Free and packaged Broadband
Apparently you can get free broadband from a number of sources, but what is the real cost? We have compared a few of the leaders in the market just to check out what you really get: These we think are some of the best deals around however there is no one size fits all, some people may prefer someone else.
| Sky Broadband (Sky Digital) |
Virgin Media (formerly Telewest / NTL) |
TalkTalk (Carphone Warehouse) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| TV | Neccesary £15 / month | Extra channels available for an additional £5 / month | Not available |
| Line Rental | £11 / month Payable to BT |
Payable to NTL (not neccesary though) |
Payable to TalkTalk £11 /month |
| Minimal Broadband Package |
£15 a month (inc base Sky TV package) 2mb Speed 2gb Download limit Note: an extra £11/ month needed for BT line rental Total: £26 |
£14.99 (no TV option, £20 with TV) 2mb Speed unlimited download limit No Phone Total £14.99 |
£19.99 a month, including phone line rental and international call option 8mb Speed 40gb Limit Total £19.99 |
| Minimal package install cost | £40 activation fee Wireless Router included |
£15 installation fee (after £10 online discount) | BT line needed £29.99 for Router |
| 8mb 40gb Downloads (approx comparison) | £5 Extra £15 Sky TV £11 Line Rental Total: £31 |
10mb unlimited £35 / month (Just broadband) |
£19.99 |
| Upgrades | Speed 8mb Download 40gb £5 extra / month Total: £31 / Month |
4mb £25 / month 10mb £35 / month |
£49.99 Wireless starter pack (one off) |
| More information |  |
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Funny , neither of the free ones seem quite free unless you already have Sky... That said all of them do offer major savings over most other packages and all seem to offer better value than BT.
Talk Talk seems to have had a lot of bad press (including a Watchdog report) but that may be in part to the sheer volume of people signing up for it, they are bound to be a little 'over whelmed' initially. If you have recently had troubles with them, please let us know! If your not interested in the extra channels this does seem (on paper the best package).
Virgin Media have been spawned out of Telewest (who in the past I have had amazing service off) and NTL who a few years ago I had less than perfect service from.
Sky (BskyB) bought Easynet to create their own broadband service who were by all accounts an excellent provider, I haven't found anyone who has had a bad experience yet, but it is relatively new.
Availability Lookup Unfortunately not everyone can get everything - so its worth checking on this site to see what you can www.SamKnows.com (unfortuantely I can't get Virgin Media Cable).
Reviews - if you want to send us a review of ANY of the companies above, we wil try and reproduce all of them.