Getting the Best Broadband Despite Broadband Advertising

You would have thought that broadband advertising would make things easier when it comes to choosing broadband. But the reality is that the broadband advertising strategies that providers use are almost always misleading. This has been a characteristic of the industry for some time.

This article will look through some of the things that you should understand about the advertising and also, ways to get the best deals on your Post Office Home phone Broadband, Sky Broadband, Virgin Broadband, or any other provider, without getting caught by any tricks or traps.

Misleading Advertising

It’s been the case for a long time that broadband advertising has been misleading. When you look at broadband speeds, you see an ‘up to’ speed that suggests it is the speed that you will get some of the time. The reality is that it is the speed that 10% of consumers on that network will get some of the time. It used to be the case that the up to speeds only had to be attainable by an even smaller proportion of the network’s customers. The situation has improved but it still means that 90% of the people that choose to take a broadband package are unlikely to get the speeds that they think that they are buying.

Fibre Optic Broadband

With fibre optic broadband, it is a little bit different. If you get Virgin Media Fibre Optic Broadband as opposed to Post Office Home Phone Broadband through ADSL, for example, you’re likely to get a much closer speed to your advertised rate. Some Virgin Media broadband connections have actually achieved rates above their advertised rate, and typically, Virgin customers will get between 95 or 96% of their advertised speed. It’s a similar case with BT Fibre Optic Broadband and other types of fibre.

Why is this? I hear you ask. The simple reason is that fibre optic broadband cables are designed to carry the internet signal. Unlike the copper cables that carry ADSL broadband that were designed for telephone voice data transfer, fibre optic broadband is really good at carrying internet data. A fibre optic cable has a core of optical fibres that are designed to carry super-fast broadband and then has an outer inner layer that reflects light back in. It then has an outer protection layer to make up the complete cable. The cables are being laid around the country and around 50 or 60% of UK currently has access to fibre optic broadband. This is going to increase over the coming years as more and more of the cables are laid.

Allowances from Different Providers

When you look for a provider, you’re probably considering whether you’re a light to medium or a heavy consumer. This will be based on the types of internet activities you do and how long you spend doing them. If you’re a heavy consumer, you’ll be attracted to the unlimited packages that seem to offer as much internet data as you could want to use every month. The reality is that, some of these unlimited packages have a limited amount of consumption per month allowed.

For example, if you look at Post Office Home Phone Broadband, you’ll see a limit or around 100 gigabytes on your ‘unlimited’ package. If you compare that with TalkTalk, it actually looks fairly good, with TalkTalk offering 40 gigabytes per month. The truth is, this isn’t very fair to consumers who think that they’ve got unlimited data, and therefore leave their downloads running only to find they are stopped and their package is cancelled. Indeed, some providers will actually throttle or slow your connection if you are using too much data, and after warnings, may charge you more or may cancel your service altogether; at your expense.

Additional Extras

You also have to be aware of additional costs that come with your broadband. For example, if you don’t want to pay by direct debit sometimes you have to pay a fee, which may amount to 1, 2, or 3 pounds per month. If you’re on itemised billing, you may also be added almost 2 pounds to your account. When you’re offered a free wireless router, is it actually free or will you have to pay an extortionate amount for delivery?

It really is important that you study the fine print of the packages that you’re considering to ensure that you get a deal without additional costs that take the overall package above the competition. It’s also crucial, as we’ve seen above, that you check out the fair usage policies and traffic management policies to ensure that providers don’t limit your usage when they say that you are unlimited, or even shape your traffic so that you can’t do certain activities, certain times of the day, on certain packages.

Post Office Home Phone Broadband, Sky Broadband, O2 Broadband Comparisons

When you’re comparing different providers such as Post Office Home Phone Broadband, Sky Broadband and all the rest, you must ensure that you’re comparing like for like. Some of the fairest providers out there include Sky Broadband, BE Broadband and BT Broadband. These companies either don’t have fair usage and traffic management policies, or are very fair in that regard. You should also watch out for line rental with ADSL packages.

For example with the Post Office ADSL, you have to have a telephone line, as you will with any other ADSL connection. But when you look at the advertising, it’s very difficult to see the line rental monthly cost added to the package. The cost may look very cheap, but when you add line rental of 13, 14 or 15 pounds a month, you see that all of the providers are scrunched up with similar cost then it comes down to the service that you can get, at the location you are in.

Which Providers are best for you?

The truth is, the best provider for you is not the best provider for someone else. It comes down to where you are, and what your personal requirements happen to be? Your postcode has a real impact on the connections available to you. For example, some areas cannot yet get fibre optic broadband and therefore are left with ADSL and mobile broadband as the only solutions. Some areas can’t even get ADSL2 of ADSL2+ and are left with the lowest level ADSL connections.  It all comes down to what is installed in the local telephone exchange.

As well as these considerations, you have to understand which type of user you are. If you’re a heavy consumer, then a package from Post Office Home Phone Broadband may not be appropriate with the limits in their fair usage policy. You may have to go for truly unlimited package. Similarly if you enjoy peer-to-peer file sharing, you’ll have to go for a network provider that doesn’t limit those activities. Understand your profile and then get a package that suits it. Look at reviews online and do broadband comparisons and ensure that you get the best possible service that you can achieve in your home