Is TalkTalk Broadband Any Good?

While not exactly as 'free', as they claimed back in 2006, TalkTalk's broadband prices are, as The Wanted would say, at an all time low. But is TalkTalk broadband any good?

Service problems

TalkTalk has collected a formidable collection of wooden spoons for poor customer service over the past year or so.

Horror stories about the provider run the full gamut of broadband badness - from shoddy customer service to disrupted connections and billing disasters: it's fair to say TalkTalk has had a pretty rough ride.

Partially, that's because of a huge billing mess-up which led to thousands being overcharged or even charged when they'd already left. Largely, though, as they emerge from that crisis, it's the day-to-day service that's proving a problem.

Records are not always kept and reports of being endlessly passed from one TalkTalk department to another are common.

Less-than-perfect service is always something to weigh up with the cheapest providers but, in TalkTalk's case, it should weigh more heavily than most.

And note that, though the basic service does come at a good price (see below), providers such as O2 and Plusnet can be just as inexpensive with a better reputation.

Is it that cheap?

But, having said that, and as we may have mentioned already, TalkTalk is cheap.

All TalkTalk broadband packages must be taken with line rental which, at £13.80, is more expensive than many other providers but, even so, the four TalkTalk packages are some of the cheapest broadband deals out there.

They break down as follows:

• Essentials: up to 20Mb, e&w calls and 40GB/month downloads
• Unlimited: up to 20Mb, anytime calls and unlimited downloads
• Fibre essentials: up to 40Mb, e&w calls and 40GB/month downloads
• Fibre unlimited: up to 40Mb, anytime calls and unlimited downloads

See the TalkTalk broadband deals page for a full list of package options and prices.

A wireless router is free with any deal and set-up is free with 20Mb broadband, although 40Mb speeds require a £25 set-up fee.

Inclusive calls to UK landlines (numbers starting 01, 02 and 03) as well as free calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers.

Mobile calls are cheaper than with many other providers - just 8.9p per minute - and you can get 10% off the sixteen numbers in your very own calling group.

It's also worth noting that TalkTalk broadband deals can be customised with bolt-ons called 'boosts'.

They're £4 more a month but you pay on a rolling month basis so it adds some flexibility to the 12-month contract (18-months with fibre) which include:

• Download Plus: Increase your monthly usage limit from 40GB to 80GB (£5 a month)
• Anytime Calls: Boost your call package to include unlimited inclusive landline calls at any time (£4.50)
• 100 Mobile minutes: 100 anytime mobile minutes (£3).

Speeds

TalkTalk don't have the fastest speeds but the latest independent test from Ofcom has shown that they do have the third fastest average ADSL (up to 20/24Mb) speeds in the UK - just behind Be/O2 Broadband and BT - which isn't bad going.

A recent OFCOM survey found that TalkTalk speeds were:

• Up to 8Mb (day average): 3.6 to 4.3Mb
• Up to 24Mb (day average): 6.5 to 8.4Mb

TalkTalk's fibre network hasn't proved popular so far - no surprise as high quality is hardly their USP - but that reluctance might be misplaced, the fibre service is actually just a re-sold version of the BT Infinity service.

Independent tests have shown that BT Infinity broadband customers are receiving actual speeds of around 34Mb so it's certainly a boost from ADSL.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that TalkTalk broadband offer some of the cheapest and most simple ways to get online.

TalkTalk's last results revealed that the provider's profits, if not their customer numbers, are on the up.

It's a shame that the provider's safety net when things go wrong is so full of holes but not all customers experience problems and most are only tied in for 12 months.

Is TalkTalk any good? The jury's still out.

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