The cheapest broadband is a total, not a headline

What to add up

Add every month at the introductory price, every month after it, setup, delivery, and a router charge if the router is not included. Divide by the number of months if you want a monthly equivalent, but keep the cash total visible. That total is what leaves your account.

Ignore average speeds for the UK. The cheapest product that cannot be installed at your address costs nothing and does nothing. Availability is the first filter; price is the second.

Why the poster price is smaller than the bill

Introductory pricing, a separate line rental that has mostly disappeared but still hides inside 'broadband only' wording, paper-bill fees, and a price variation clause all change the year. Mid-contract price rises should be stated in pounds and pence. If the page will not say the figure, treat that as a reason to keep looking.

A dual-play deal with TV can look cheap per box and expensive once you only wanted broadband. Split the products. One Touch Switch moves the broadband relationship the gaining provider agrees to move. It does not automatically re-price a TV bundle.

A cheap deal that does not fit

The lowest price on a slow upload is a false economy if two people work from home. The lowest price on a network that needs an engineer next month is a false economy if you are already out of contract and paying an out-of-contract rate you could leave this week.

Compare like for like: similar download, similar upload, similar contract length. Then look at exit terms, social-tariff eligibility, and whether the provider will run One Touch Switch rather than asking you to cancel first.

A worked way to pick the cheapest

Write twelve months on a line. For each deal, put the introductory price in the months it covers and the follow-on price in the rest. Add setup once. Add the exit fee once, in the first month, if you are not free to leave. The smallest total is the cheapest deal you can actually take. A deal that cannot be installed at the address scores nothing, because you cannot buy it.

Do this for two speeds, not one. The cheapest 30–80 Mbps product and the cheapest product with an upload over 30 Mbps are often different brands. If you work from home, the second total is the one that matters. If you mostly stream in the evening, the first may be honest.

Then ask the social-tariff question before you celebrate either total. If you qualify, a steady low price can beat both commercial intros once month seven arrives. The provider checks that. A comparison site cannot award it.

Cashback and vouchers come last. If you must claim them, miss a deadline, or stay a full term to keep them, they are not part of the price until they are in your account. A voucher that needs a separate website is a hobby, not a discount.

When the totals are close, pick the shorter term, the clearer price-rise sentence, and the network that does not need an engineer you cannot host. Cheapest is a cash figure plus a risk. The figure without the risk is how people ‘save’ money and spend a week offline.

If two totals are within a few pounds, stop optimising the penny and check the practical differences. Which one needs an engineer. Which one is a different physical network from the line you have today. Which one includes a phone you do not use. Which one restarts a 24-month term you may not finish. A slightly higher monthly price on the network that is already in the building, with a term you can leave, is often the cheapest outcome once your time and a missed install are counted. Re-run the address if you are unsure the brand can even be ordered. A beautiful total for a provider the premises cannot take is zero.