Guides
Guides
Plain-English guides to choosing, switching and paying less for broadband. Every figure is checked, and every source is listed at the foot of the page.
Guides
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Guides
Broadband when you rent, or live in a flat
Your landlord cannot stop you having broadband, but a freeholder can stop fibre reaching your building. What you can install, what needs… -
Guides
Rolling monthly broadband: what flexibility actually costs
No-contract broadband costs roughly 75% more per month than the same service on a 24-month deal. When that premium is worth paying,… -
Guides
Student broadband: the nine-month problem nobody prices for
University terms run about nine months. Broadband contracts run 24. How to avoid paying for a summer you are not there, and… -
Guides
What a postcode checker can and cannot tell you about your broadband
Per-address predicted speeds come from Ofcom and cover what the line can carry — not which providers sell to you. Where the… -
Guides
How switching broadband actually works now, step by step
One Touch Switch means you contact only your new provider. What happens on the day, how long you are offline, and the… -
Guides
What broadband speed do you actually need? An honest answer
Most UK households are sold more speed than they use. What streaming, calls, gaming and working from home really require — and… -
Guides
How we rank results, and what we get paid
Our default ranking is first-year cost. Some rows earn us commission and are labelled Ad. Neither fact changes the order. Here is… -
Guides
Your broadband provider just went bust. What happens to your connection?
Nine UK broadband brands disappeared in a single stretch of 2024-2026 — closed, merged or absorbed. What actually happens to your line,… -
Guides
Your Wi-Fi is the problem, not your broadband
Paying for 500Mbps and getting 40 in the back bedroom? Upgrading your package will change nothing. How to find the real bottleneck… -
Guides
Moving house with your broadband: the timeline nobody gives you
Take it with you, or start fresh? Exit fees, transfer rules, and why the single most important date is four weeks before… -
Guides
The landline switch-off: what happens to your phone when the copper goes
The analogue phone network is being retired and your landline moves onto your broadband. What changes, who needs to act, and the…Photo: K6 Telephone Box at Christmas Common © David Hillas, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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Guides
How to actually get a broadband complaint fixed
Automatic compensation, the eight-week rule and free independent adjudication. The escalation path that works, and the three sentences that unlock it. -
Guides
Is ‘unlimited’ broadband actually unlimited?
On fixed-line home broadband, usually yes. On mobile and satellite, frequently not. Where the caps still hide, and how to find them… -
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Business broadband vs residential: what the extra money buys
Often the same physical connection at twice the price. The three things that genuinely differ, and the one product name collision that… -
Guides
Broadband for gaming: why your gigabit connection still lags
Download speed has almost nothing to do with lag. Ping, jitter and packet loss decide whether you get killed behind cover —… -
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The broadband scams that work, and why they work
"We're calling about a problem with your internet" is the most successful cold-call script in the UK. What the scams actually look… -
Guides
Router security: the five-minute checklist
Your router is the only device on your network exposed to the internet 24 hours a day, and most people have never… -
Guides
Broadband for working from home: the three numbers that actually matter
Download speed is rarely why your video calls fail. Upload, latency and consistency are — and one of them is missing from… -
Guides
What ‘average speed’ on a broadband advert actually means
The headline speed is an average achieved by at least half of customers at peak time. The number that actually protects you… -
Guides
Broadband jargon, decoded
FTTP, FTTC, ONT, CGNAT, PPPoE, contention, wayleave. Every term you will meet buying or fixing broadband, in plain English, with what it… -
Guides
Getting broadband in a new build
New homes should come fibre-ready, and most now do. What to check before completion, what to do when the developer's arrangement is… -
Guides
Broadband for a busy household: five people, one connection
Four devices streaming, someone on a call and a console downloading. What actually breaks first in a full house, and why it… -
Guides
Why you can’t reach your home camera any more: CGNAT explained
Switched provider and your security cameras, NAS or game server stopped working from outside? You are almost certainly behind CGNAT. What it… -
Guides
Why your streaming buffers, and what actually fixes it
Netflix in 4K needs about 25Mbps. If you pay for 500 and it still buffers at 9pm, the problem is somewhere else… -
Guides
The altnets: the full-fibre providers you have never heard of, and why they are often cheaper
Altnets build their own fibre instead of renting Openreach lines. Why that makes them cheaper and faster, where they reach, and the…Photo: Laying fibre optic cable, Hedgerow Lane, Kirby Muxloe © Tim Heaton, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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Guides
FTTC vs FTTP: what ‘full fibre’ actually changes, and why it feels different
FTTC vs FTTP explained: why copper degrades, how full fibre cuts fault rates, what upload speed really affects, and how much speed…Photo: Fibre broadband is here, Dingestow, Monmouthshire © Jaggery, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
Saving money
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Saving money
The cheapest headline price is usually not the cheapest deal
£19/month can cost more than £25/month. How setup fees, intro offers and contract length change which broadband deal is actually cheapest —… -
Saving money
Mid-contract price rises: what changed, and what your provider must now tell you
Inflation-linked broadband price rises are no longer allowed on new contracts. What providers must tell you upfront, what it means for existing… -
Saving money
Setup fees, router charges and the costs that are not in the monthly price
Activation charges, router deposits, engineer visits, delivery, exit fees and reconnection costs. Which are normal, which are avoidable, and which should make… -
Saving money
Broadband bundles: when combining actually saves money
Bundling broadband with TV or mobile can genuinely save money, or can quietly lock you into paying for things you stopped using.… -
Saving money
Sorting out broadband for an older relative
Loyalty is expensive: the longest-standing customers usually pay the most. What to check, what to change, and the two things that genuinely… -
Saving money
Out of contract broadband: why your bill quietly went up, and what it costs you to do nothing
Ofcom says 28% of UK broadband customers are out of contract, paying £7-£9 a month more. Here is what that costs you,… -
Saving money
Broadband social tariffs: £800m a year goes unclaimed. Here is who qualifies.
Only 8.6% of eligible UK households claim a broadband social tariff. Who qualifies, what each provider charges, and how to move onto…
Rural broadband
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Rural broadband
Why your neighbour has full fibre and you do not
Two houses on the same street can have completely different broadband. The commercial logic behind where fibre gets built, and what you… -
Rural broadband
Fixed wireless broadband: the 58 providers most comparison sites ignore
If fibre has not reached your village, a wireless operator may already serve it. How fixed wireless differs from 4G home broadband…Photo: Local broadband mast © Dave Croker, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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Rural broadband
How villages get themselves connected when nobody will build
Some of the fastest broadband in Britain is in villages that dug it themselves. How community fibre schemes work, what they cost,…Photo: Fibre-optic broadband reaches the far north © Alan Reid, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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Rural broadband
No fibre on your street? 5G home broadband vs satellite vs waiting
No full fibre at your postcode? Compare 5G home broadband, fixed wireless, satellite and simply waiting — real UK prices and speeds,…Photo: Broadband relay mast at Enchmarsh © Pete Walker, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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Rural broadband
Starlink in the UK: an honest assessment of who it is actually for
Starlink in the UK costs from £40 a month in August 2026. An honest look at real speeds, sold-out cells, power draw,…Photo: Thatch and a Satellite Dish © Anne Burgess, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)