BT Option 2 with 12-month contract

• Reliable 20Mb BT broadband
• 40GB usage allowance per month
• Free evening and weekend broadband calls
• Free Wireless BT Home Hub
• Excellent McAfee security suite
• 5GB of free secure online storage

BT broadband review: Option 2

CONVENTIONAL wisdom used to be that taking your broadband with BT was for chumps who didn't know any better.

Their packages were expensive and overcomplicated. But things have changed and BT is now a serious contender with its simple, feature rich broadband packages of which BT Total Option 2 is one.

Improved usage limit (20GB)

Offering speeds of up to 20Mb with a recently increased and very generous 40GB (previously it was 20GB), most web users will find this BT Total Option 2 broadband bundle more than enough - even those with a penchant for YouTube clips.

If you are serious about using your broadband connection to the n'th degree, you should consider BT Total Option 3 which allows unlimited downloads (within the realms of their fair use policy though).

Rather pleasingly, BT has just introduced totally free telephone support via an 0800 number, joining the likes of Be Broadband and O2 Broadband (and soon Virgin Media).

Make calls over the internet

BT Total Option 2 includes a free (and newly improved) wireless BT Home Hub, McAfee advanced security, 350 free wi-fi minutes at any BT Openzone hotspot as well as inclusive evening and weekend broadband calls to UK landlines.

Remember, these are broadband calls only (ie. made through the BT Home Hub via the internet) and are not calls made over the normal telephone lines.

Free Mobile Broadband

A very recent addition to the BT line up is mobile broadband, and rather than pushing it seperately, BT are bundling it in with all their home broadband packages - and for free too.

This offer is only available on the 18 month contract plan, but you do also get a discount on the monthly broadband charge for the first 3 months with the longer contract option.

You get 1GB of mobile broadband data usage each month and there are no monthly fees. The only thing you have to pay for is the USB dongle, which costs £49.99 as a one-off charge.

You can buy additional data if you want to, which is priced at £10 for 1GB and £20 for 3GB.

In terms of market comparability the costs for additional data are average, but for light users it's a very good deal - you don't have to pay anything more than you would if you didn't take it, apart from buying the USB mobile dongle (which you'd still have to pay around the same price for if you took out a light mobile broadband package elsewhere).

BT mobile broadband makes use of the Vodafone mobile broadband network, quoted speeds are 7.2Mbps, however this is the technical top speed and realistic speeds are more around the 1Mbps to 3Mbps mark - of course it will depend upon the network coverage in your area.

Store your photos online, free

The BT Total Option 2 package also includes 5GB of free secure online storage, which is great if your PC is creaking with photos and video clips and you need somewhere to offload them temporarily.

If you need more than 5GB or you fancy the hassle-free auto backups, you can upgrade to a whooping 50GB of secure online storage and auto backups (unfortunately auto backup is not mac compatible) all for just £4.88 a month.

Savings and cost cutters

There is a saving of £19.74 to be had in the first year if you plump for BT Total's 18 month contract.

Considering BT's solid reputation in the broadband field, an 18-month contract is not necessarily a bad thing. Oh, but be prepared to pay by direct debit with paperless billing, or BT will charge you an extra £1.50 for non Direct Debit payments and an extra £1.23 for paper billing.

A little more detail...

Broadband		Special Note...
Package:	Option 2	-
Connection:	ADSL2+	Telephone line
Max Speed:	Up to 20Mb
Usage Limit:	40GB
Totally Unlimited:	No
Hardware:	Wireless BT Home Hub	Built-in firewall
Internet Security:	Included free	Advanced Security from McAfee. Includes anti-virus & anti-spyware, personal firewall, identity theft protection on emails, websites and spyware.
Online Gaming:	All major consoles supported

Home Phone
Package:	Evening & Weekend Broadband calling plan
UK Weekend Tariff:	Free to UK landlines beginning 01, 02 & 03 and 0845 and 0870 numbers(Redial before 60 minutes to avoid charges)
UK Evening Tariff:	Free to UK landlines beginning 01, 02 & 03 (Redial before 60 minutes to avoid charges)
UK Peak Tariff:	3.91p per minute (+8p connection fee)
International Tariff:	From 1.22p per minute to USA and Australia. Discounted rates to all other countries.