contract cost to get a better idea of the value.
• Speed. Are the download / upload rates sufficient and competitive enough for the price?
• Unlimited usage allowance. Although limited deals are mercifully rare these days, always go for unlimited broadband because restricted deals can end up costing you more.
• Contract length. Longer terms are cheaper monthly but will be subject to expensive termination fees if you need to cancel early.
• Special offers and rewards. Factor in the savings that any bundled free gifts like vouchers, gift cards or cashback offers could make if included.
• Setup costs. Is there an upfront cost or installation fees for new lines etc?
• Exit or switching fees. If you are likely to move or want to switch providers, bear in mind the potential costs here.

Broadband bundles or “offers” are heavily promoted to suggest savings or better value. However, deals like this are very much dependant on your priority as a customer.

Providers such as Sky Broadband bundles its services with TV entertainment packages. There are clearly savings here over buying those products separately, but only if you actually wanted them in the first place.

TV packages can be an expensive extra and perhaps worth less than opting for a faster connection. Simply by streaming free catchup services or watching Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ etc you could save on a license fee too!

What’s more, bundles can also sometimes limit the choice of available broadband packages. You might find broader options across speed and price when TV or anytime calls etc aren’t included.

Just remember to fully cost up each part of a bundle over the full term of a contract and make the right decision to suit your needs.

If you don’t use a home phone landline for calls, it can seem unfair to pay for line rental. While some broadband-only deals do remove this, they may not actually be cheaper.

Most domestic fibre connections use the UK’s BT Openreach network so line rental is enforced regardless of provider, with the exception of BT Broadband. Alternative services like cable, FTTP, mobile (4G/5G) and satellite broadband don’t use this infrastructure at all so this fee is gone.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the savings are passed directly to customers.

Are broadband deals without a landline cheaper?

Broadly speaking, probably not. Broadband options that don’t require landlines or line rental will tend to still pass those or equivalent costs on within monthly tariffs or setup fees.

Can I get cheap fibre broadband?

This depends on your definition of what “cheap” is. In a competitive broadband market there are certainly good, trusted providers offering affordable fibre deals suitable for most average family households. Shop around to get the most speed for your money!

Can I get cheaper broadband if I receive Universal Credit?

Yes, some providers will make concessions for those on recognised schemes. Social tariffs are designed to help those customers on lower incomes or those claiming disability benefits, for example, but strict methods of proof will be required for eligibility.

Am I guaranteed the advertised broadband speed?

Internet providers are subject to Ofcom’s minimum speed guarantees. This means that while you may not be guaranteed an advertised speed, the provider must deliver a minimum speed made clear to you beforehand. For example, Virgin Media policy sets this at 50% of the advertised deal speed on date of signup.

How long will it take for my broadband to be installed?

Standard UK broadband installations are usually completed within 14-days. This is normally an activation period for ADSL or landline fibre, because nothing is actually being “installed” at most home addresses. Installing a new service like Virgin Media may take longer to book an engineer appointment, with setup on the day lasting 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on complexity.

Can I switch to a cheaper broadband deal mid-contract?

Yes, but only by incurring an early termination fee first. Cancelling a contract before the minimum term expires, typically 12-24 months, for any reason will likely come at cost. This would make switching to a cheaper deal less cost effective overall.

What happens when my contract ends?

When the minimum period of a broadband contract expires, it doesn’t end the service. The broadband continues on a rolling contract with the same terms until you give notice of cancellation. You are free to leave or switch providers with no penalty costs anytime after contract expiry.

Why is my broadband so slow?

Broadband that is slower than the expected connection speed can be caused by many factors. It could be as simple as a weak WiFi signal or poor traffic management on your network. Peak times can cause global internet slowdown or there may be a fault on your line, so it’s worth monitoring the problem and consulting a provider if it persists.