Setting up a new internet contract is a long and complicated process before you even start looking at all the potential extras on offer. Once you’ve found the suppliers that are available in your area, compared their service and fees and chosen your package the last thing you want to do is read the small print on a bunch of extra services.
It’s important to know what you’re signing up for though, especially as you may be offered extra services that bump up your bill without offering good value. On the other side of the coin, there might be some great deals available for you to save on the services you’re already paying for.
We’ve broken down the most common broadband extras below, as well as if they’re usually good value. There’s a way to make the process even easier though. Book a free call with one of our connections experts today and let us handle your internet. Not only will our 24-point property check find the best suppliers available to you, but we can also help you build the best value package for your internet, phone, TV and more!
Do I need a landline phone?
There is no requirement for you to have a landline phone in the UK. In fact, in 2020 only 73% of homes reported having a working landline, and that number continues to fall each year. However, many broadband packages still include a landline service by default.
Often, a landline phone comes at no extra cost, but with the option to add inclusive calls, caller ID or other extra features. Unless you use a home phone as your main phone, these add-ons will be an unnecessary extra monthly charge for a service you’ll never use.
Occasionally, it’s worth adding a landline phone to your package even if you don’t plan to use it. Virgin Media offer big discounts to customers who take a landline phone from them at the same time as their broadband. A 50 mb/s internet-only contract currently costs £36 a month, whereas a 108 mb/s broadband and phone package costs £26.
Are broadband boost subscriptions really worth it?
There are some internet providers that will offer you the chance to ‘boost’ your broadband for an additional monthly fee. The cost, and what’s included, vary from provider to provider.
Sky’s broadband boost is available for £5 a month in an 18-month subscription. For that price, you get a guarantee of internet access in every room of your house, with boosters if the router signal doesn’t reach, as well as free engineer visits out of hours and daily line checks on your service.
BT broadband offers an add-on called ‘complete wi-fi’, which costs £12 a month for a 24-month subscription. BT guarantees Wi-Fi in every room, with additional devices sent to you to create an in-home mesh network. If you don’t get a strong Wi-Fi signal throughout the whole house, you’ll receive £100 back.
EE’s ‘Smart Wi-fi’ works slightly differently. For a £10 a month payment during the 24-month contract, you’ll get a mini 4G router with 2GB of data, plus 250GB of data if your broadband ever goes out.
So, are any of these add-ons worth it? Over the length of the contracts, you’ll be paying between £90 and £288 depending on the provider. The guarantees themselves can be pretty flimsy, with BT’s £100 money-back guarantee giving you credit on your future BT bills, while not even covering the cost of your complete wi-fi contract.
Whether or not these packages are right for you will depend on whether you prefer to have all your services provided by one supplier, the quality of the signal in your home, as well as if any promotions are available to you. Some customers will always prefer to rely on boosters provided by their suppliers as a third-party router is unlikely to have any kind of guarantee.
Which broadband extras are the best value?
Aside from add-ons that reduce the cost of your package, the best value broadband extras are services you are already paying for elsewhere that you can save on. A great example is Netflix – Sky and Virgin Media regularly offer the chance to add Netflix to your package for less than the usual monthly subscription, or even for free.
Another common example is your mobile SIM. As well as broadband, Sky and Virgin Media are two of the top mobile providers in the UK. Adding a SIM to your broadband is usually far cheaper than SIM-only contracts. Virgin Media even regularly run promotions where you can get a SIMS with 10GB of monthly data completely free when you take broadband. By combining your SIM and broadband contracts, you can save on both while keeping your existing phone number and all your information.
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