Compare Broadband

The Broadband Oracle aims to help you compare broadband providers, and has selected the best 10 broadband deals in the UK right now

Click through to find out more …

		Speed (Up to)	Downloads	Contract	Cost
We aim to help you to compare broadband as easily as possible, so all prices have been checked to be correct at time of publishing
	BE Broadband – BE Value Best Value Free wireless router 50% off first year use code NEWYEAR50	Up To 10Mb Down	Unlimited	12 Months	£17 (£8.50 1st 12 months) Buy
	BE Broadband – BE Unlimited Mid Range Free wireless router 50% off first year use code NEWYEAR50	Up To 16Mb Down	Unlimited	12 Months	£22 (£11 1st 12 months) Buy
	BE Broadband – BE Pro Super Powered Free wireless router 50% off first year use code NEWYEAR50	Up To 27Mb Down	Unlimited	12 Months	£27 (£13.50 1st 12 months) Buy
	O2 Broadband – The Basics Free wireless router £8.50 per month if you’re an O2 mobile customer, £13.50 if you’re not 50% off first year, plus £50 M&S Voucher	Up To 16MB	20GB	12 Months	£8.50 Buy
	O2 Broadband – The All Rounder Free wireless router £12.50 per month if you’re an O2 mobile customer, £17.50 if you’re not 50% off first year, plus £50 M&S Voucher	Up To 16MB	Unlimited	12 Months	£12.50 Buy
	O2 Broadband – The Works Free wireless router £21 per month if you’re an O2 mobile customer, £26 if you’re not 50% off first year, plus £50 M&S Voucher	Up To 16MB	Unlimited	12 Months	£21 Buy
	BT Broadband – Basic Free wireless router Includes free weekend and evening calls Free £25 Sainsbury’s Gift Card + 3 Months Half Price	Up To 16MB	10GB	18 Months	£13 Buy
	BT Broadband – Unlimited Free wireless router Includes free weekend calls Free £25 Sainsbury’s Gift Card + 6 Months Free	Up To 16MB	Unlimited	18 Months	£16 Buy
	BT Broadband – Infinity 1 Free wireless router Free £50 Sainsbury’s Gift Card	Up To 38MB	40GB	18 Months	£18 Buy
	BT Broadband – Unlimited Infinity 1 Free wireless router Free evening and weekend calls Free £50 Sainsbury’s Gift Card	Up To 38MB	Unlimited	18 Months	£23 Buy
	BT Broadband – Unlimited Infinity 2 Free wireless router Free £50 Sainsbury’s Gift Card	Up To 76MB	Unlimited	18 Months	£26 Buy
	Sky Unlimited Broadband & Calls Free wireless router Free evening and weekend calls £7.50 per month with Sky Talk Freetime 12 month Internet Security Suite Trial	Up to 20MB	Unlimited	12 Months	£10 Buy
	Orange Broadband & Calls Free wireless router Free evening & weekend calls Price is for Orange mobile customers 3 MONTHS FREE	Up To 20MB	Unlimited	18 Months	£7.50 Buy
	Plusnet Value Free wireless router No contract option – pay router and activation cost and cancel anytime with 10 days notice CHEAPEST ‘BROADBAND ONLY’ DEAL	Up To 20MB	10GB	12 Months	£6.49 Buy
	Virgin Media Broadband & Phone Free Wirelesss Router Fibre Optic Broadband Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines & Virgin Mobiles £5 per month for first 3 months & £50 credit – until 31st October 2010 – £12.50 per month thereafter	Up To 10MB	Unlimited	12 Months	£5 Buy

How to compare broadband providers

So, you’re here to compare broadband providers. We’re going to assume that you already know you want to change or take on a new broadband provider, however we’re going to give you some insight into why it’s important to properly compare the available packages out there, and how best to make that comparison.

In the modern world, there’s a phrase which has been coined which has become part of the usual vocabulary of those in the developed world. That phrase is ‘digital poverty’. Digital poverty, put simply, is a state in which an individual has severely limited or no opportunity to connect to the World Wide Web. As little as five years ago, you may have been laughed at for suggesting that a word such as poverty could be applied to the digital world, however with such a wealth of information and services now available on-line  anyone without an internet connection could be seen to be disadvantaged.

So, you obviously already understand the important of having a reliable and high quality internet connection, and have come here to find out which is the best one for your needs. We’re going to go through some of the key features of a good broadband package in order to help you to choose the right package for you.

Check through each of the following features to compare broadband providers

Speed

This is the one that all of the ISP’s bang on about, how fast will it go? There are a few caveats which we should start with. The speed which you get, won’t always be the speed advertised. You’ll often see that broadband providers advertise speeds of ‘up to’ a certain MBPS. Indeed even our very own broadband comparison table gives you speeds ‘up to’. This is because the speed that you receive at your home can be affected by various factors. Some of the biggest factors include the internal telephone wiring at your house and your distance from your telephone exchange, amongst other things. Just be aware of this when choosing your broadband speed.

