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- 1. Zen Internet: The best broadband deal overall
- 2. Three: The best broadband deal on a budget
- 3. Hyperoptic: The best broadband deal for speed
- 4. Plusnet: The best broadband deal for customer service
- What about the other broadband providers?
- 1. BT: Reliable, but pricey and lacklustre customer service
- 2. Sky: Mediocre reliability, speeds and value for money
- 3. Virgin Media: Customer service doesn't keep pace with its speeds
- How does Expert Reviews find the best broadband deals?
- How to pick the best broadband deal for you
- What is full fibre?
- Whats the best speed for you?
- How long should the contract last?
- Is there an upfront cost?
Its important to keep your eyes peeled for the best broadband deals. All of the best broadband providers whether they’re big or small, are jostling for your attention by including eye-boggling download speeds and extra goodies such as gift cards. But which one should you pick? We’ve scoured the web to bring you the best broadband deals on the market, using the results of our annual Best Broadband Awards survey as a guide.
To help you find the best plan for your needs, we’ve rounded up the best below in four categories: the best deal overall, the best budget-friendly offer, the best for speed and the best for customer service.
Not sure where to start? Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you’ll find advice on how to pick the best broadband deal for you, along with information about why we have left certain providers out and how we select the offers in the first place.
Best broadband deals: At a glance
| Best overall deal | Zen Internet | |
| Best cheap deal | Three | |
| Fastest deal | Hyperoptic | |
| Best customer service | Plusnet |
Compare the best broadband deals in your area LIVE!
The best broadband deals you can sign up for in 2024
1. Zen Internet: The best broadband deal overall
Price: £35/mth | View deal at Zen Internet
Pros
To say that we were impressed by this UK-based internet service provider (ISP) would be something of an understatement: we awarded it a full five stars out of five and an Expert Reviews Best Buy award in our latest, in-depth Zen Internet review. That’s the highest praise we can give.Zen Internet scored highly across the board for its industry-leading customer service with trained technicians in its UK call centres high speeds and rock-solid reliability. In the words of our reviewer, it’s simply “the best when it comes to pure broadband”.
The deal we’re singling out here gets you an average download speed of 106Mbits/sec for £35/mth on an 18-month contract, with just £15 to pay upfront and no price increases during your contract a rarity nowadays.
Cons
Zen Internet’s plans certainly aren’t the cheapest around, while you can’t pick up any broadband and TV bundles although we’d usually recommend steering clear of those anyway.
Read our full Zen Internet review
2. Three: The best broadband deal on a budget
Price: £12/mth for 6 months, then £24/mth | View deal at Three
Pros
If you live in an area covered by 5G, this is by far the cheapest broadband deal we’re happy to recommend at the moment: an average download speed of 150Mbits/sec for a mere £12/mth for the first six months of a two-year contract via Three, with nothing to pay upfront. The price will then rise to £24/mth from month seven, meaning you’ll be saving £66 overall.
What’s more, the ISP was the worthy recipient of four stars out of five and an Expert Reviews Recommended award in our most recent Three broadband review, where we praised its incredible value for money and versatility for those who can’t get a fixed-line connection.
Cons
There were question marks over Three’s customer service and keep in mind that your speeds will depend on the strength of your mobile signal. A further caveat is that the price above will increase each April by the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation plus an extra 3.9%. Three is by no means alone in doing this, though: plenty of the other major ISPs hiking up their prices every year too.
Read our full Three broadband review
3. Hyperoptic: The best broadband deal for speed
Price: £36/mth | View deal at Hyperoptic
Pros
As we explained in our full Hyperoptic broadband review, the ISP is taking on the big-hitters and doing an excellent job. We awarded it four stars out of five and an Expert Reviews Recommended award for its blistering speeds, as this deal aptly illustrates, and good customer service.
If you’re in luck and have a need for speed, this is our pick of the Hyperoptic deals at the moment: a gargantuan 900Mbits/sec for £36/mth a two-year contract, with £19 to pay upfront.
Cons
The main issue with Hyperoptic is that it currently only reaches 1.4 million homes in the UK, making it something of a postcode lottery.
Read our full Hyperoptic review
4. Plusnet: The best broadband deal for customer service
Price: £28/mth | View deal at Plusnet
Pros
Our most recent Plusnet review awarded the internet service provider (ISP) four stars out of five and an Expert Reviews Recommended award for its top-tier customer satisfaction rates and its great range of plans to suit every budget. In short, it’s an easy recommendation.And deals like this make our job even easier: for a limited time, you can nab an average download speed of 145Mbits/sec for £28/mth on a two-year contract, with nothing to pay upfront. That’s only £1/mth more than the 74Mbits/sec plan.
