sincity Posted January 10, 2019 Posted January 10, 2019 Best value fibre broadband deals today: Thanks to the likes of Virgin Media, BT Superfast and Sky Fibre, you can now wave goodbye to the nightmare of sluggish web browsing, interrupted catch-up TV and slow downloads. Faster fibre broadband is now more affordable and widely available than ever before. If you thought that the best broadband deals were reserved for slower ADSL internet connections, think again. Fibre optic broadband is a bloody battleground for the major providers, which means frequently fantastic prices for the consumer. Over the last few months, we've seen prices as low as £20 per month for 35Mb internet with TalkTalk managing to break that barrier over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So check out our fibre broadband deals comparison chart above to pick out the package that suits you - whether you're after a fibre plan that includes TV channels, a flexible phone offer or simply fibre broadband internet on its own. Below we explain everything you need to know about fibre optic broadband - including fibre broadband availability - followed by more information on providers including BT Superfast, Sky, Virgin Media, EE and more. See also: Broadband deals | BT broadband deals | Sky broadband deals | Virgin broadband deals | Broadband and TV deals Test your internet speed with Techradar's broadband speed checker What is fibre broadband? We don't want to get too technical here - the main thing to take from this is that fibre broadband is far faster than traditional ADSL internet. It uses fibre optic cables to send and receive data, resulting in a speedier, more reliable internet connection. So instead of being stuck with standard speeds of around 10-11Mb, fibre broadband tends to have average speeds more than three times as fast around 35Mb for download speeds of over 4MB per second. As well as facilitating ridiculously fast downloading, the extra speed is ideal for large households where lots of people are using the internet at once. If you stream 4K films and TV or play a lot of online games, fibre broadband is a must to ensure the highest-quality user experience. All of the most popular providers - including Sky, TalkTalk, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone, John Lewis and the Post Office - offer a 30Mb+ fibre broadband plan, while BT goes one better. Its BT Superfast fibre broadband starts at speeds averaging 50Mb (6.25MB per second). If you're wondering why we haven't mentioned Virgin Media broadband yet, it's because its super fast service is slightly different again. It uses coaxial cable instead of copper fibre optics to connect your home to the exchange. That basically means even faster internet speeds for you - between 54Mb (6.75 MB per second) and an incredible 362Mb (45.25 MB per second). Fibre broadband checker - is fibre broadband available in my area? There's one extremely easy way to discover whether fibre broadband is available where you live - head to the top of this page, type in your postcode, hit 'compare deals', and if any results come back then you can indeed get fibre. Fibre and cable broadband is currently available in around 90% of the UK's homes, so the odds are in your favour. What contract length should I go for? Standard 12 month contracts used to be the norm, but more and more providers now set their minimum contracts at 18 months. There are two ways to look at this - on one hand, getting a longer contract some times also means that you are guaranteed the initial price for a longer period. So no nasty surprises half way through the term. But at the same time, you obviously have less flexibility, being tied in for half a year longer. If you hate the idea of such a long contract, then head back up to our comparison chart and use the filter to see only year-long deals. There will be fewer to choose from, but there are still excellent prices to be had. Will I have to pay anything upfront for fibre broadband? Most providers ask for at least something when you take up their fibre broadband deal. This will usually be an activation fee, which covers the cost of getting you hooked up. There may also be an additional delivery charge to pay to get hold of your new router. In most cases, expect to pay between £10 and £60, although the likes of TalkTalk and Plusnet often run offers where they scrap all upfront costs. Do I have to pay more to have a phone line? Nope, all of the prices in our comparison chart include the land line. Providers used to specify how much you were paying for the phone line and internet separately, but now it's standard practice just to bundle them up together and give one single price. We welcome this change, as it makes the whole buying process a lot more straightforward. Having the phone line allows you to make calls if you still use a landline, and the basic price sometimes includes free or cheap weekend calls. If you want to add any other usage packages, you can use our comparison table to find more options, like evening, anytime and international calls. BT Superfast broadband For most people, BT will still be the first name that springs to mind when they think of broadband. Superfast is the of its fibre broadband packages - choose from the following options: BT Superfast Fibre | Average speed 50Mb The maximum 52Mb download speed (around 6.5 MB per second) from BT Superfast is faster than most other providers' entry-level fibre broadband. You also get the rangey BT Smart Hub router, instead of BT's standard Home Hub. BT Superfast 2 | Average speed 67Mb Fast enough to keep up with downloading and streaming from multiple members of your household. It doesn't come cheap, but does include 1000GB of cloud