Compare the Best Broadband Only Deals

For the most part, broadband will be sold along with phone line rental. This is because, for the most part, your broadband and phone will use the same physical (phone) line to work. As such, getting the two services together is a pretty sensible idea, both in terms of convenience and cost - if you're going to need the line to connect your broadband anyway, you may as well take the phone since it's often bundled in at little to no extra cost. However nowadays, with people relying more and more on mobiles to make their calls rather than using a landline, there's more of a call for broadband only packages.

There are only a couple of providers offering broadband only packages at the moment, the biggest being Virgin Media who offer cable broadband, rather than conventional DSL broadband. In order to get Virgin's cable broadband you'll need to live in an area with cable connection - which is currently around 50% of the country. Others, including smaller supplier Relish, offer mobile broadband, which also doesn't require a phone line.

The majority of providers will make you pay for their line rental if you want one of their broadband packages. But, there are a few providers who will allow you to get your line rental from a different provider.

By doing this, you can get your broadband from one company, and then get a cheaper line rental service from someone else. In theory, it will help you save a lot of money on your line rental throughout the course of your broadband contract. It’s a great idea for people with a current phone deal that they’re comfortable with, but want to switch to a different broadband provider. Or, it’s great if you’ve shopped around and found a cheaper line rental deal somewhere else.

Perhaps the best example of a provider that allows you to get your line rental elsewhere is Plusnet. They give you the chance to choose one of their broadband deals and get your line rental from a different provider. There is a catch, as they’re a BT owned company, you have to get your line rental from another BT based landline provider. Additionally, the price of the broadband from Plusnet will rise if you don’t get your line rental from them. So, you must find the best line rental deal around for this to work out cheaper and be worth the extra effort.

Those of you with phones connected to a 4G network will testify that the speeds are pretty quick. You can easily stream HD music and video, as well as make some quick downloads too. Over the last few years, it’s got better and better, to the point where some people entertain the idea that it can compete with home broadband.

At the moment, it’s not quite up to home broadband standard just yet. The problem with 4G is that you rely on the coverage areas. If you’re not in an area that gets 4G coverage, you’ll be restricted to the much slower 3G network instead. While a 4G network has the power to compete with home broadband speeds, a 3G is nowhere near it.

Perhaps the biggest strike against mobile broadband is that every network likes to have data limits. If you’re buying a mobile broadband contract, they rarely come with unlimited data - unlike home broadband deals, which almost always come with it. The problem with this is that your data allowance gets restricted, meaning you incur additional fees if you go over it. Sure, some providers do offer unlimited mobile broadband, but it’s usually the most expensive package they sell.

So, replacing your home broadband with a mobile one probably isn’t the best idea. Even if you live in an area with good 4G coverage, you’ll use up loads of data and be forced into paying loads of money for an unlimited data package.

Bundling as many services together can end up making things more affordable, and save you lots of money. Now, you might not like the idea of paying for line rental, particularly if you rarely use your landline. However, add line rental to package including broadband and TV, and the savings are quite substantial. Or, if you’re choosing Virgin Media as your broadband provider, throw in your mobile phone services to create the ultimate money-saving bundle.