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There are always bargains out there for people considering a change. When it comes to cashback it is worth registering with Topcashback.co.uk. You will often see substantial cashback for Virgin, Plusnet, BT and Now TV. Moneysavings expert is also a reliable source for bargains.Their site does not mention whether phone calls are included.  With phone charges as much as 20p a minute on land lines this is an important thing to check on.  Also the length of the contract, as most companies will push the price up when they can. This applies particularly in the case of one provider, which has laid most fibre cable.  It can provide the fastest speeds (0ver 1000mb against some promising no more the 11 !) but that comes at a price.  Certain businesses (or internet freaks!) would be willing to pay for top speeds.

In May 22 the cheapest  was Shell offering and 18 month contract at £17.99 with John Lewis charging £20.50.  But, in my area at least, the promised speed was quite poor by modern standards. 

But most companies will offer a reasonable speed for less than £30 a month. e.g NOW TV, Vodaphone and Sky. But many now will offer a faster (fibre) alternative for more cash. I have to assume that they are renting spare capacity on existing fibre cables

BT, not to be outdone, is offering broadband at less than half price to people on benefits, starting at £15 a month. The benefts in question are Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Jobseekers Allowance, Income and employment support allowances.  This will continue for a year before a review.  Amazingly, BT reckons that 4.6 million households will be eligible.

A while back the Post Office is advertising totally unlimited broadband for £19 a month (up to 17Mb) with free setup. The router is sent free of charge. The contract is 18 months with a promise of no increases.  You would then be free to stay at a higher fee or move. n.b. this includes line rental. If you don't take one of their call packages the connection charge for a phone call is 18p. then there are charges per minute for UK and mobile numbers. Get the leaflet at a Post Office.

 The speed you get often depends and the distance to your nearest BT cabinet in the street. In most areas the speed of broadband has increased as BT has been connecting their telephone exchanges to the cabinets via the faster fibre optic cable, which the connection to your house is still by a copper wire.  With copper, unlike fibre, he greater the distance, the slower the speed

Connections via the mobile phone systems are also improving the speed. While 4G connections were very much faster than 3G, already 5G is planned with speeds expected to 200 times the speed of 4G. As these connections are from transmitters, one does wonder whether they will eventually overtake the need for digging up roads. Unfortunately Britain is dragging its feet, even with the installation of 4G and are ranked 29th in the world. This is blamed on planning regulations. And the speeds attained with 4G, at around 15Mbps, are much slower than those in places like Singapore and New Zealand. 

Virgin boosted my (fibre) broadband speed to 100Mb at no additional cost.  But I did find it quite expensive and eventually changed and went for Now TV at their basic 35Mb. A considerable saving with phone line and calls included.  Right now I am paying under £17 a month.  Long may it last !

Note, also that ALL broadband is very much slower UPloading than DOWNloading

hotspots (in my Glossary) In addition many town centres, pubs and restaurants have free wi-fi access, BT have thousands of Hotspots in the UK and Ireland.  Free to their broadband customers and phone contracts.  For others there is a charge e. g. £4 a day. If you search for Wifi on your wireless device you may see these with the FON word in the address. Some hotels are depending on this.

Compare Broadband offers (home or mobile) at www.broadbandgenie.co.uk. Also see smartphone, tablet and iPad deals.

If you don't even have a telephone line you can still access the net this way using a smartphone or tablet with a SIM card.  Click on Mobile Broadband for a Money Supermarket explanation.  Compare prices and claimed speeds But bear in mind that speed depends on your proximity to the transmitting masts and also whether you have access to 3G and 4G facilities.  In the City of London there is talk that they can get as much as 300 Mb by 4G ! 

If you can connect with your mobile phone you will probably find that you can enable your phone to become a Hotspot for friends who have a tablet but no phone connection

BT have a help page with a number of points to ensure that your broadband speed is maximised  http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12666#void()

area. Enter your post code at http://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/

Studies show that people using wi-fi get 30% slower speed than people who get it via a direct connection  So, if you want to get the fastest connection, connect via a cable to the router.

To get information about the situation at your local exchange enter your post code at http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/?

Good article on broadband choices at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-broadband

There is a comparison site at http://www.cable.co.uk/compare/broadband/

There might be various reasons as to why you are getting a slow speed and they could be:

• There may be a fault over the line outside the premise.
• There may be a fault with the internal wirings and devices.
• The number of other users online at the time (contention level)
• The overall usage across the Internet.
• The distance between your premise and the nearest server or digital exchange
• The condition of the copper cables.
• The condition of the weather (especially if your phone cable is visible outside).

Another useful site is http://www.ispreview.co.uk

To settle complaints about ISP's you can look at the following sites  www.ispa.org.uk (Association of ISP's) Ombudsman Services:communications ), www.cisas.org.uk  (Internet Services Adjudication Scheme)

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