GETTING signed up with one of the best broadband providers in the UK will help you ensure great internet speeds at all hours of the day.
We've taken a look at the best options out there to help you find the right one for you.
What are the best broadband offers right now?
Whether you need a fast connection for work or streaming films, gaming or video uploading, broadband speed has never been so important.
Down below are some of the best broadband offers you can get right now:
- Hyperoptic, 50 Mbps average + Free Roku, £20 a month – buy here
- Vodafone, 63 Mbps average, £20.50 a month – buy here
- Now, 63 Mbps average, £20 a month – buy here
- Plusnet, 66 Mbps average, £23.95 a month – buy here
- Sky, 59 Mbps average, £25 a month – buy here
- BT, 60 Mbps average, £32.99 a month – buy here
- Zen, 31 Mbps average, £31.99 a month – buy here
- Virgin Media, 108 Mbps average, £44 a month – buy here
- Utility Warehouse, 63 Mbps average – get a quote here
- Shop Three's broadband deals here
How to get cheap, good broadband
There are a few tricks you can use to decrease the price of your broadband.
Most providers will give you a good introductory rate for the first year or 18 months of your contract, before bumping up the price significantly.
So, once your contract is winding down, it's worth shopping around and switching providers to keep your costs low.
It's easier than you might think to change providers, so if you're organised, you can save yourself a bundle.
Another way of getting a discount is spotting new providers offering good rates.
We snagged fibre broadband from Now TV when the company first started offering broadband for a much better price than others were offering at the time.
What's the best broadband provider in my area?
The best way to find out the best broadband provider in your area is to use one of the tools on a price comparison site, such as USwitch.
They'll check your postcode and work out which provider will give you the top speed.
What's the fastest internet provider in the UK?
Choose.co.uk reckons that Virgin Media provides the fastest internet in the UK.
USwitch also rates Virgin as the overall fastest provider in its Broadband and Mobile Awards.
However, it's worth bearing in mind that just because it's the overall fastest provider, it doesn't mean it'll be the best provider for you.
Some providers such as Hyperoptic are only available in limited areas in the UK, but can provide seriously quick speeds; one of their packages offers 1GB speeds, which is enough to download an entire HD film in less than 10 seconds.
We recommend checking a price comparison site to make sure you get the fastest internet available in your area.
1. EE Broadband
- EE broadband – buy here
A decent router, bundled mobile data deals, fast speeds and great coverage led to EE having a market-leading 87 per cent satisfaction rating from its customers in a survey by Ofcom.
That's enough to put it at the top of our rankings.
And even if EE doesn’t have a fixed network in your area, you can still buy its broadband using its 4GEE Home network.
The cheaper plans come with 10GB of mobile data included for EE mobile customers; whereas the more expensive plans give you 20GB a month, and all broadband plans are unlimited with no caps.
2. Virgin Media Broadband
- Virgin Media broadband – buy here
Awarded uSwitch’s Fastest Broadband Provider title for the past ten years (based on average speeds), Virgin Media’s fibre packages top out at 652 Mbps, with a whopping 1130 Mbps for the Gig1 Fibre Broadband package.
That'll give the average customer more bandwidth than they'll know what to do with.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 85 per cent of the customers that Ofcom surveyed were pleased with the speed of the service they got from Virgin, and 85 per cent were also satisfied with the reliability.
Although Virgin did rank comparatively poorly for response times on calls and webchat when it came to customer assistance.
3. BT Broadband
- BT broadband – buy here
Being the largest internet provider in the UK, BT offers the greatest fixed broadband coverage in the country.
Average speeds generally fall below EE and Virgin Media, even on its fastest fibre packages and prices aren’t that much cheaper either. Plus, the minimum term is 18 months.
On the plus side, you can often get a decent deal on your BT broadband by bundling it with a television package.
On the downside, BT broadband was at the lower end of the scale when it came to customer satisfaction with speed (78 per cent) and reliability (81 per cent); it's not terrible, but not as good as market leaders EE.
4. Sky Broadband
- Sky broadband – buy here
Similar to BT, Sky broadband is at the upper end of the price range when it comes to broadband.
The speed you get for your money won't blow you away.
But you can bundle a broadband subscription with a TV and/or mobile package, which could save you money.
Where Sky stands out is by generating the fewest complaints of the major providers surveyed by Ofcom.
It led the market with just 10 per cent of its customers having a reason to complain about the service, and also led the market with its complaints handling with 54 per cent satisfaction.
5. Hyperoptic Broadband
- Hyperoptic – buy here
Using its own purpose-built fibre-to-the-home network, speeds average a staggering 900Mb/s on its £40-a-month plan, dropping to a more-than-respectable 50Mb/s on its cheapest, £22-a-month package.
All plans are unlimited, come with free installation, and include the company’s Hyperhub router.
You also don’t need line rental. It’s no wonder it’s one of the highest-rated providers on Trustpilot with a trust score of 9/10.
It’s a shame availability is so limited but hopefully, if more people sign up, these fantastic services will expand across the UK.
Other broadband providers
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