Finding the Cheapest Broadband Deal

What is the cheapest broadband deal in the UK?

While that’s a completely reasonable question to answer, it’s also a tough one. Don’t worry, we’re not going to bury the lede. But there are a few caveats that we need to get out of the way before we look at the UK’s cheapest broadband deals.
Firstly, the cheapest broadband deal available will depend on the kind of connection that’s available in your area. It also depends on what other services you want added in with your broadband. For instance, many budget broadband providers also offer TV packages and home phone deals. But when you add more channels and features onto your package, costs can rise considerably.

Cheapest broadband only deals

Broadband only deals do not include any TV digiboxes or extra channels. They include the cost of your connection and, in most, cases, the cost of renting a line from Openreach. There are several kinds of broadband connection available and these will have implications for the kinds of speeds that are available and ultimately the price you pay.
These are:

• Fast (ADSL connection)
• Superfast (Fibre To The Cabinet / FTTC connection)
• Ultrafast (Fibre To The Premises / FTTP connection)

Mobile connections are also available to areas where a wired connection may be impractical or too slow due to distance from the nearest exchange cabinet. These are usually capable of achieving superfast speeds and with the advent of 5G can even achieve speeds comparable to FTTP connections. Restrictions may be placed on the amount of data you can download with these plans, or downloads may be unlimited with tiered speeds affecting pricing.
Let’s take a look at some of the cheapest deals on the market for each. Some of the prices listed are promotional or will rise significantly after the initial contract period (usually 18-24 months) has ended. Where possible, we have included the post-contract prices as well in order to give you a well rounded price comparison.

Cheapest fast broadband deals

Fast broadband is achieved through an ADSL line. This uses the same copper cables as your phone line and can achieve download speeds of around 10 Mbps. This type of connection remains the most attainable and affordable. If you’re looking for the cheapest way to get online, this may be it.
However, the cost gap between ADSL and superfast fibre broadband is narrowing. Indeed, some of the cheapest fibre deals are actually cheaper than a couple of these ADSL deals as we’ll soon see.

Cheapest superfast broadband deals

Superfast fibre is obtained via a fibre optic cable rather than the copper cables of a phone line. Signals can travel much faster through fibre optic cable at speeds close to the speed of light. Most Superfast broadband deals require a line rental which is included in all the prices listed below. They can achieve speeds starting from over 30 Mbps and up to almost 300 Mbps.
Because connections are shared with others in the exchange cabinet, you may experience fluctuations in speed at peak times. And now that fibre broadband is available in 96% of the UK, there’s an excellent chance you can save money and get online faster.
Nonetheless, these deals hit that sweet spot between performance and affordability.

Cheapest ultrafast broadband deals

Ultrafast broadband is achieved by way of a direct Fibre To The Premises connection. Also known as “full-fibre” this guarantees much faster speeds (over 300Mbps and up to 1 Gbps) and more consistent performance as the connection is not shared with others in a cabinet. However, these ultrafast deals tend to be more expensive. And only around 14% of UK households are able to get this kind of connection. That said, as we can see from the table below, it’s possible to get a lightning-fast connection at below the average monthly bill of £30.

Cheapest mobile broadband deals

Mobile broadband deals can be tricky because they tend to have prohibitive data caps. Here we’ve included deals with a low monthly cost that nonetheless have generous data allowances that should be sufficient for all but the heaviest-usage households.

What is the cheapest unlimited broadband provider?

There was a time when broadband tariffs placed restrictions on your downloads every month. Now, however, the vast majority of connections have unlimited broadband. This is subject to fair use policies and traffic management policies that are imposed by individual providers. Nonetheless, they’re functionally unlimited for the vast majority of households.
The cheapest unlimited broadband providers at the time of writing include:

• Pop Telecom
• NOW Broadband
• Hyperoptic
• Onestream
• Shell Energy

What is the cheapest broadband package?

