The BIG broadband briefing
5 need-to-knows including...

- How to pay just £13/month including line
- Who gives the best service
- Why 4 million miss out on free/cheap tariffs
- The best place to put your router

There are very few cheap deals for only broadband - bizarrely, perversely, it's usually cheaper to get it with home phone line rental too, even if you don't then plug a phone in. So before we go any further...

Check now what you pay for broadband & line rent. Many pay £40+/month & can halve it - saving £200+/year

Seven million people are out of contract on their broadband, and most can pay less and get it faster. The key trick is pouncing on short-lived promotions which we list in our Broadband Unbundled comparison. Or if great customer service is crucial for you, we reveal the top providers. On with the must-knows...

Most broadband providers must now offer new and existing customers the same tariffs. So to attract switchers they instead offer short-lived big sign-up incentives. We factor that in over the contract length to help comparison.

Yet they don't do this on their own sites - likely so existing customers won't see, and as those coming directly to their sites probably plan to sign up anyway. Instead they carry out the price war via comparison tools.

We try to collate those deals in our broadband comparison, and here are the current winners. Standard broadband is usually fine for browsing or light streaming for one person. If multiple people use the connection at the same time, or you're a gamer, faster speeds will help.

Will you get the advertised speed? Since 2018 the rules have stated 50% of customers must get the advertised speeds at peak time (8pm-10pm).

All bigger providers must also indicate your estimated minimum speed pre-application and all three above will let you cancel penalty-free if your speed doesn't meet the minimum for three consecutive days, and they can't fix it within 30 days.

Here are the results of our latest customer service poll, which had 20,000 votes. Broadband as a sector tends to have far lower ratings than other areas, so a score of 5/10 is actually, relatively, not that awful.

However, there are a few firms that perform well, though you'll pay more. At the top of the pile is Cuckoo - our pick of its deals is £29.99/month for 67Mb superfast fibre broadband & line. A soupcon behind is the slightly better-known Zen, where newbies pay £29.99 upfront, then £32.99/month for 31Mb fibre broadband only, equivalent to £35.49/month over the 12-month contract. These links go to our top pick tables, so you can easily compare their costs with other providers'.

This is our view, and we're the first to say it's a judgement call, but looking at price and service, we think Plusnet is probably the best mix of the two right now.

Its basic deal is already a winner on price, and its fibre and superfast fibre are only a few quid a month more than the very cheapest, and nearly a tenner a month cheaper than the top-service deals. Its 6.5/10 rating is good for a bigger provider and as it's BT-owned, it has the 'name you know' factor many people like. Currently its top deals all end Monday, including...

- 10Mb basic broadband & line - '£13.27/month'
- 36Mb fibre broadband & line - '£19.76/month'
- 66Mb superfast fibre broadband & line - '£21.93/month'

All these include some form of incentive for signing up, and the price we're giving factors that in. The links go via our Broadband Unbundled tool which explains the full details.

Six providers currently offer discounted 'social tariffs' and the regulator Ofcom says more than four million people are eligible for them, missing out on savings averaging £144/year.  

We've just added a full list of top discounted social broadband tariffs to our comparison, including biggies BT Home Essentials and Virgin Media Essentials, plus TalkTalk's six months' FREE broadband for jobseekers.

These have consistently low tariff costs, so are - for most who qualify - unbeatable price-wise if you want to stick with one provider for a number of years. Though if you're a regular switcher (barring the TalkTalk deal) you will be able to undercut them by riding the top deals above for the switching incentives and changing every year or two.

As James wrote on Martin's Facebook page about the BT deal: "BIG savings for anyone on universal credit. Takes seconds to set up. My bill has halved." 

Broadband isn't just about picking the provider - there's a host of other ways to improve your price and experience.

- Slow broadband? Test your speed - is it the Wi-Fi or the connection? It's always worth a broadband speed check, yet the best thing is to do this twice. First using your Wi-Fi, and then if possible by plugging your laptop or computer into the router if you can. If the speed is substantially slower by Wi-Fi you may need to...

- Put your router higher up and make sure nothing is blocking it. A nice high router, not hidden in a cupboard or by walls, should help your speed. And of course nearer is better. For more, see our 8 speed-boosters to make it faster.

- Members of cashback sites can sometimes undercut deals. Our Top cashback sites guide explains how these sites work - they often feature broadband deals and give cashback on them. In some cases, factor in the cashback and they can undercut promotional deals elsewhere, though don't assume it's the same deal: they can be structured differently, so check carefully.

- Switching is usually done remotely and only means about two hours' downtime. You're told the switch time in advance and it's often quick. Most won't need an engineer to visit, but with switches involving Virgin it's more likely - you're usually told before you apply. 

-  Happy where you are? Haggle to cut the price. If you're out of contract and happy with the service you get, still check out the prices above (and double-check they're available in your area). Then take them to your existing firm and politely and charmingly haggle.

Broadband firms are usually easy to haggle with. Of those who tried, in our last poll in November 2021, the success rates were over 70% for Sky, BT, TalkTalk and Virgin. See how to haggle down the cost of your broadband.