WITH so many options available, searching for the best broadband deals can be an overwhelming task.
Luckily for shoppers, I’ve stumbled across five September savings, including one bundle that comes with a free TV.
If your broadband contract is up for renewal, it’s always best to shop around rather than simply signing up for another term with the same provider.
There are great deals to be had from companies looking to entice you in as a new customer and as most of us in the UK have several options when it comes to broadband, it would be silly not to check them out.
Your existing provider will likely come up with a few special offers to persuade you to stay as well, so it’s a win-win situation that will only save you money.
Top 5 broadband deals September 2024
*Prices are correct at the time of writing. Some of the below deals also require a set-up fee and/or a minimum contract term. Prices of some of the packages increase after the initial contract period.
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Bigger Combo bundle + Movies with M125 Fibre Broadband, £60.99p/m (Includes free Smart TV or £200 credit)
One of the best-known providers on the market when it comes to speed is undoubtedly Virgin Media.
They have made a name for themselves in this department, and it comes at a premium.
But there are plenty of plans that come with impressive speeds and extras for those on a budget, like the Virgin Media Bigger Combo bundle + Movies with M125 Fibre broadband.
Up to 132 Mbps is available for £60.99 per month for the first 18 months – and that’s not all.
Customers can enjoy over 10 Sky Cinema channels in HD, over 200 TV channels, unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines, and a free TV.
For a limited time only, new customers can claim a 43” Hisense TV worth £399 or £200 bill credit when they sign up for one of Virgin Media’s selected bundles on an 18-month contract.
BT
BT Full Fibre 100, 3 months free then £33.99
One solid provider is BT – a well-known brand that has been around for years and is a valid choice for those in the market for a decent-priced broadband plan.
There are a range of plans to suit most people’s needs, and there are some great incentives, too.
If you want broadband without breaking the bank, we recommend you opt for the BT Full Fibre 100 plan which is free for the first three months.
After that, customers will pay £33.99 for the plan which boasts speeds that are 25x faster than standard offerings.
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Three
Three broadband, six months half price from £12 per month
Three has slashed 50% off the cost of its 4G home broadband for six months.
After six months, your broadband will cost you £24 per month.
There’s no need for a landline, and you won’t have an engineer come to your home for set-up as Three describes its packages as ‘plug and play’.
On 4G, you can connect up to 64 devices, whereas on 5G, you can connect up to 30 devices and expect near-instant downloads with an average download speed of 150Mbps.
Sky
Sky Broadband Full Fibre 75, £28 per month
Sky often has some great TV packages, and the Broadband deals follow the same pattern.
Currently, you can get Full Fibre broadband for £28 a month with no upfront fees, providing you with a package that is perfect for entertainment.
If you’re searching for a speedier offer, you can nab the Full Fibre Gigafast broadband for just £44 a month, which provides you with an average speed of 900 Mb/s.
You can check out all of Sky’s broadband deals here.
Co-op
Co-op Ultrafast broadband, now £36 per month when using code MEMBER1B
Co-op is offering 20% off its plans, plus free set-up this month.
Ultrafast broadband now costs £36 for download speeds of 100-900Mbps, which is ideal if your family spends a lot of time streaming movies, downloading music or gaming.
Customers can opt for a 12 month or 24-month contract on all broadband packages.
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What is broadband?
Generally speaking, broadband refers to a high-speed internet connection that can be used to browse the web, stream films, play online games, and work from home.
Broadband replaced the old dial-up connections (also known as narrowband) in the early 2000s, ushering in the era of always-on, unlimited internet.
The first broadband connection in the UK was installed by NTL (today Virgin Media) in Basildon, Essex, in 2000.
By 2007, approximately half of all UK internet users possessed a broadband connection.
What types of broadband are there?
According to Ofcom, there are three types of fixed-line broadband in the UK: ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), cable, and fibre.
ADSL speeds oscillate between 8 and 24 Mbps (megabits per second), but they are heavily affected by your distance from the nearest telephone exchange.
Cable networks, on the other hand, use fibre optic and coaxial cables to deliver superfast broadband services, which are not affected by distance and can reach speeds of up to 152 Mbps.
Finally, fibre connections work through clusters of fibre optic cables and come in two different flavours: fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) and fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP).
In FTTC setups, the cables run from the telephone exchange to street cabinets before entering your home, while FTTP’s cables connect directly to your home, providing the fastest speeds available on the market.
For context, most FTTC connections in the UK provide speeds between 28 and 76 Mbps, while FTTP can reach up to 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps); that’s a 4K film downloaded in a few seconds!
In addition to these three types of broadband, there are also satellite and mobile options, but they are less reliable and generally slower than fibre connections (although that can depend on your location).
Mobile broadband is set to improve drastically with the deployment of 5G around the country, but coverage is still patchy, so it may take a while for mobile broadband to become a true alternative to fibre.
What other services can you get with broadband?
There are many broadband providers today that offer lots of additional services alongside their basic internet packages.
Perhaps the most common additional services are broadband and landline phone packages.
However, some providers now also offer unlimited calls towards both mobiles and landlines, together with vast amounts of mobile data to call family and friends via the internet.
To offer competitive deals, broadband providers bundle up a variety of additional services to appeal to potential customers.
Of these, perhaps the most popular are deals on TV packages, but mobile phone contract offers and streaming subscriptions are also a hit among customers.
What is a good broadband deal?
Many factors define a good broadband package.
Of course, speed is the most relevant, as without a fast connection, you won’t be able to stream films on Netflix or play online games with your friends.
Price usually goes hand in hand with speed, but there are a few providers who offer substantial discounts on top packages.
As a rule of thumb, the best broadband deals are the ones that cost around £30 per month and include both broadband and TV, with speeds of at least 59 Mbps.
