Why you shouldn’t spend more than £28 a month on broadband

Broadband connections have become an essential part of everyday life, yet our research shows that millions of customers aren’t satisfied with the value for money of the service they receive.

Despite this, many aren’t taking advantage of the competitive range of affordable deals available. More than a third of customers are out of contract, meaning they're likely to be paying an expensive standard tariff - and watching the amount they pay surge upwards every year.

But our analysis shows that if you're paying more than £28 per month, your connection is probably costing more than it needs to.

Why most people shouldn’t pay more than £28 per month for broadband

Customers on deals using older partial-fibre technology are likely to be able to upgrade to more reliable full fibre services - and much faster speeds.

Full fibre services are the gold standard and available to more than four in five households. And they’re increasingly affordably priced - research from the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, found that promotional prices for the fastest deals have actually decreased. Meanwhile, the amounts paid have moved in the opposite direction, due to most providers hiking prices every spring.

We analysed full fibre deals currently available on Which? Compare with an average download speed of at least 70Mbps (the UK average) and found that there are many current widely-available deals being advertised that cost £28 or less per month - even with upfront costs, promotional discounts and future mid-contract increases factored in.

Top full fibre broadband deals

We’ve pulled out some of the best full fibre deals based on speed and cost, including set-up costs and any planned mid-contract increases. 

You can compare all of the broadband deals currently on offer where you live - and sort the deals by total cost of contract so you will have a full view - on Which? Compare .

What if I can’t get full fibre?

A quarter of premises (mainly in Great Britain) still don’t have access to full fibre services, but that doesn’t mean they need to pay more than £28 per month. Our analysis of fibre services found that it’s also possible to get average speeds around 70Mbps (usually between 61Mbps and 74Mbps) for less.

Great partial fibre deals

Even cheaper deals are available in certain parts of the country

Our analysis focused on services using the Openreach and Virgin Media networks as these are widely available throughout the UK. However, even cheaper deals will be available those in certain parts of the country - if you live in parts of London or Hull, for example, deals offered by Community Fibre and KCOM are often even more attractively priced than those offered by the major providers.

Because alternative networks are continually rolling out services in different parts of the country, you may be lucky enough to have access to one such as those offered by Hyperoptic or CityFibre (used to provide Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen Internet in certain areas services), or smaller localised providers. Find out more in our guide to regional broadband providers.

Top alternative network deals

We’ve pulled out three deals from alternative networks, but there are over 100 throughout the UK so it’s worth checking what’s available at your specific address.

It's easy to switch

Switching is one of the best ways to ensure providers work hard for your money, and our research consistently shows it's the best way to save - the average is £105 per year, but even bigger savings are possible if you're with one of the Big Four.

Your new provider will take care of the entire process, and it's easy to get the ball rolling. We've broken down what you need to do into three straightforward steps - use our easy guide on how to switch broadband provider.