subject: Four ways to make your broadband cheaper [print this page] Four ways to make your broadband cheaper Four ways to make your broadband cheaper
Do you fancy saving some money on your broadband? With household expenses ever rising broadband is one of the areas that you can really save day to day.
Here are four tips on making your internet access less expensive.
The first and most obvious tip is just to switch provider for the cheapest price on the market.
The UK market is so competitive that there are a lot of introductory offers and prices change often so don't feel like you have to be too loyal - it's just good sense to switch when it's cheaper and makes good sense to do so.
Look out for added costs such as hardware and set up when you look for a new broadband deal though instead of just the headline monthly price.
UK providers such as Talk Talk, O2 and Plusnet broadband have some of the cheapest monthly broadband prices but this doesn't necessarily mean they'll work out as the least expensive when you take those things into account.
The second tip is to watch your usage.
This will of course depend on what your broadband deals policy is on usage allowances but if you regularly go over and are charged then you could save a lot either by reducing usage - watching TV instead of going online to stream, that kind of thing - or by switching to a broadband package with a usage allowance that's more attuned to your needs.
Conversely if you have an unlimited deal or a high download allowance but are only using a tiny percentage of it you could save by downgrading to a cheaper package with a smaller download limit.
There's evidence that thousands of people could save money this way.
Third, is to consider making a long commitment. The cheapest broadband deals also usually happen to be those with the longest contract.
Short broadband contracts tend to make you pay for extras more often. Go on, take the leap: if you can stick with it (and often, even when you don't) it'll save you money.
That brings us neatly onto point four: think about the end even when you're just starting out with your latest broadband beau.
If you know you have to move house on a certain date then talk to them about it to find out how much notice you have to give before you leave without being charged. This goes even if you'll be leaving at the very end of your contract.
