Choosing a provider for broadband is very much a minefield with so many different companies talking about speeds and download amounts. Some will offer you combined phone and broadband and some even throwing in some form of TV service in as well.
First you need to find out what is available in your area. If you have a telephone line already then there is a good chance it is a BT line. You may also be in a cable area. There are several websites that can tell you exactly what is available. Just because you have a BT phone line, you are not restricted to providers selling BT back haul. A LLU or local loop unbundling service is when an ISP will get their own hardware installed within the exchange so you don’t share the same line. Normally this means you end up with a better connection speed especially at peak times and the quality of service is excellent. This can work out cheaper as well. There are websites available which by entering your postcode and phone number, will tell you what LLU services are available at your exchange. If your area only has one LLU or does not have any at all, don’t panic- it just means that you will mainly use BT’s services until it reaches your ISP.
Advertised speed and what you will get are two very different things, and the giant 8 or 24mb that catches your eye will normally have a rather tiny “up to” in front of it. Whereas before with ADSL 1 you had a fixed speed, but ADSL 2 and ADSL 2+ you get the fastest speed the line can take stabley. Normally the closer you are to the main BT exchange the better the speed you will get.
You also need to look at the bandwidth allowance you get and this is how much data you can download. If you are someone who checks their email once a week and has a quick read of some news feeds then you are not going to need much. However if you are a large family doing a lot of online gaming and streaming TV programs, then you will chew up a lot of bandwidth. Look at the small print as to what times they class on and off peek download times, for some this can be 0800 to 0000 and so can be a big surprise but others can be 1600 to 2200 which is a lot better if you are quite often home in the day.
Free or cheap hardware is often available to you, but don’t expect anything quality, its aimed at a novice so just be careful. Don’t forget to read all the small print both on the advertisements, but all so the contract. As you do not want to be left paying 50 pounds a month for the next 33 after a great 5 pound deal ran out after three months. Any comparison needs to be a gold for gold, so you may need to do the maths to turn all the speeds, download limits and costs into common figures to ensure your getting the right deal at the right price.
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