Fast Broadband

By Neil Hawkins Senior Staff Writer Wednesday, 12 November 2008

Fast Broadband Deals The Top 6 fast broadband deals Be | 24Mbps £18 Eclipse | 24Mbps £7.50* O2 Broadband | 20Mbps £20 Virgin Media | 20Mbps: £26* Sky | 16Mbps £27 UKOnline |16Mbps £24.99 * Intro price only. Price increases after certain period (eg. 3 mths). Best Fast Mobile Broadband T-Mobile Mobile Broadband | 4.5Mbps From £2 PAYG Compare Fast Broadband Compare fast broadband deals (shows all the UK's fast broadband deals in a useful comparison table) Compare Fast Mobile Broadband Compare fast mobile broadband deals (shows all the UK's fast mobile broadband deals in a useful comparison table) Related Broadbands News See our other recent related news stories: Best broadband for speed Which broadband provider offers the fastest broadband speeds? Neil Hawkins takes a look at the UK's top fast broadband packages and assesses whether they are worth subscribing to. How to compare broadband speeds When you compare broadband looking for the best fast broadband deal, there are at least 5 things you need to keep in mind, as broadband speed expert Neil Hawkins explains. O2 or Be Broadband: Which is better? They're owned by the same company, and they both offer super fast broadband speeds, but which is better: O2 or Be? We pitch these two broadband giants head to head and find out. Will new fast 4G mobile broadband sound the death knell for fixed line fast broadband? Tests of the new fast 4G spectrum are showing really fast broadband speeds for mobile broadband providers - from 30Mbps up to a massive 170Mbps. And how far off is this? Try 12 months, says Bruce Stevens.

IF there is one thing people want more than cheap broadband - it is fast broadband. A fast broadband package, after all, can deliver the web the way it is meant to be experienced.

In this simple guide, we'll help you choose the best fast broadband deal available.

You can use any of the links below, or on the sidebar to the right, to sign up for the UK's best fast broadband deals.

Fast broadband - what's it all about?

Broadband connections are measured in Megabits per second (Mb) which defines the maximum download speed available on your connection.

So how do we define fast broadband? Well, we consider anything about the 'up to 8Mbps' speed of most standard broadband packages to be considered fast broadband.

The way these fast broadband speeds are delivered is via so-called ADSL2+ or by fibre optic cable. At the moment, these technologies are delivering ‘up to’ 24Mbps in speed (see Be Broadband and Eclipse Internet).

Fast broadband speeds are getting even faster:

• Virgin Media is on the brink of launching its 50Mb service (and promising 200Mb by 2012)
• BT is currently trialling 40Mb broadband in two areas of the UK

So from next year, the fast broadband landscape is to change markedly.

And with the vent of 4G mobile broadband in the next couple of years, speeds as high as 170Mbps could be possible without the need for wires at all.

So why should I get fast broadband?

A fast broadband package is akin to being a rabbit in a tortoise race!

With a fast broadband connection, the web becomes an even wealthier embarrassment of riches - pages will load instantaneously, songs will download in seconds and youc an enjoy high quality streaming video without interruptions or that annoying spinning wheel.

In short, the web with fast broadband becomes a lot more colourful and a lot more fun to use.

Gamers can benefit from a fast broadband connection because the latency and ping times experienced are usually that crucial few milliseconds lower, allowing you to blow away your opponent before they see you!

For more serious users, fast broadband is not just about easily accessible movies, tv and music. It also enables data to be transferred at high speed, meaning you’re not left hanging around waiting for the latest Windows update or software patch.

I want fast broadband - what should I be looking for?

If you want fast broadband, the single most important thing to look out for is unlimited usage. How much usage does your provider offer? If it's unlimited, what is the fair use policy like?

The leader in this respect is Sky Broadband which only last month dropped its fair use policy altogether.

This means that all of Sky Broadband's unlimited fast broadband packages (with speeds up to 16Mbps) are totally and completely unlimited. You can download what you want, when you want, as much as you want!

Sign up to Sky Broadband See, Speak Surf Max (£27 per month incl Sky TV)
Review of Sky Broadband See, Speak, Surf Max

The next most lenient in terms of fast broadband usage is Be Broadband. While they do have a 'fair use policy', it is considered to be by far the most relaxed fair use policy of all.

Sign up to Be Broadband (from £8 per month)
Read review of Be Broadband

On the other hand, Virgin Media has a peak time traffic management policy. Too much peak time use on Virgin Media and you face having your fast broadband connection temporarily turned into a not so fast broadband connection in a process called 'throttling'.

Also consider the higher upload speed available with ADSL2+ providers. Be Broadband and O2 Broadband for example offer upload speeds in the region of 1.3Mb whereas ADSL lines are normally only around 256Kb.

For fast mobile broadband, T-Mobile Mobile broadband covers all the bases: it is by quite a long shot the fastest mobile broadband in real terms (in terms of actual usage, not advertised speed) and is currently the only UK mobile broadband provider that does not charge if you go over their usage guideline.

Sign up for T-Mobile Mobile Broadband
Compare all T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Deals

Who offers fast broadband?

Be Broadband offers up to 24Mb in speed whilst sister company O2 Broadband offers up to 20Mb (they actually both offer identical speeds, O2, however prefers to advertise the speed you are likely to receive, whereas Be advertises the theoretical maximum speed).

Sign up to Be Broadband (from £8 per month)
Read review of Be Broadband
Sign up to O2 Broadband (from £7.50 per month)
Read review of O2 Broadband

Newcomer Eclipse Internet has just started offering 24Mb fast broadband speeds across all its packages, making it only the second broadband provider after Be to offer such fast broadband speeds.

However recent tests have shown that many Eclipse users struggle to reach anything like the desired 24Mbps, but this could be down to teething problems with their new technology. We will keep an eye on this.

Sign up to Eclipse Internet! (from £7.95 per month)
Read review of Eclipse Home Lite

Virgin Media is the other major fast broadband provider delivering speeds of 10Mb and 20Mb via its cable network, but promises speeds of 50Mb soon.

Sign up to Virgin Media (from £9 per month)
Read review of Virgin Media

Sky Broadband offers 16Mb broadband but you need to be a subscriber to its satellite TV service to benefit. Sky allows TOTALLY unlimited data usage, so you can download as much as you like.

Sign up to Sky Broadband (incl TV & phone) (from £17 per m)
Read review of Sky Broadband

In addition, UKOnline - which is owned by Sky and is one of the unsung heroes of fast broadband - has packages of up to 16Mb available.

Sign up to UKOnline Broadband (from £14.99 per month)
Read review of UKOnline

And finally, for fast mobile broadband, the clear winner is T-Mobile Mobile Broadband which, in speed tests, outperformed its nearest rivals by 25% for downloads and a massive 60% for uploads.

Sign up for T-Mobile Mobile Broadband (From £2 per day PAYG)
Compare all T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Deals

Can I get fast broadband?

Most fast broadband provider’s high speeds are only possible because they have installed their own equipment in your local BT exchange. Not every exchange is enabled and some services are only available in certain areas.

You should therefore check which services you can receive with our postcode checker (you can do this from the 'Find a Provider' tool on our home page) when you search for a new connection in your area.

It’s the same story for Virgin Media’s cable broadband network. Only certain areas have cable under the pavement and so again, check your postcode to see what you can receive.

Like all broadband connections, fast broadband speeds are limited by the distance between your home and the local telephone exchange. That said, most people should be able to increase their speed with ADSL2+, as a rule if you live 2km from the exchange you’ll receive around 16Mb broadband.

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