storage, the Smart Hub and usually a very generous prepaid Reward Card to spend as you would a Mastercard. View all BT Superfast broadband deals Sky fibre broadband Sky used to offer a number of different fibre broadband packages but they seem to have dialed it all the way down to one ultimate package. Sky Fibre Max | Up to 76Mb With this package sky is offering a massive 63Mb average speed (around 7.9MB per second) that is more than fast enough for the average data-crunching family and you get a Sky Q Hub router for free. View all Sky Fibre broadband deals Virgin Media fibre optics broadband Virgin Media cable broadband offers unparalleled internet speeds - no other provider can touch even its entry-level package. You can choose from: VIVID 50 fibre broadband | Average speeds of 54Mb Virgin is now available for just over £30 a month thanks to new VIVID 50. So look at our postcode checker above to see if it's available on your street. VIVID 100 fibre broadband | Average speeds of 108Mb The 108Mb claimed speed translates to 13.5 MB per second which is already a super fast speed for broadband. VIVID 200 fibre broadband | Average speeds of 213Mb As Virgin proudly points out, VIVID 200 more than doubles the maximum speed supplied by BT Superfast and Sky Fibre's fastest speed. The ultrafast 213Mb speed is a good fit if you stream 4K films and if there are 10 or so devices connected at once. VIVID 350 fibre broadband | Average speeds of 362Mb Home broadband speeds in the UK don't come faster than those provided by Virgin's VIVID 350 fibre plan. It costs around £50 a month, but you get speeds of up to 45MB per second. Extremely rapid. View all Virgin Media fibre broadband deals TalkTalk fibre broadband TalkTalk frequently manages to come up with brilliant, cheap deals on fibre broadband. The added bonus...it doesn't charge an activation fee when you sign up: TalkTalk Faster Fibre | Average speeds of 36mb The price for TalkTalk's entry-level fibre broadband includes your phone line and set-up. You can then pay extra for chat and TV bolt-ons. TalkTalk Faster Fibre Broadband with Speed Boost | Average speeds of 64Mb TalkTalk's superfast broadband offering is one of the most competitively priced, and the absence of a set-up fee only sweetens the deal. This is the TalkTalk plan to go for if you have a multitude of data-hungry folk in your home. View all TalkTalk fibre broadband deals Plusnet fibre broadband Although Plusnet is owned by BT, it is continuing to operate in its own right and tends to be more affordable than its parent company. It has two broadband options: Plusnet Unlimited Fibre | Average speeds of 36Mb Choose between a 12 and 18 month contract for Plusnet Unlimited Fibre, and get unlimited usage and 365 days a year support. There is an upfront fee but this package is still very well priced. Plusnet Unlimited Fibre Extra | Average speeds of 66Mb The same, only much faster! Take the Unlimited Fibre package above and double the download speed. View all Plusnet fibre broadband deals EE fibre broadband A name more commonly associated with mobile phones, the UK's fastest 4G network is trying to make EE your one stop shop for landline broadband too. You can choose from: EE Fibre Broadband | Average speeds of 36Mb EE fibre broadband prices are quite attractive, but even more so if you're already a phone customer. Then, you'll be granted an extra 5GB of monthly data allowance on your mobile contract. EE Fibre Plus Broadband | Average speeds of 67Mb It will cost you an extra few pounds to crank up the speed to EE's fastest Fibre Plus Broadband. Like the entry-level package, you get a free subscription to Norton antivirus and the option to upgrade to EE TV. Fibre Max 1 Broadband | Average speeds of 145Mb A recent addition to EE's broadband packages, you can now go for one of their Fibre Max packages. A connection that EE claims is 14 times faster than standard broadband. Fibre Max 2 Broadband | Average speeds of 300Mb Just like the Fibre Max 1 package but just twice as fast! That is an insane speed and is perfect for avid gamers or heavy 4K streaming usage. View all EE fibre broadband deals Vodafone fibre broadband Another name more commonly associated with mobile phones, but there are excellent prices to be had from Vodafone broadband - whether or not you're an existing phone customer: Vodafone Superfast 1 | Average speeds of 35Mb Vodafone has run to the top of the podium for fibre broadband deals - it's very rare that you'll find cheaper anywhere else. What's more, it's now the only mainstream provider that offers a minimum speed guarantee of 25Mb. Vodafone Superfast 2 | Average speeds of 63Mb Faster broadband but the same competitive pricing makes Vodafone a very enticing option if you want 63Mb. With guaranteed speeds of at least 55Mb, there's nothing not to like.. View all Vodafone fibre broadband deals SSE fibre broadband Already one of the 'Big Six' energy companies, SSE is now offering cheap prices on fibre broadband. As you might expect, the prices get good if you use SSE as your energy supplier. SSE Unlimited fibre | Average speeds of 35Mb This 4.37MB per second broadband speed will be ample for most small households and deliver seamless surfing and streaming. SSE promises zero price hikes during the contract so you know the price you are paying will stay the same all the way through. SSE unlimited fibre plus | Average speeds of 63Mb Like many other providers SSE seems to of jumped on the bandwagon of offering a second faster 'plus' broadband package. Here you can get speeds around double what they are for their standard unlimited fibre package. View SSE Superfast Fibre Broadband View the full article Quote
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