The Student Guide to Broadband | September 2010

By Sam Smith Staff Writer Friday, 3 September 2010

Student Broadband Where can I see & compare the best student broadband deals? Compare student broadband deals Finding the right student broadband deal... Pssst! There is an easier way to make the right choice for student broadband. We've taken all the available options and crunched them into a simple form that matches you up to the right broadband package in seconds. STEP 1: Use your postcode to compare broadband deals STEP 2: You'll be presented with a list of packages that match your requirements. Have a look at provider it lists as your first choice. If the price, package, sign up cost, minimum contract length etc. all suit your needs, click the 'sign up now' button. STEP 3: After filling in a few personal details, you will be redirected to the provider's website where their sales team will take care of you. STEP 4: Depending on who you choose, your connection should be up and running in 1 - 2 weeks. I want to... find the best student broadband package for my needs

SO you've finished haggling over the tenancy agreement with your new nemesis - a.k.a. 'the landlord' - and you've drawn the short straw: sorting out the internet connection.

And it is a short straw: dodging the gimmicks launched at you by over-zealous internet providers whilst trying to find something that will get you connected to the virtual world without eating too far into the precious booze budget.

But fear not my beer-swigging bean-eating friends, help is at hand...

Our current student broadband top choice is O2's Premium Broadband Deal: fast with unlimited downloads and a snip at just £10 a month for O2 customers.

O2 Premium is £15 if you don't have an O2 mobile number to hand. However, it's worth noting you'd still save money and effectively get free calls if you get an O2 PAYG SIM and top it up by just £10 every 3 months.

Read on to find out why they made the cut and what your other options are.

Things to Consider #1
Contract or no contract?

The first thing to consider is how long you're going to be staying in one place. The chances are that you won't be in your student house for a full twelve or eighteen months so obviously you don't want to be tied into a long contract and risk the cancellation fee ... or do you?

There are a few disadvantages to contract free student broadband deals:

• They're often more expensive
• You usually have to pay an activation fee (from £24)
• You almost never get a free modem or router included

To get an idea of what is available without being tied into a long contract, check out the short and no-contract broadband packages that are available at the moment.

On the other hand, if you go for a longer contract but you choose to leave before the end you'll usually have to buy out the remainder so check the cost of the first year of broadband access in any of our price comparison tables rather than multiplying the monthly price by the length of your tenancy agreement.

Comparing student broadband like this can have some surprising results. For example, let's say you have a nine-month rental contract.

You could get Be Broadband Unlimited on a short contract for nine months: broadband costs, line rental and setup will come to £311.54 altogether.

However, if you got O2 Broadband Premium on a 12 month contract instead you'd only pay £288.14 overall.

Things to Consider #2
Broadband only or a broadband bundle?

The vast majority of broadband deals will require - at the very least - line rental as well as broadband, although you can also bundle up with TV. The exception to this rule are home broadband-only deals from Virgin Media or mobile broadband packages (see #4).

With other student broadband providers you'll need to add £11.54 a month to the monthly price for BT line rental (or slightly less with other phone providers).

So you've decided that you want student broadband, but what about TV?

Think Sky Sports: endless hours of footy action from the Premier League to the Blue Square Premier. If that sounds like a course that you could get on board with then broadband bundles can save you some money.

There are a host of packages available that combine broadband, TV and phone. Check out which providers are offering the best bundles here.

Remember that even if you decide to skip the bundles fearful of the many wasted hours watching Lost repeats and Spanish football and go for broadband only you may still need to factor in your line rental on top of your bundle costs.

Things to Consider #3
ADSL or Cable?

There are really just two main methods you can now receive your student broadband connection:

• Through the existing copper wires of the telephone system in your student house (ADSL)
• Through fibre optic cable which is usually a lot faster than ADSL connections (Cable)

So cable is obviously better, isn't it? Not always.

For starters, cable broadband is not available everywhere in the UK. Virgin Media say that their fibre optic network now covers 52% of the UK and fibre from BT Infinity will reach 4 million homes by December this year.

However, ADSL covers practically the entire UK, including some of the remotest areas.

A simple postcode or phone number check, either in one of our broadband comparison tables or through your provider - will tell you immediately whether your new student house can receive a cable connection.

Cable can also be erratic and is generally considered not as reliable as ADSL. You're also limited in choice when it comes to choosing a cable package, in fact, you really only have two choices, step forward Virgin Media and BT Infinity.

On the plus side - and this is a huge plus - Virgin Media cable doesn't require you to have a landline which makes it perfect for shared student houses where everyone has mobile.

However, the more common ADSL broadband is offered by scores of providers and with so much competition, prices tend to be more student-friendly. You can also cut the price of your line rental by switching from BT and bundling your phone line with your student broadband.

Things to Consider #4
Mobile Broadband

Mobile broadband is now well established as a means to get broadband on the move. So long as you have a mobile dongle (also known as mobile USB stick or USB modem) plugged into your laptop and there is mobile phone coverage in the area, you can gain access to the internet.

Gone are the days of walking down the street laptop in hand looking for unsecured wireless networks.

Have a look at the mobile broadband section of our site which allows you to compare mobile broadband deals.

Impressive stuff eh? But is it suitable for students?

Yes...

• No line rental required
• This is real student broadband because you can use it wherever you need to study (the coffee shop, your student house, in lectures, back at home during holidays etc.)
• Your broadband and your accommodation are entirely separate, which means no wrangling with housemates over shared costs and nothing to tie you down if you need to move in a hurry.
• Though download allowances are notoriously small there are some notable exceptions such as 3 mobile broadband 15gb and Orange's Panther unlimited mobile broadband

No...

• There are strict limits to how much you can download (usually between 3 - 15GB) and going over is very expensive.
• While speeds are generally ok they are not nearly as good as some dedicated ADSL or cable packages such as those offered by Be Broadband (up to 24Mb) or Virgin Media (Up to 50Mb).

Things to Consider #5
Cheaper broadband with a mobile contract

Being a student is all about learning how to milk what little money you have. So if you're already paying a mobile phone contract with O2 or Orange, you might be interested to hear that they also offer their customers cheaper broadband.

O2 customers can save a whole £5 a month from their standard package, bringing it down to a very cheap £7.50 a month. You don't have to have O2 pay monthly, either: O2 pay as you go customers also qualify as long as you top up at least £10 every 3 months.

Orange customers can get their student broadband for £7 when they sign up to an Orange pay monthly mobile phone contract, these start from £15 a month.

In short, if you've got a mobile phone contract with one of these networks, you could save a great deal of money on your broadband package that could be put towards purchasing that Oxford Dictionary of Advanced Philosophy you've had your eye on...

Things to Consider #6
Cheapest Student Broadband

When all is said and done, you might just want student broadband as a simple tool for gaining access to the dissertation saviour that is Wikipedia.

We would recommend checking out the Plusnet Value package. Granted, it does have a 10GB monthly usage limit, but it comes closer than all other broadband providers we've seen to offering both a student-friendly low price and solid reliability (it's also packed with extra features - including truly unlimited off-peak downloads).

For the best cheap and cheerful student broadband packages available have a look at the cheapest broadband in the UK here.

Our overall winner

Overall, we think the best broadband for your student digs is O2 Broadband Premium. It's excellent value for money, offers superb customer service so you'll never have to argue about who has to phone them up, comes with unlimited downloads, the most leniant of fair use policies - with no speed throttling - and up to 20Mb/s download speeds with up to 1.3Mb/s upload speeds, so it's perfect for sharing.

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