Post Office broadband: stamp of approval?

They're good at closing down rural branches and ensuring their counter staff are as surly as possible but is Post Office Broadband any good?

Just BT in disguise?

Many believe that what sets Post Office Broadband apart from its competitors in the ISP market place is peace of mind.

Post Office Broadband is actually managed by BT, some will conclude that any issues you may experience would be quickly resolved and you'll pay less for what is essentially the same service.

We're not totally convinced this is the case - providers like Plusnet and Orange use BT equipment without garnering the same reputation - but we will at least concede that dependability seems to be these deals' strongest point.

Post Office prices

Priced just below BT broadband rates, the Post Office Broadband service isn't the cheapest deal around but it is simple: no introductory offers or misleading deals.

* calls deal includes free mobile calls at the weekend and to 40 international destinations.

Post Office home phone isn't mandatory - although you will need a land line from somewhere for the broadband to work - we've included it above because it makes Post Office broadband about £7 cheaper.

With these prices Post Office are solidly positioned somewhere in the middle of their broadband competition.

Speeds and download allowances

Also firmly in the middle of the road are the Post Office broadband Standard and Extra deals' speeds and download allowances.

This is far from the fastest broadband. In fact, it's one of very, very few providers still advertising just up to 8Mb.

If you have a need for speed, you'd be better off almost anywhere else.

Post Office Broadband Standard offers a similarly puny 5GB of monthly usage.

5GB will be more than enough room for plenty of web browsing, although watching just a few hours of high-quality video a week could send users over that limit.

According to current subscribers, exceed the limit and Post Office will push you to upgrade to Extra.

Bear in mind that - for example - Plusnet Value and TalkTalk Essentials broadband offer twice or four times as much allowance for less per month.

For heavier downloaders, Post Office Extra has an unlimited monthly download allowance, subject to fair use policy.

We're heard rumblings from customers that the 'fair use' limit is as little as 40GB a month which isn't great compared to competitors.

Again, unfortunately for the Post Office, more usage is readily available for less money.

For example, Virgin Media broadband L is just £12.50 and O2 broadband Basics is just £13.50, or £8.50 with an O2 mobile.

Post Office line rental

As we mentioned above, taking Post Office homephone slashes the cost of the provider's broadband.

Post Office line rental is £12.25 which is cheaper than BT.

Both Evening and Weekend and Anytime bundles are unusual in that they both include inclusive mobile calls at the weekend and to 40 international destinations.

The calls deals also include a 10% discount to numbers on customers' top 10 'Loved Ones' list and up to 60 minutes free call time to phone your non-Post Office subscriber friends on birthdays or Christmas.

It's even better value to call other Post Office broadband and HomePhone customers: anytime calls to them are included free.

Plus, Post Office offers calls to a selection of international destinations at a rate of 5p per minute.

Customer service?

Customer service seems to be a divisive issue for current subscribers to Post Office Broadband.

Some claim they have spent hours on the phone waiting to reach a representative while others say they've had no problems at all.

But both sides agree that the representatives at the Northern Ireland call centre are helpful when they finally answer your call and that contacting Post Office Broadband's customer service team is a far better experience than contacting BT.

Fair use policy

Likewise, the fair use policy which restricts downloads for the most 'excessive' broadband tends to divide opinion.

The provider is one of the few to still leave the specific constraints it places on unlimited users' downloads vague, promising only that those it deems to use the service 'excessively' can face warnings and ultimate disconnection.

This should worry heavy downloaders - those regularly downloading large files, using P2P software or streaming in high quality - only, however.

So: Is Post Office Broadband any good?

If you're looking for a dependable, friendly broadband provider with decent prices that rival BT's then Post Office broadband could be for you.

Look elsewhere for the cheapest or the fastest broadband, though.

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