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Cheapest Fibre Broadband

Fibre Optic Broadband Deals

Fibre broadband is now available to over 97 per cent of households in the UK, so if you haven't upgraded to fibre connection yet, you could be missing out on the extra performance and bandwidth that it offers. If you are thinking that it's time you switched then you'll want to know more about what's involved and how to find the best fibre broadband deals.

What is fibre?

Fibre broadband means that the signal is delivered at least part of the way to your property using fibre optic cable rather than the older, copper telephone cables. It's important to note that there are 2 types of fibre broadband, fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) and fibre to the premises (FTTP).

For most people, the fibre broadband deals they can access are FTTC. This means the fibre cable from the exchange terminates at a street cabinet (the green box at the end of your road) and the signal then comes the rest of the way to your house on copper cables.

This has an effect on performance because the further you are from the cabinet, the lower the speed will be. Even so, an FTTC connection should allow you to get fastest speeds of up to 80 Mbps if you're within 150 metres of the cabinet. At 300 metres away you should get around 45 Mbps.

FTTP connections mean that the fibre optic cable comes all the way into your home or business. This form of broadband is less common, only available to around nine per cent of the UK, and mainly in cities. FTTP, also known as 'full fibre broadband', offers faster speeds of 300 Mbps or more.

Do I need fibre?

If you already have ADSL standard broadband (asynchronous digital subscriber line - delivered via the copper telephone network) then you need to consider whether it's worth checking to upgrade to fibre. This will depend on how you use the connection.

If you are just checking emails and maybe a bit of online shopping, banking and browsing social media, then ADSL with average download speed will probably be sufficient. If any of the following apply to your household, however, then it's probably worth you upgrading to superfast speed of fibre:

  • You have more than five devices connecting to the internet - PCs, smartphones, smart TVs, smart speakers, games consoles, etc.
  • There are more than two internet users
  • You stream TV from iPlayer, Amazon, Netflix, etc.
  • You regularly play online games
  • You upload videos and photos regularly
  • You make extensive use of cloud storage services such as Dropbox and OneDrive
  • You work from home
  • You use IP calling services such as Facetime and Skype

Fibre broadband offers more bandwidth than ADSL, making it faster and more reliable with less outages. When it comes to streaming media, for example, you won't have those annoying pauses while the data buffers.

Comparing fibre broadband deals

The first thing to consider when looking at fibre broadband deals is what broadband speed you need as all households don't need ultrafast broadband. As a general rule, you need to have 10 Mbps for each person who is using the internet. Add an extra 10 Mbps if you have a high definition Smart TV, especially if it's 4K. If anyone is downloading and playing online games then allow them 20 Mbps.

Once you have an good idea as to what average speed you need, you can look at what's available in your area. Most service providers and many comparison sites have a postcode checker which will tell you if you can get the service and what speed you are likely to see.

The next thing to look at is cost. At the time of writing, the cheapest fibre broadband deals are available at great price of around £22 per month. ADSL isn't all that much cheaper, perhaps a couple of pounds a month, so given the performance advantage, you may think that fibre represents better value for money. You also need to read the small print; some providers offer an attractive price to begin with but the price will go up after a few months.

We've talked about the speed you need from your broadband, but you also need to think about the volumes of data you'll be downloading or streaming. An HD movie, for example, will be about 4GB in size. Some broadband deals place a cap on the amount you can download each month and if you exceed this, you'll be hit with an extra charge. If you know you'll be downloading a lot, look for packages that offer unlimited downloads. Note, however, that even an 'unlimited' package is usually subject to fair use limits and may restrict what you can download at peak times.

Broadband often comes in bundles with other services such as TV and landline calls. Some providers will also give you a better deal on your mobile phone service if you take it from them too. These things are only good value if you are actually going to use them, so don't be coerced into paying for something you don't need.

Almost all fibre deals come with a router. Check to see if you are going to be charged a delivery fee for this; indeed check if there's any form of one-off setup fee at the start of the contract. If you have a large household or lots of devices, you may want to upgrade to a better router. This will be an extra cost so make sure that you factor it into your calculations.

Most fibre broadband contracts are for 12 or 18 months, if you leave before the time is up, you will have to pay a penalty. If you're not comfortable with this, some providers offer a rolling month-to-month contract although this is likely to be more expensive. On the other hand, you may be able to get a better price by signing up for a longer period of two years or more.

Top service providers

There are lots of companies offering fibre broadband deals in the UK. The major providers including BT, Sky and Virgin offer a range of packages, often bundled with TV and phone line deals. Note that Virgin uses its own network, so they can provide ultrafast fibre but it is not available in all areas. Other well-known broadband providers include TalkTalk and mobile companies such as EE and Vodafone. Plusnet is owned by BT but offers a 'no frills' service.

With providers other than Virgin, it's important to understand that regardless as to which firm your contract is with, the service is delivered via the Openreach network. This means there is usually very little difference between the performance you can get from different suppliers. It also means that it's worth considering smaller companies that you may not have heard of. A number of retailers and even the Post Office offer fibre broadband services, so there are plenty of options. At times, providers offer excellent deals to new customers, and switching from your current provider might secure you a better deal at the same price.

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BT

With the BT infinity package, customers are offered superfast broadband which can reach speeds of up to 76Mbps and BT sport comes as a standard.

EE

EE stands for Everything Everywhere and it offers free calls, superfast home broadband and brilliant freebies such as Norton Online Security.

John Lewis Broadband

John Lewis provides simple 12 month contracts for home phone and broadband services.

NOW TV

With NOW TV customers can access their Sky entertainment and catch up on their favourite shows.

Plusnet

Plusnet provides a best value broadband service which wouldn’t break your bank.

Sky

Sky offers a wide range of broadband, phone and TV packages which often come with discounts and offers.

SSE

Popular for its presence as one of the leaders in the UK energy market, SSE now also offers great value broadband deals.

TalkTalk

TalkTalk makes good home entertainment options very affordable, with simple broadband packages offered at just £3.50 per month.

Three

Three, 3, provides mobile broadband services allowing you to gain access to the internet on the move.

Virgin Media

According to the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, Virgin Media has been the fastest provider of broadband packages in the UK for the sixth year running.

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