How do I find the fastest broadband in my area?

The trouble with broadband is that, while there are a lot of great deals out there, not all of them are available to everyone. This can make it a frustrating experience to go onto a provider’s website and choose a package that suits you perfectly, only to find that it isn’t available where you live. Fortunately, whether you’re looking for cheap broadband or the fastest broadband, there’s a solution to this problem:

Broadband postcode checker

A broadband postcode checker will let you know exactly which deals are available in your area. Most providers offer a checker on their website, but they will only show their own offers, so it’s difficult to know whether or not you’re getting a good deal. Our postcode checker will show you what’s available in your area across all providers, so you can compare broadband deals without the risk of being disappointed when you try to sign up to the one you choose.

Types of broadband deals

There are several ways you can get your home connected to the internet. In this section we’ll take you through them.

ADSL broadband

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) broadband, also known as standard broadband, connects users to the internet via copper phone cables. It replaced dial-up broadband as the most common type of connection and is now the most basic type of broadband still in use. Copper cables allow for average speeds of up to 11 Mbps for downloads, which is not enough to meet most households’ internet demands comfortably.

Fibre broadband

Fibre broadband connects users to the internet via fibre-optic cables, which contain glass fibres that transmit data in the form of light at average speeds between three and a hundred times faster than ADSL broadband. Superfast fibre connections are now widely available throughout the UK and will eventually make older methods obsolete. There are two types of fibre connection:

Fibre-to-the-cabinet 

Fibre-to–the-cabinet (FTTC), often called superfast broadband, is the most common kind of broadband deal, connecting your home to the internet via a combination of fibre-optic and copper phone cables. Fibre cables carry data as far as the green cabinet on your street, hence the name, and a phone line takes it the rest of the way to your home. The download speeds offered by FTTC deals tend to range from 35 to 80Mbps, depending on how far your home is from the nearest cabinet.

Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP)

Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), also called ultrafast, hyperfast, or full-fibre broadband, is broadband that connects your home to the internet solely using fibre-optic cables. This method gets the most out of fibre technology, allowing for average download speeds of up to 1Gbps depending on the deal and the internet provider you sign up with, but is limited in terms of availability due to the difficulty and expense involved in the installation process.

Cable broadband

Cable broadband is broadband that connects you to the internet using coaxial cables. These cables are an alternative to fibre-optic cables pioneered by Virgin Media, which operates its own network using this technology. Coaxial cables allow for download speeds that compare well to those offered by standard and FTTC broadband, but are usually not as quick as an FTTP connection. Cable broadband does, however, have better availability than full-fibre at present. To find out availability in your area, put your postcode into Virgin Media’s checker.

Broadband providers with the best coverage

There are several broadband providers that can claim to have the best coverage in the UK. The majority of UK internet service providers (ISPs) connect their customers to the internet via the Openreach network, which is used by more than 500 ISPs supplying about 30 million customers. Here are just a few of the major broadband providers that get their users connected via Openreach:

• BT Broadband
• Sky Broadband
• EE
• Plusnet
• TalkTalk
• Vodafone

Only Virgin Media has a network comparable to Openreach in terms of coverage, reaching a little over 50% of homes in the UK. This also makes Virgin the only ISP to offer truly broadband-only deals, which don’t include line rental, as line rental is necessary to connect users to the Openreach network.

Providers with the best broadband speed

Several broadband providers now offer full-fibre broadband, with average speeds of up to 1Gbps. Here’s a selection of fibre-broadband deals that can get you great average speeds for less than £40 a month:

The broadband speeds on offer here are enough to cope with heavy internet usage on several devices. If you’re willing to pay a premium, faster connections are available for instance from Sky or Vodafone but a normal household shouldn’t need anything faster than you see here.

It’s important to note that Wi-Fi is another factor that tends to slow down your connection speed. If you’re experiencing slower internet speeds than those advertised by your broadband provider, it could be because you’re accessing it via Wi-Fi. To get the most out of your broadband deal, use an ethernet cable when you can, as this will provide your device with the most reliable connection.

Broadband packages

If you’re in the market for more than just broadband, you should look into which packages are available in your area. Several broadband providers now offer multiple services such as broadband and TV deals along with their broadband offer, so if you see that one of the providers below offers broadband in your area, you may want to think about whether you want to add more than just internet to your deal:

The above providers are all able to make your life a little bit easier, by pooling multiple services under one monthly bill. Some even offer extra services such as boiler cover. Whether a deal represents good value for money, however, is another thing. Do a thorough comparison before signing up to a contract, as it’s often a lot of hassle to get out of one once you’re signed up.

If you sign up to a fixed contract for several products with the same provider, make sure it provides good customer service. Being tied to a contract for all your home services with a company with poor customer service will not be a happy experience.

If you want to check the speed of your broadband, you can also check it on Speedtest.net.