Broadband Options
Broadband essentials explain the options available.
Broadband providers
There are hundreds of broadband providers in the UK offering thousands
of packages however Broadband essentials only uses the top broadband
providers in our compare
broadband provider service. You may never have heard of some of
them but these providers are the best around and are backed by some
of the largest companies in the world enabling you to sign up with
confidence.
Although there are many ways of receiving broadband the most popular are ADSL via your BT phone-line and cable broadband via your cable network. This is why we only compare suppliers who provide these two forms of service in our compare broadband provider.
Broadband speed
Broadband comes in many different speeds, that is the speed with which
data travels up and down your phone line or cable network. The standard
entry level is1Mb, this is 20X faster than a dial-up internet
connection.
Other lower speeds are offered such as 150Kb (3X faster than a dial-up)
and 256Kb (5X faster than a dial-up), 512Kb (10X faster than a dial-up) although 1Mb is generally
accepted as the standard.
Although 512Kbps is the standard entry level 1Mb (20X faster than dial-up) is becoming cheaper and cheaper and we think this will become the entry level very soon. With 1Mb broadband you can do everything that you ever wanted to do on the internet, pages load almost instantly and online game playing is awesome.
If you are looking to experience the full potential of broadband than a 1Mb connection is essential. Movies, online-gaming and instant access to pictures and words are at your fingertips.
There are also other speeds available such as 2Mb, 4Mb,8Mb and 24Mb.
Broadband usage
Most broadband packages have some sort of monthly usage allowance,
varying from 1GB to 15GB to 30GB to unlimited. This figure indicates
the amount of data you can transfer (download or upload) each month.
In order to simplify the comparison task we have split the way most people use the internet into 3 categories, we use these categories in our compare broadband provider service.
Standard usage
Download speed : 1Mb (20X faster than dial-up)
Bandwidth allowance : 3 GB/month
Perfect for most people, super fast Internet connection and downloading. Great for surfing, emails, photos, music.
Medium usage
Download speed : 2Mb (40X faster than dial-up)
Bandwidth allowance : Unlimited usage
For frequent downloader’s. Download even more at super fast
speed.
Great for surfing, emails, photos, music, gaming, video and multiple
connections.
High usage
Download speed : 8Mb+ (160X faster than dial-up)
Bandwidth allowance : Unlimited usage
For demanding Internet users. Download capacity for really intensive Internet use. Great for all types of usage; especially gaming, video and multiple connections.
Additional features offered
There are many different additional options available when looking
at broadband packages. Some broadband providers include some or all
of these additional features in there packages. See our compare
broadband provider service to review what is offered.
- Email – the majority of providers offer at least one personalised email account for free. The amount of space your email can use and the number of email accounts you get varies between providers.
- Web space – this enables to host your own web site. Like email the amount of space you get to host your site varies between providers.
- Virus protection – email virus protection stops your mailbox falling victim to the latest virus outbreak.
- Firewall protection – stops unauthorised users from ‘hacking’ into your computer.
- Parental control – enables you to block offensive websites and control email use.
- Junk mail/Spam filter – stops your mailbox being blocked up by all those annoying unsolicited emails.
Customer support
There are three main types of customer support:-
- By phone – most providers offer some sort of customer support via a call centre. The charges can vary for these calls so check up on how much your going to pay before you call.
- By email – this is a popular way of providing customer support. You email your query to your specified support centre and they usually get back to you within 24hrs. This service is usually free, again this is worth checking.
- Online help – another popular support service is to use online help guides and QA pages. It is more than likely that someone has had your problem before so a resolution can be easily found.
Contract options
There are two main options when looking into contracts:-
- Pay monthly with one year contract – these packages is usually cheaper and contains a greater number of additional features such as free modem and connection costs.
- Pay monthly with no contract – you can cancel your package with just one months notice.
Related pages:-
Broadband answers
Best broadband provider
Broadband providers
