subject: Broadband: What Do You Need? [print this page] The broadband world - and even more specifically the broadband comparison world - is constructed to offer consumers progressively more and more.
More usage allowances, more speed and more TV channels in broadband bundles are all talked about as the ideal and typically offered to consumers even if - whisper it - they don't actually need them at all.
As is clear from the Samsung R530 review, for example, they also offer more extras for less.
However, these too are useless if you don't need them in your everyday broadband usage.
In the case of the 'free' laptop deal used as an example above, for example, the laptop is not free at all if you don't make full use of the mobile broadband that it comes bundled up with.
Even in the case of broadband deals that don't come with extras, leaving a certain aspect of the deal unused can be extremely detrimental to your financial well-being in that you're essentially paying over the odds on a day to day basis.
This is particularly the case with the broadband usage allowance.
Broadband users tend to worry about running up huge costs by going over a usage allowance.
However, it tends to be the case that home broadband providers actually price usage over an allowance fairly low - certainly in comparison with mobile broadband deals - and most tend not to charge for this at all.
For this reason, it's often worth going for the lowest, or one of the lower, broadband usage allowances and then 'trading up' if it turns out that you need more allowance then you have.
Unsurprisingly, broadband providers are generally more keen to let you trade up and pay a higher monthly price than they are to let you pay a lower price if you realise that you don't actually need what you're paying for.
It's also the case that broadband hardware can be more than you need. Broadband modems - when they incur a cost - may be too much if they're wireless and you do with a cheaper wired router instead.
When it comes to a question such as is virgin broadband any good?, on the other hand, there is the question of broadband speeds (speed is the only difference between the broadband deals).
In general, broadband speeds should be thought of in the same way as a broadband usage allowance: it's all to do with how you use the internet connection.
If you use it for streaming video then you'll need faster but for everyday usage keep it slow.
