PERCY SAYS… When it comes to choosing your broadband provider, it can be quite tricky. Whilst it may appear very straightforward, with some providers offering better deals than others, it makes sense to look carefully at exactly what you are being offered before committing.

Some offers may, at first sight, appear to be very good value, only for you to find out that your subscription is capped, with high charges for those exceeding their download limit. As with all things in life, if it appears to be too good to be true, it often is. Another thing to bear in mind is location, whilst a service may offer a cheap deal, you may not necessarily be able to get a fast connection where you live.

Finally, when shopping around for the best deal, take into account your own internet needs and opt for a deal that is not only competitive, but suits your individual requirements as well. We’ve shopped around and here are some of the best 12 month deals around this summer.

• Virgin Media offer a package that costs £34.75 p/m with the first three months at half price.

This isn’t by any means the cheapest offer around but you can get speeds of up to 100Mbps; there’s also a set up cost of £49.95.

If you rely on fast download speeds for work, pleasure or have numerous people in the home that use the internet at the same time, or live stream, then this may be an option worth considering.

Virgin also offer a deal that is around half the cost at £18.50 p/m and although this one comes with an half price for 6 months offer, it does only give up to 60Mb and although very quick, not quite the speed offered with the higher price.

Be aware though, superfast broadband is rolling out around the countries so the speeds that Virgin are offering of 100Mb may become available with another provider over the coming months.

• PlusNet are by far a cheaper option if speed is not so much of an issue.

They have a great deal for £6.49, with the first 9 months being £3.24. This is a very cheap deal; however, it does have a download cap of 10GB p/m and if you go over you could find yourself paying more. Furthermore it only has a maximum speed of 16Mbps. This is a great offer for those of you who use broadband occasionally and not on a daily basis and really just use for the basics, although at 16Mbps, you should be able to do some streaming.

• Sky are currently offering a package that is free for the first 6 months and then £10 p/m thereafter.

It only has a 14Mb download speed but it is unlimited so you won’t have to worry about going over the maximum amount per month. This is a good deal for the average user and is definitely worth considering.

It can be confusing as a consumer as to which is best for you but do shop around and use comparison sites such as Broadband Genie to ensure you can really pin down which deal best suits you and your family.

And what about some furniture to put your set top box on?  Well I found a few lovely pieces at http://www.fads.co.uk/

 

Author Bio: Kerry Butters is contributing this article on Top Broadband deals for the summer on behalf of Broadband Genie. For more information on these deals from Plusnet, Sky and Virgin, click this link.