Broadband Providers
There are many companies out there who provide broadband, but here is a list of the main players within the UK broadband industry.
Feel free to leave a review in the comments section of any of the companies listed here!
AOL
AOL broadband is owned by The Carphone Warehouse and has been running for some time now. All of AOL’s packages run on speeds of up to 8mbps and include a free wireless router, worth around £50.
AOL have “5 fundamental rules” which include:
- Take care of the customer, else another company will
- Arguing with the customer is the easiest way of loosing them
- Under promise and over deliver
- Respect customers
- AOL’s reputation can be effected by every employee.
AOL currently has an offer where the first 3 months are at a reduced rate. AOL also offer a “wireless flexi” package which allows you to cancel at any time.
View AOL’s broadband packages…Click Here.
BE Broadband
Be offer broadband at speeds of 8mb and much faster broadband at 24mb at competitive prices. Be is owned by O2 which means it has a solid back bone.
Be uses ADSL2+ which means that the advertised speeds are easier to reach.
Until the end of April Be is offering customers three months worth of free broadband.
To take full advantage of Be’s broadband plans you need to sign up to a 12 month contract. However, they can also offer a 3 month rolling contract for people who cannot commit.
From what I have read, Be offer a very high quality of customer support and this is something that they pride themselves with.
View Be’s broadband packages…Click Here.
BT
BT have three main packages and an anywhere package. All of their broadband packages can get speeds of up to 8mbps and have varying rates of data usage allowed. All of BT’s plans have a different amount of wi-fi phone minutes included.
BT supplies a BT home hub with their broadband plans so that you can get wireless internet access throughout your home.
BT claim that when switching from another provider you should be online again in 5 days. BT is one of the UK’s most popular broadband suppliers
View BT’s broadband packages…Click Here.
O2
O2 is continually one of the companies that I’m recommending on Compare Broadband. If you already use O2 for your mobile phone then you get a discounted rate for your home broadband. If you have mobile broadband with them you get a further discount on their home broadband of just under £3 a month.
Recently Which magazine ranked O2 as the best provider for customer satisfaction as well as this, O2 came in the top 9 out of 11 awards that Uswitch ran.
All of O2’s plans come with unlimited usage and either an 8 meg or 20 meg speed depending no which package you go for. Each of the plans comes with an O2 Wireless Box II, 10 O2 email addresses, 100 or more web texts along with free customer support and no connection charge.
O2 won money supermarket’s fastest actual speed award - which is hopefully a good sign for those of us who have not received the full, advertised speed from our connection.
Along with home broadband, O2 are a big supplier of Mobile Broadband.
View O2’s broadband packages…Click Here.
Orange
Orange is another mobile telecommunications provider to also offer home broadband along side their mobile broadband lines. They have three packages starting at £9.79 (or FREE for orange mobile phone customers) and go up to £10.50, or a lower discounted rate if you are an Orange customer.
Orange supply a wireless router and supply instructions for set up. Set up should be pretty easy, though they do offer to send someone around for £69.99 if you do need help.
Orange offer free online support and around 65% of UK homes can receive Orange broadband.
View Orange’s broadband packages…Click Here.
Post Office
The Post Office offer broadband starting at £15.61. This gives you a 5 GB download limit and includes a modem.
The Post Office’s broadband package may be more suited to an older person, as they give the ability to pay in Post Office stores for no extra charge. Their packages come with email protection and anti-spam and anti-virus.
All their broadband plans are on a 12 month contract.
View Post Office’s broadband packages…Click Here.
PlusNet
PlusNet have a good collection of broadband packages so most internet users should be able to find something that suits them.
Their value broadband plan offers speeds of up to 8mb and 10 gb of usage allowance. This works out at a pretty good offering for moderate level internet users. PlusNet’s other plans are for more internet heavy users, such as their unlimited plan which offers an unlimited usage and the same 8mb download speed. For gamers they also have their Pro plans which offers a 15 gb usage limit, but unlimited usage between midnight and 8am. This is perfect for late night frag sessions, or you could set up any large downloads to happen between those hours. Along with this you get a free wireless router and 240 minutes of VoIP calls.
View PlusNet’s broadband packages…Click Here.
Sky
Sky broadband is open to sky customers to use as part of their TV package and customers can sign up with Sky Talk (phone line).
Sky’s lowest spec plan is free as long as you have Sky TV. It comes with a 2 gb download limit which is good enough for most low level internet users (email, a bit of internet browsing and the odd download/video).
If you are already a sky customer you would get the advantage of being able to have just one bill to pay. From the people I know who use Sky for their broadband, they seem to have a good quality connection and fast download speeds.
View Sky’s broadband packages…Click Here.
TalkTalk
TalkTalk have recently changed the way they charge for broadband. They don’t offer everyone lots of additional features which end up costing everyone more, but they offer “boost” upgrades. Prices start at a reasonable £6.49 and line rental at £11.25. The default download speed is a pretty nippy 8mb, but you can upgrade this to 24mb with one of their boosts. Alternatively you can upgrade to have the ability to download more data.
Boosts cost £4 each and they are a good, affordable way to customise your broadband and phone package without paying a fortune.
View TalkTalk’s broadband packages…Click Here.
Tiscali
Tiscali offer a different range of broadband packages and you can also bundle them to include a phone line and TV.
Tiscali offer competative prices and offer a free modem with their plans along with unlimited usage and 8mb download speeds.
View Tiscali’s broadband packages…Click Here.
Virgin Media
One of the few companies to offer fiber optic broadband which allows for speeds of up to 50mb. All their plans come with unlimited usage, but different download speeds.
They supply a free router and a free piece of software called PCguard Total. This has anti virus software, a firewall and pop up blocked built into it.
Virgin Media’s broadband deals also come with their exciting new service, Vstuff.
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