The speed that you need from your broadband really depends on what you plan on doing with it. If you only need to use the web for light use, such as checking your emails or browsing, then you’re not going to need a lightning fast connection. If you’re planning on running SAS (Software as a service) applications, or even playing multiplayer games online, then you’re going to need a much faster connection.

Technology Type

The type of connection you need really depends on all of the other broadband features listed here. Now that the days of dial up internet are gone, there are only really two types of connection that you need to consider. That is – ADSL, or Fibre? To put it simply, ADSL is now the older technology, and whilst it can deliver some pretty impressive speeds (generally up to around 24 mbps), it is lagging behind its fibre friend. Fibre optic is the latest and greatest broadband technology, and in the UK at least, can offer speeds of up to 200Mbps.

We’d recommend making your broadband comparisons based on the other features we have listed here, rather than purely the type of technology used.
Download Limits

This is a pretty important one when you’re making a broadband comparison. Put simply, this means the amount of data which you’re allowed to download, generally measured monthly.

For normal fixed line broadband connections, the download limit is usually measured in Gigabytes (compared to mobile broadband which can be measured in Megabytes or Gigabytes).

The amount of data you need again depends on how you plan to use your connection. This is quite closely related to the speed that you’ll need as well. If you’re just planning on browsing or checking emails, then you won’t need loads of data. If you’re planning on playing games, downloading or streaming video’s or music, then you’ll need a lot more data.

Some providers do offer unlimited data limits, which can be a sensible option as the more you use the internet, the easier it is to find things to download!
As a rough guide – if you’re just browsing online, then you might only need a couple of GB’s worth of data a month, anything else then we’d advise getting more.

Throttling

Throttling is something that Internet Service Providers do to restrict the amount of bandwidth that you can access via your connection. Generally they’ll do it to manage the load on their services, and ensure that all of their customers have an acceptable level of service. Some providers will only throttle users at certain peak times of day, or some will throttle users that regularly reach or exceed their download limits, or even if they download certain types of data. Not all providers do this, but we would recommend you check the terms and conditions of the broadband providers you’re comparing to see whether they mention any kind of throttling or speed limitations.

IP Type

If you’re not already familiar with the concept of ‘IP’ or Internet Protocol, then this one’s not likely to affect you.

To put it simply, IP, or Internet Protocol is the set of rules that is used on the internet to send and receive data. When you connect to the internet, you will have an IP address, which is used to identify your connection. For most domestic internet packages, you’ll either have a ‘static’ or a ‘dynamic’ IP address. A static address doesn’t change, and can be useful if you need to host websites, or even for some chat or gaming software. If you don’t know whether you need a static IP address from your broadband connection, then a dynamic IP address will probably suit you fine.

Contention

Contention is the industry term related to the number of people using your connection. When you connect to the internet via your telephone exchange, unless you have what’s known as a ‘dedicated line’, then the connection which comes from your local telephone connection will also be used by other users, most likely your neighbours.

The contention can be measured with a contention ratio. As an example, a content ratio of 1:1 means that your line is un-contended. These types of line don’t come cheaply, so you’ll have to pay if you want this kind of line which won’t become congested with other user’s traffic. A more likely contention ratio would be something like 1:50 or 1:100 – meaning that you’re sharing your line with 50 or 100 other users respectively. This isn’t as bad as it may sound; however it could does mean that you could suffer slower speeds at peak times when other users on your line are also using heavily.

Be sure to consider this when comparing broadband providers

Contract Length

This one really does come down to your personal circumstances. As a general rule of thumb, the longer the contract that you agree to, the better deal you’ll get. Whilst this is a general rule, we still advise you to carefully consider all of the different aspects of your package when comparing broadband providers, to ensure that you really are getting the best deal.

Some providers will offer a one month rolling contract; some will offer 12, 18 or even 24 month contracts. Consider that as with any kind of subscription contract, the longer that a company knows they will have you as a customer for, the more money they know they will make from you, so the shorter contracts will cost more.

Any extras

Finally, when you’re looking for the best broadband provider for your needs, consider any extras that the ISP may throw in, these could include things like;

• Promotions – some providers will give away vouchers or gifts when you take out a package
• Hardware – a lot of providers will offer you a free broadband router, check whether it’s wireless or not before making your decision
• Voucher or discount codes – some providers will give you as much as up to 6 months half price or even free
• Some broadband providers that also offer other services (such as Sky or BT), will offer you discounts or special deals on some of their other services, such as TV or telephone lines.

Finally, we recommend that you get quotes from as many broadband providers as possible to make sure you’re getting the best price.