Broadband packages can be used to make further savings by bundling broadband with TV and phone packages. Some providers like SSE, Utility Warehouse and Shell Energy will even offer bundles that give you a discount on your gas and electricity.
Most of the time, TV and landline call packages are treated as add-ons which are independent of your broadband contract. Let’s take a look at some of the cheapest broadband packages on the market today.

Cheapest broadband and TV packages

Here we’ll look at the TV packages that can be added to your broadband deal so that you can find the option that gives you the best value for money…

Sky broadband and TV packages

Sky is widely regarded as the gold standard when it comes to Pay TV. Sky is constantly overhauling its selections of channels and TV packages. Its standalone TV packages are as follows and can be added to any broadband deal:

Virgin Media broadband and TV packages

Virgin Media’s TV packages can be added to your broadband bill starting at £7 per month. There are four basic packages to choose from including:

• Entertainment & docuseries
• Entertainment & drama
• Entertainment & lifestyle
• Entertainment & sport lite

These contain familiar favourites like Sky One, Comedy Central & Gold. What’s more, you can switch between these packages whenever you like to get a better mix of channels. To these basic packages you can add “premium picks” such as:

• Sky Sports collection (add £31.75 per month)
• Sky Cinema collection (add £21 per month)
• Sky Sports & Cinema (add £39.25 per month
• Kids channels (add £5 per month)

BT broadband and TV packages

BT TV has 6 TV packages that you can add to any broadband plan. These are powered by NOW TV and start at £10 per month. TV packages include:

• Entertainment- Sky Atlantic, Sky One, Discovery, Comedy Central and many more. (£12 per month)
• Big Entertainment- As above plus NOW Cinema membership. (£22 per month).
• Classic Entertainment- Comedy Central, Discovery, Gold and other premium entertainment channels. (£10 per month).
• Sport- All 4 BT Sport channels plus BoxNation. (£15 per month)
• Big Sport- Adds all 11 Sky Sports channels and Eurosport 1 and 2 to the above. (£40 per month).
• VIP- Combines the Big Sport and Big Entertainment packages. (£65 per month).

TalkTalk broadband and TV packages

TalkTalk has a “TV Select” package that can be added to any broadband deal for £4 per month. This is the basic package, and includes access to 13 entertainment channels, including Sky One and Sky Witness. To this, numerous “boosts are added”, allowing you to build your own budget-friendly TV package:

Cheapest broadband and phone deals

If you like to use your landline, you’ll find that virtually all broadband deals include the ability to make calls on a Pay As You Go basis. For ADSL and FTTC fibre customers, calls are made through your Openreach line. For customers with FTTP connections, where line rental is unnecessary, calls can be made via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Call packages can be added to your broadband bundle to cover anytime, evening and weekend or international calls. Here we’ll look at some of the providers with the cheapest broadband and phone deals…

NOW broadband and phone packages

NOW broadband’s already cost-effective broadband packages include unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines and mobiles absolutely free of charge for the first 12 months. Their packages are as follows:

Plusnet broadband and phone packages

Plusnet’s broadband packages are available with or without unlimited calls. In the table below you can see the cost of all of their packages including unlimited anytime minutes to UK landlines and mobiles.

TalkTalk broadband and phone packages

TalkTalk has a host of reasonably priced broadband deals. While they don’t include unlimited anytime calls by default, they all include unlimited calls to other TalkTalk numbers.
Broadband deals are as follows:

How do I get the cheapest broadband deal?

We’ve looked at some of the cheapest broadband packages on the market as well as the cheapest TV and call packages. But how do you get the cheapest broadband deal? The Broadband Plans team are always here to help you find the cheapest package for your needs and usage, but we’re also here to answer some questions that will help you find the best broadband deal…

What's the cheapest type of broadband in my area?

The cheapest broadband depends on what kind of connection is available in your area. Use Ofcom’s broadband checker to see what kind of connection is available where you are. Most households in the UK are able to get at least an ADSL connection or even a cheap fibre deal. Where there is little or no cabling infrastructure, you may be able to get an affordable mobile broadband deal.
However, for a rare few household, the only way to get online may be via satellite broadband. This is only provided by specialists like Big Blue and Airwave. Monthly costs are generally much higher (as much as £80 per month) and installation costs can be very high at around £600.