What broadband speed should I go for?
If multiple people within your household use the internet to stream TV shows and films, or upload photos to Facebook or Instagram, you won’t need much more than 5-10 Mbps to avoid buffering.
If you’ve got a larger family, all of whom are streaming, online gaming, and/or uploading videos to Instagram and TikTok, you’re going to want something in the range of 20-40 Mbps.
You’ll want to consider faster broadband options if you’re regularly downloading whole films or games to your devices, or you need to upload substantial digital files to the web.
How do I choose the best broadband deal for me?
Once you know what broadband speeds you need and how much you’re willing to spend, the next step is to select the best extras.
Most UK broadband providers feature TV deals, but the channels they offer are different.
For instance, Sky offers the most channels, but its broadband speeds are slower than Virgin’s or BT’s.
In addition to this, when picking the right broadband deal for you, you should also consider mobile and streaming offers.
EE is a good example of this since the company offers several broadband deals, including Apple TV subscriptions, as well as discounts for pay-monthly customers.
How to compare broadband deals
To compare broadband deals in the best possible way, you have to assess their value for money.
In other words, when comparing a broadband and TV package with another one, you should check which has the lower price for the basic package and how much the extra costs.
What are the most popular broadband providers in the UK?
In terms of speed, Hyperoptic, Three and Virgin Media offer the best deals, but their coverage is not entirely uniform across the UK.
On the other hand, Now, BT and Sky offer the best options when it comes to TV and broadband combos, and you can’t forget about phone calls.
Many households still have a landline, so a provider offering a combined broadband phone package is going to appeal to many people.
Other popular broadband providers in the UK are Plusnet, Zen, and Utility Warehouse.
For more details about each, you can read our guide on the best UK broadband providers.
Will I get the advertised broadband speed?
From March 2019, Ofcom’s updated code of practice requires broadband providers to guarantee a minimum speed when you sign a contract with them.
The code is voluntary, but having said that, most UK broadband providers adhere to it, including BT, Sky, and Virgin, among others.
You just need to keep an eye out for minimum guaranteed speeds when looking at broadband deals with different providers prior to taking out your contract.
If your broadband is slower than the minimum speed after signing up, you can cancel your contract immediately and it won’t cost you anything in penalty fees to do so.
Can I get fibre broadband?
According to an Ofcom estimate, roughly 12% of UK households were served by fibre broadband at the end of 2019, and in 2023 this had risen to 52%.
Over half of UK homes now have access to full-fibre broadband – 15.4 million households.
Ofcom states that 97% of homes in the UK have access to superfast broadband, and most households can access ‘decent’ broadband, which they define as at least 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload speeds.
Most of the fibre packages available are FTTC connections, with FTTP still being the exception.
If you want to make sure you can get fibre, you can use these broadband checkers from Openreach and USwitch.
Which broadband deal is currently the cheapest in the UK?
When it comes to broadband, there isn’t generally a cheapest option as it depends on the mb/s you’re after and if the provider services your area.
It’s best to shop around to find the right plan or bundle for you.
Is it cheaper to get a broadband bundle?
Yes, it’s generally cheaper to go for a bundle offering broadband, TV and even phone services.
Basic broadband packages cost on average around £30 per month and TV bundles can cost between £10 and £15 extra each month.
Should I get a new broadband deal?
Most broadband deals last betweem 18 to 24 months, after which you’re out of contract.
Unless you switch to a better deal with a new provider or renegotiate with your existing provider, you could find yourself paying more money each month for the same package.
Once you’re out of contract, you can speak to your provider about their deals for existing customers or see if they can match the deal you’ve found with their competitor – it’s amazing how quickly costs can come down if they think they’re going to lose your custom.
What happens when my broadband contract ends?
At the end of your contract, your broadband service will likely continue as normal on a month-by-month basis but with a significant price increase unless you do something about it.
Many people don’t know exactly when their existing contract ends and, therefore, start paying more unwittingly and unwillingly when they could be getting cheaper deals.
Make a note somewhere of when your current contract ends so you’re prepared in advance, and you can shop around for the best deals when you’re out of contract.
Alternatively, to check when your contract ends, you can check your account settings on your broadband provider’s website or call their customer service number.
How do I switch providers?
To leave your current provider without incurring any extra expenses, you have two options.
The first is if your broadband does not reach the minimum guaranteed speed.
In this case, you can rescind your contract immediately and without any extra charge.
The second is that you must have completed your minimum contract term (when you sign up for a package, you’ll often sign on for 18 months or two years), and if you haven’t, you might have to pay a substantial fee to end your contract early.
If you’re unsure, check your contract to see how much time you have left or if your contract has expired.
If your initial contract has expired and you’ve been moved onto a rolling contract, you should be able to switch providers without any fuss.
However, if you’ve still got some time to go before your contract expires, you could look at upgrading your contract with your existing provider to boost your broadband speed.
Should I choose a broadband package based on price?
Price should be a factor in your choice of broadband provider, but it shouldn’t be the only aspect you take into account before making a decision.
Often, the speed available at your home will be down to the infrastructure of the wiring near you rather than the provider (find out your available speed using a checker, such as this one).
While price should be one of your primary concerns, also pay attention to your potential provider’s customer service ratings and how long it takes them to install your broadband.
We’ve picked out the best broadband providers if you’re looking for extra inspiration.
What else can I do to get good broadband?
If the speed of your broadband is good, but the WiFi is patchy in your home, it could be worth looking at getting a new router, a signal booster, or a mesh wifi system which uses multiple routers to ensure a steady internet connection.
If you’re a subscriber to a TV service, such as Sky, BT, or Virgin, you could get a discounted broadband subscription as part of your package.
