The Gadget Show’s Jon Bentley looked into broadband deals on Monday night’s show, to try and find the cheapest broadband deals in the UK. Here were his findings:
First the basics. On any broadband deal there are two main variables you shoud consider: speed and download limit.
a) Speed
In other words how fast your broadband internet connection is and how quickly it can feed data into your computer. It’s measured in megabits per second (meg = mbps). Jon Bentley suggested that if you’re just a ‘gentle Googler’ then up to 2 meg speed should be fine; but if you regularly stream video, download photos, movies and music, ie you’re a heavy broadband user, then you could need up to 8 meg broadband – especially if you have several people in the household each doing these things on separate computers.
b) Download limit
That is, how much data are you allowed to download each month? The Gadget Show’s Jon said that these days, more and more deals are advertised as having unlimited downloads. However, a recent campaign by The Gadget Show has shown that many broadband companies will throttle back on your internet connection if they feel you’re downloading too much. So, Jon concluded, in practise there are very few truly unlimited broadband deals as far as download limit is concerned. For most people a 15 Gigabyte limit per month is enough – that equates to around 300 album downloads a month. However if you regularly download, you may want to look at some of the unlimited deals.
So which broadband companies did The Gadget Show’s Jon Bentley recommend?
1. Zen Broadband
Jon admitted that Zen weren’t the cheapest broadband provider, but they provide great service. The cost is £35 for up to 8 meg. They’ve won this year’s Which? Award for Best Broadband Provider, and they were voted PC Pro’s best ISP for the past 5 years. One month contracts are also available with Zen, which means you can try them out first without being locked into a long contract.
More information on Zen Broadband
2. Sky
If you have or are thinking of getting Sky TV, Sky Broadband may be worth a look. Sky customers can subscribe to Sky’s up to 16 meg service with truly unlimited downloads for an additional £10 per month. Plus, Sky will throw in a free wireless router. the only drawback Jon Bentley could see to the Sky deal was that some areas of the UK are not covered due to phone line issues.
Click here for more information on Sky Broadband
3. O2 Broadband
According to The Gadget Show, the best all-round broadband deal on the market comes from O2. The O2 Ultimate service is super fast at up to 20 meg, and just £15 per month for existing O2 customers, and just £20 a month for everyone else. There is a free wireless router, no connection charge and a free 24 hour UK-based customer service helpline. The O2 Ultimate broadband is advertised as unlimited but Jon Bentley warned that it does come with one of those annoying fair usage policies. Nevertheless, The Gadget Show recommended O2 Broadband as their top pick of the broadband providers in the UK.
More information on O2 Broadband
