Revealed: Our Top 5 Broadband Products

Selecting a Broadband package is a minefield. It’s a market being driven by too good to be true monthly tariffs and promises of free and super fast connections that just don’t add up. Our quick guide to broadband cuts through the fog. We’ll tell you which package is the best bet depending on your requirements.

Best for Unlimited downloads

High users will be looking for the best unlimited download packages, so they are not paying extra for their internet usage. High users would include those using the internet for more than five hours a day, downloading lots of music, movies or playing online games for long periods. Regular and extensive users of the BBC iPlayer would also fall into this category.

For unlimited downloads, the best deals available are with Sky broadband or Virgin Media. These are the only two companies who have truly unlimited download packages. All of the others apply a ‘fair usage’ policy, so in effect there is a limit on those.

Best for Low usage

If you do not surf the internet that much, rarely download anything and send few emails, you will be classed as a light user. This would also be the starting point for internet beginners too.

If you’re sure that you’re a lower user, then here are the best packages. Plusnet’s Value package will give you 10GB of download usage per month BUT will cost you £6.99 to set up, then £5.99 for the first three months, and a total of £132.87 for the first year. If you go over your usage limit, you will pay an extra £2 for 2GB that will be added to your bill for that month.

The 10GB limit will allow you to watch five hours of BBC iPlayer, send around 6,000 emails, and download 500 songs – you can surf the net for as long as you want.

If you download between midnight and 8am for some providers – Plusnet included – this will not count towards your download allowance, which gives you extra for free.

BT’s Option 1 would be a decent choice too if you prefer dealing with a bigger company. It offers free set up, a 20Mb download speed and 10GB download limit for £7.99 for the first three months. The total cost for a year is £167.88. This ties you into an 18 month contract.

While you may start as a low usage user, over time you are likely to use the internet more – we are all starting to. So check you are not going over your limits each month – you will find any additional charges on your bill. If you do, then change your package.

You can also track your usage by  installing a free broadband download tracking software.

Best for Speed freaks

If you want the fastest download speeds available, you are going to have to pay for them.

You can get broadband up to 200Mb per second now with Virgin Media – which is on trial – or 100Mb per second more widely.

At present, the Virgin Media Broadband XXL is giving up to 50Mb per second of download speed, depending on where you live. But it costs. You pay a £55 one-off set up cost, and £33 a month for the speed – £496 in the first year. This is for a 12 month contract.

You should check what speed you can get on your phone line though before shelling out for super-high speed internet. Your cables might not keep up.

Do a broadband speed test before signing up to a package. It could save you a lot of money in the long run.

If you are not able to get a download speed of more than 8Mb per second, there is no point in spending an extra £35 per year. So compare your deals carefully before you buy.

Best for No contract tie-in

If you prefer to be flexible with your broadband deal, then go for one with a rolling one-month contract, that allows you to quit with just a month’s notice.

The AOL Broadband Wireless Flexi deal has a 10 GB download limit, 8 Mb download speed, and a monthly fee of £4.99 for the first three months. There is a one-off set up cost of £29.99 and the overall cost for the first year is £179.87. This may not be available where you are though – this search was done for north London.

The best deal for Birmingham was with Zen Lite is a higher speed one-month rolling deal, at 20Mb, but you pay for it. The download limit is just 5GB, and it costs £17.99 a month – plus VAT. In all, you would be paying £21.14 a month. With a set-up cost of £92.83, you have a total cost in the first year of £308.71.

Best for Mobile Broadband

The improbably-named dongle is giving us the freedom to roam and still get internet access. The cheapest deal per month is currently with 3. Its Lite 1GB for 18 months or 24 months costs £7.50 per month for internet access up to 7.2Mb and 1GB of downloads.

The dongle itself costs nothing, and the total cost for the first year is £90. You over usage charge is 10p per Mb.

If you want to pay as you go, then the O2 dongle costs £20 to buy, and you need to upload £10 a month onto it. The overall cost for the first year is £140, but you are on a one-month rolling contract, so you can change your deal at any time.