Student Broadband Comparison

Broadband is a must have at university. Nearly every student will no doubt need the Internet to do online research or access those lecture slides from the “one” lecture that you managed to miss.

The speed of broadband now is great for working online, whilst streaming the latest tunes on Spotify or watching the latest episode of Eastenders on iPlayer.

If you are looking for student broadband or student broadband deals then tread carefully. It is not always best to go with a company that is offering student broadband. It does not mean that the service is just for students but simply that they are marketing to students in particular.

Some student broadband deals or offers can be great but make sure you look into the ins and outs as a cheap broadband may offer less for your money. Remember that price isn’t everything!

What you need before getting online

To set up your phone line through the provider which may take up to a week so if you are planning to move into your student house on the 1^st July then make sure that you set up your broadband in advance. After all, the early bird catches the worm.
You will need to have a modem that will be sent by the broadband provider and this can take up to two weeks.
Make sure that all of your computers have wireless connections. Some old laptops and desktops do not come with inbuilt wireless so you should buy a wireless dongle that connects to the router.

What to do if you are switching provider

If you are moving house or staying where you are you may be looking to switch provider. It’s best to shop around because even if you don’t end up switching your broadband you cold haggle your current company down in price with the information that you have found.

When you switch make sure that your previous contract has ended as it could cost you money to terminate the contract early.

What to consider when choosing student broadband

Data allowance – Although you are not likely to go over your allowance you should be careful as students tend to live together in large numbers. If there are 6-8 of you all downloading music etc everyday then you could be at risk of exceeding your limit and incurring (extremely expensive) data charges. To put it simply, a 2GB allowance will allow you to watch around 3.5 hours of high quality iPlayer.
Speed of broadband – The speed will be of utmost importance to students because if there are more using the wireless internet then it will be shared between you. This can cause problems for people who like to play games online on their consoles as they may experience “lag”. However, the best thing about broadband now is that it is usually a high speed.
Phone line – do you already have a phone line installed or are you planning on bundling them together? It can be cheaper to bundle a phone line and broadband provider together as you can see below.
Contract length – although 18 month contracts can give the best value as a student you are more likely to be looking for 12 month contracts to coincide with your tenancy agreement.

The best (and cheapest) student broadband deals

It is important to keep in mind that some broadband deals do not include line rental. Line rental will usually set you back around £13 but take a look at our line rental comparison article in order to make sure that you get the best deal. However, you should be aware that some broadband providers only work on certain phone lines.

Alternatively, if you would like to get your line rental and broadband as a package then take a look at our best broadband and TV package article to choose the best deal for you.

Another thing to consider may also be getting an all in one package including TV. Take a look at our Broadband & TV package comparison article in order to help you out here.

All of these packages are 12 months in length!

Broadband without line rental included

Bear in mind that these broadband deals require a BT phone line.

1. Plusnet Broadband

The Plusnet broadband has a great speed or around 20Mbs. However, the downfall is the download limit which is set to 10Gb. If you live in a house of heavy internet users this may not be enough. As for price it is one of the best out there at £6.49/month with a £25 installation fee bringing it to £8.75/month.

Get Plusnet Broadband >>

2. Sky Broadband

Sky also offer broadband at 20Mbs but with unlimited download. All of this is a great price at £15 a month. If you wanted to make it even cheaper then you can link it with the Sky phoneline bundle.

Get this Sky package with up to £48.75 student cashback >>

3. Be internet

Be internet are a great option for students because they offer internet pretty much anywhere throughout the country. Although they only offer 12Mbs speed and unlimited downloads for £17/month they have a high quality broadband with a great service.

Get Be Internet >>

Go through Student Cashback to get £18.75 cashback.

Broadband deals for existing customers

1. O2 Broadband

O2 broadband is great because they offer unlimited download at 20Mbs. This is probably one of the best services for a cheap price of £12.50. The only downside is that you need to be an O2 phone customer for over 24 months. However, it is more than likely that at least one person in a student house will be on an O2 contract.

Get O2 Broadband >>

Go through Student cashback to receive up to £45 cashback on this package.

2. Sky Broadband

Sky offer broadband at just £5 a month but it only allows 2Gb download. This will only be good for people who are living alone. However, for £12.50 a month you can get 20Mbs speed with an unlimited download limit. You must be a Sky TV customer already to take advantage of this deal.

Get this Sky package with up to £48.75 student cashback >>

Extra information

Don’t forget that these costs may be divided between every housemate which can lead to things being a lot cheaper.

Also, the broadband could take up to around 2 weeks to get connected so it’s best to sort it early if you plan on living in the house throughout summer.