Cons
The flies in the ointment were middling speed and reliability scores in our survey, as well as the fact that the price will rise mid-contract each year on 31 March by the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation plus 3.9%.
Read our full Plusnet broadband review
What about the other broadband providers?
You may have noticed that there are a few heavy-hitters missing from the roundup of deals above. That’s because Ill only recommend offers after examining the results of our annual Expert Reviews Best Broadband Awards and comparing them against the findings of our in-depth reviews. Below, I’ve briefly outlined why certain service providers weren’t included.
1. BT: Reliable, but pricey and lacklustre customer service
We awarded BT three stars out of a possible five in our most recent review, praising its reliability and speed, while questioning its value for money and below-average customer service scores. It’s not awful, but you can get a lot more for your money with the other ISPs above.
Read our full BT broadband review
2. Sky: Mediocre reliability, speeds and value for money
Sky posted the worst reliability and speed scores in our survey, which resulted in just two stars out of five in our latest review. Combine those results with high prices and you’ve got an ISP to avoid.
Read our full Sky broadband review
3. Virgin Media: Customer service doesn’t keep pace with its speeds
Like Sky, Virgin Media only picked up two stars out of five in our most recent in-depth review. Despite serving up the fastest speeds on the market, its customer service scores were “appalling”, according to our expert Barry Collins. There were also concerns about network reliability and value for money.
Read our full Virgin Media broadband review
How does Expert Reviews find the best broadband deals?
Here at Expert Reviews, we don’t simply copy across all of the latest broadband deals from the internet service providers. Instead, we spend a lot of time and effort picking out the very best offers to get the most for your money, no matter what your needs or budget. As such, there are three important criteria a deal must fulfil before we recommend it.
- Is the provider up to scratch? We refer to our in-depth broadband reviews and the results of our annual Best Broadband Awards to make sure you won’t be getting a poor, unreliable service or non-existent customer service.
- Is it too expensive? While there will always be a place for top-of-the-range broadband plans, we recognise that these are very tricky financial times and will, therefore, include a budget-friendly option that you can pick up without compromising on quality.
- Are there hidden catches? If a broadband deal comes with a mid-contract price increase as they increasingly do nowadays we’ll always make sure to mention it. The same goes for high upfront costs and free gifts that aren’t as good as they first appear.
For more detailed information on how we identify deals, please visit our dedicated page.
How to pick the best broadband deal for you
It can be tricky to read between the broadband lines, with lots of jargon and figures being bandied about. To help, weve rounded up the key considerations below.
What is full fibre?
Its all change in the British broadband world, with dozens of networks appearing across the country that offer full-fibre connections rather than the traditional, far-slower copper cables. Even better, all of this new competition is driving down prices, making it something of a buyers market.
If you live in a town or city, its highly likely that youll have access to a full-fibre connection, but there are lots of exceptions to this general rule in the countryside. The simplest way of finding out is to pick one of our recommended broadband deals above and use the service providers tool to see if full-fibre speeds are available in your neck of the woods.
Whats the best speed for you?
There are a huge number of different speed plans to pick from at the moment, but you may end up paying for megabits you simply dont need. Consequently, wed say that an average download speed of around 100Mbits/sec is likely to be enough for most households, which you can step up to 300Mbits/sec or even 500Mbits/sec if youve got a big family or do lots of bandwidth-hungry tasks such as downloading game updates.
Meanwhile, gigabit speeds (1,000Mbits/sec) should only appeal to a minority of power-user homes and, at the other end of the spectrum, a speed of 36Mbits/sec is designed for those who only browse the web or do an occasional spot of streaming from a couple of devices.
How long should the contract last?
The vast majority of providers offer either 18-month or 24-month contracts, although a select few also let you pick 12-month plans. The latter will provide more flexibility, but keep in mind that many ISPs have recently decided to hike up the prices mid-contract in April, usually by the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation plus an extra 3.9%. However, a notable exception is our favourite provider overall, Zen Internet.
Is there an upfront cost?
Massive setup fees are, mostly, a thing of the past and it’s now unusual to spend more than £30 upfront, with many ISPs waiving them entirely as an extra incentive. Nevertheless, we’ll always mention when there’s a one-off fee so you’re not caught off-guard.
