Your lock-in period is almost up, and your time with your current broadband provider is coming to a close. While some people want to get a cheaper deal, others jump ship because they have bad experiences with their current provider. If you have been listening to your friend going on and on about his lightning fast broadband connection, especially when he refers to it as “best broadband in my area,” which is incidentally your area as well, here are some things that you need to know about broadband only packages.
Broadband providers do not advertise their actual speeds
When talking to a sales representative from the broadband provider, it is important that you check with them the average broadband speeds in your area. Some broadband networks will tell you that they offer speeds of up to 10MB, but in reality, the speeds are much less. One way to prevent this is to measure your own average speed using your current provider, and ask for the average speeds from the sales representative within your area. Remember that most UK broadband companies still deliver broadband access through copper wire technology. Your data will have to travel the length of the copper wire before it reaches you. This means that even if your friend boasts of fast broadband speeds, you can have a different experience by simply living a couple of miles away from him.
You may have to pay extra for broadband only deals.
Aside from Virgin Media, all of UK broadband providers still operate through phone so you may find that you still need to lease a phone line even if you only want their broadband. However, some broadband providers may actually allow you to get broadband services while maintaining the line of their competitor. This is far and few in between, and you may really have to talk to a lot of management levels to get this done. Most providers may start off by saying that they do not allow this simply because it is more lucrative for them that you sign up for the home phone service as well. If paying for an extra phone line is not within your means, you can also opt for mobile broadband. The downside is that it uses a 3G network, which can be slow if you use it inside your home.
Check out price comparison sites for best broadband only packages.
You can do it the easy way or you can do it the hard way. Call broadband companies or simply go online to check their prices and broadband speeds with just one click of a button. Enter your postcode, and these websites will automatically list all the providers and their corresponding prices. Most comparison websites even feature the special deals that broadband providers use to entice new subscribers to jump over to their service.
The Best Broadband Available can be different from the best broadband in yours. This is why it is important that you really scour the net for broadband only packages that are best for your needs. While comparison sites are helpful, make sure that you ask for the average broadband speeds in your area, do a cursory check if your neighbors are using it, and find out what they think about their service. Doing this extra step when searching for broadband only packages will save the trouble and frustration down the road.
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Wed, Feb 8, 2012
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