Best Broadband Deals for March 2008

Broadband for less than £10

The £10 price barrier has been well and truly broken! There are now no fewer than 10 companies offering broadband for less than £10 a month. However, not all of these companies provide their service nationwide. For a useful comparison table, with a postcode checker, click here.

Virgin Media
If you live in an area where you can get the Virgin package for £4.50 then I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It's a 12 month contract. There is a £25 set-up fee, but if you order online you get a £10 online discount. Cable connections tend to be very reliable and you don't need a BT phone line. Out of the current cheap deals it stands out from the competition as it allows unlimited monthly usage, and is a respectable 2Mb connection. If you can get it in your area it is the one I would choose. Visit Virgin Media.

However, if you can't get Virgin for £4.50 in your area then it is likely that your cheapest options will be BT, Tiscali and Plusnet.

BT Total Broadband
BT's Option 1 provides speeds of upto 8Mb, and has a sensible 5GB a month usage allowance. the vast majority of internet users are very unlikely to exceed this limit. It costs £8.95 a month for the 1st six months, but after that the price does double to £17.99. If you're looking for a true bargain then this isn't it, but, BT have been very reliable lately, and if you want a hassle free life then buying your phoneline and broadband from the same company is worth considering. One of the risks of having a different broadband provider is that they may blame BT and BT may blame them if something goes wrong. It does happen! Visit BT Total Broadband.

Tiscali
The £7.99 package from Tiscali is great value. It increases to £12.99 a month after 3 months, but it does include free weekend phone calls which may well save you a few pounds a month. The 1MB speed limit is perhaps a little slow these days, but it is still fast enough for general surfing and sending and receiving emails. With unlimited monthly usage allowed there is no danger of spending more than you plan to each month. All in all it's a good package. Visit Tiscali.

Plusnet
Plusnet have a couple of options, for £9.99 a month, one of them with a 1 month contract, the other with 12 months. See this page for a table that may help you decide which one to choose. To pay only £9.99 a month you will need to keep your usage within 1GB a month, which may prove difficult unless you're a light user. However, extra usage is just 75p per GB if you add it upfront or £1 per GB if you just pay for any extra as you use it. If you're a light user I would pay the extra £1 if and when you need a little more usage. Visit Plusnet.

TalkTalk
For £8.99 a month you can get a connection from TalkTalk with speeds of upto 8Mb and a 40GB monthly download limit. You'll need to switch your line rental to them, as they won't provide the service unless you do so. However, you will be able to make unlimited calls to local and national UK landlines, and for an extra £1 a month you can make unlimited calls to 30 countries worldwide. Visit TalkTalk.

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Best Deals for Power Users

If you use the net a lot then the safest bet is to go with BT Total Broadband Option 3. It's not the cheapest, but it gets consistently good reviews, and comes with an impressive array of hardware.

Alternatively, you can pick up a 16Mb, unlimited usage connection from Sky, which also gives you Sky TV and free UK weekend & evening calls. The broadband runs down your BT phone line.

David Macfarlane, Internet Consultant, Future in Sites Ltd.