Where can I get cheap broadband for pensioners?

While there are no broadband deals specifically for pensioners, there are lots of budget-friendly options that should be more than adequate for this demographic. Most pensioners have fairly light needs so will likely do well with a cheap ADSL deal from the likes of NOW or Pop Telecom. Or perhaps an entry-level fibre broadband deal from NOW or Plusnet.

What are the cheapest student broadband deals?

Again, there are no broadband packages specifically for students. But the cheapest student broadband deals will be those that combine robust download speeds with a decent monthly price, as several members of the household are likely to be online at the same time.
There are lots of good fibre packages that should give you speeds at the 100 Mbps range at a reasonable price.

Can I get unlimited mobile broadband?

Although most mobile broadband deals will impose data limits, there are numerous mobile broadband deals that will provide you with unlimited data. Here are some unlimited data-only SIM deals that can be used with a wireless dongle to bring you home broadband:

How to compare broadband deals

As happy as the Broadband Plans team are to guide you towards the cheapest broadband deals for your needs, we also have some advice on comparing broadband deals to search through a sea of broadband deals to find the right package for you.

Find the right broadband speed

Your broadband speed will dictate the price of your package. The cheapest deals tend to be the slowest, although there’s not much cost discrepancy between a well-priced ADSL package and an entry-level fibre deal.
The truth is that not every household needs a superfast fibre, and very few need speeds as high as 1 Gbps. Even bandwidth-intensive activities like streaming in 4K UHD or downloading / uploading large files can be accomplished with speeds of between 30 and 50 Mbps.

Is 10Mb broadband enough?

While 10Mb is fairly slow in broadband terms, it’s still more than adequate for browsing, shopping and social media use, as well as streaming music, light online gaming and streaming video in HD.

Bundle offers

Does your prospective Internet Service Provider also offer phone and TV deals at reasonable prices? While you should get the right selection of channels for your viewing habits, it’s important to be realistic about how many films or sporting events you’ll really have time to watch. In the age of streaming services, many of us don’t get the same value for money from pay TV that we used to.

Contract terms

Finally, it’s important to make sure that the terms and length of the contract suit you. Make sure you understand the fair use policy on your unlimited broadband plan, and that your activities won’t be impeded too much by the provider’s traffic management policies. By rule of thumb, the longer your contract, the cheaper your monthly subscription will be. But be wary. Switching mid-contract can result in punishing termination fees. And you will likely need to pay off the rest of your contract (or at least a portion of it) upfront.
Let Broadband Plans find the cheapest broadband deal for your needs
The Broadband Plans team will take the time to get to know your needs and help you find the cheapest broadband deal that meets them. We can even manage your switch for you to bring you better broadband faster.
Want to know more?
Give us a call today on 0330 818 6395 .

FAQ

Who has the cheapest broadband and line rental?

Many broadband packages today also include the cost of renting a line from Openreach. This is true of all ADSL and Fibre To The Cabinet connections. The cheapest option for both broadband and line rental is Pop Telecom’s ADSL deal at £17.50 per month. However, they also have a fibre broadband deal for just £20.50 per month.

Should I get a cheap broadband deal?

While you should certainly factor in the cost of a broadband deal when making a decision, you should also think about:

* The speeds you can get with the broadband deal
* The length and terms of the contract
* The quality of your router / hardware
* The provider’s customer service record (Trustpilot is a good place to measure this)

What are the cheapest broadband providers and packages right now?

At the time of writing, the lowest priced broadband packages are the ADSL and entry-level fibre packages offered by:

* Pop Telecom
* NOW Broadband
* Hyperoptic
* Onestream
* Shell Energy

Can I get broadband without a phone line?

Yes. But only if you live in an area where a Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) connection is available. This gives you a direct “full-fibre” connection straight to your home, bypassing the exchange and negating the need to rent a line from Openreach. However, these deals are usually more expensive than FTTC broadband with line rental.