subject: Broadband: Sorting The Cheap From The Cheats [print this page] The cheapest broadband has come to be regarded as a bit of a holy grail product - the very best the market can offer.
This was the case even when broadband was first rolled out in the UK, as a replacement for dial up that some predicted would never catch on, and an whily provider started to offer it as a 'free' service.
Of course, it wasn't really free but it set in motion a race to the bottom that continues to this day and set in motion an elastic form of truth when it comes to broadband advertising that's equally influential today.
Yes, when it comes to broadband deals it really is a case of sorting the cheap out from the cheats.
Many of the cheapest broadband deals come with set-up fees or leaving fees that can be many times the monthly price, for examples.
Avoiding these fees is fairly simple, either factor them in when you compare different internet connections or, in the case of moving fees, try to anticipate the likelihood of you moving as much as possible.
Free months right at the start of a contract or a credit on a bill is more often than not offset by a high set-up fee which negates the 'free' aspect of those free months in any case.
Look out for extra costs such as having to pay upfront for a modem or router from your provider. Sometimes even when these are listed as free there's a fee for postage and packing which could be avoided.
It's also worth looking out for clauses that involve the word 'unlimited'.
Often these come with small print which says that a usage policy applies. Often this policy offers as many GBs of downloads as a high allowance deal but charges more money for them.
The problem is compounded when it comes to broadband this is delivered wireless through 3G - otherwise known as mobile broadband.
In this case, 15gb mobile broadband is thought of as having a high download allowance and many deals that advertise as unlimited are only offering a bit more than that.
Longer contracts tend to be the cheapest form of internet connection if they're followed through to the end.
Leaving early will be more expensive and, except when they're genuinely necessary, so will short term contracts such as a rolling thirty deal or three month as a time broadband deal since providers often use high set-up fees to cover their costs.
