Student broadband that survives the tenancy

Match the contract to the tenancy

An 18- or 24-month deal signed in September outlives a June move-out. Prefer a term you can finish, a rolling plan, or a provider that will let the next house take the service only if that is written into the order. Assume an early-termination charge is real money until the provider says otherwise in writing.

Bills should name the account holder. Splitting by bank transfer between friends does not change who the provider will chase.

Address matches in shared houses

Houses in multiple occupation often fail automated matches because the flat or room number is missing. Use the format on the tenancy agreement. If the previous tenants’ service is still live, do not assume it will be ceased politely. The gaining provider needs a clean match.

Upload matters more than a gigabit headline if several people are on video calls. A cheaper plan with a low upload will feel broken at 9am even when the download test looks fine at midnight.

Leaving in the summer

Give notice against the contract end date, not against the last party. Return the router to the address the provider specifies and keep proof. If you are switching rather than ceasing, order the new service with the new provider and do not cancel the old one first.

If a parent is paying, they still need to be the account holder or an authorised contact. A card on the account is not the same as authority to switch.

A house, not a hall

University halls are usually a building contract. You do not One Touch Switch the campus network. A shared private house with its own line is the opposite: someone has to be the customer, and that someone is liable in June. Decide that name in September, in writing, when everyone is still in the kitchen.

Match the term to the tenancy. If the tenancy is nine or ten months, a rolling plan or a term that ends in June is the product. An 18-month saving that becomes an exit fee in June is a loan from your future self. Ask the provider what the early-termination charge would be on 30 June before you sign, and write it next to the monthly price.

The address file will not know your room. Use the tenancy’s house number and, if the agreement names a room, include it. Previous tenants’ Wi-Fi names on the wall are not a broadband account. If their service is still live, the new order has to match the line the landlord thinks exists, not the network your phone joined last night.

Upload is the 9am problem. Four laptops on video calls will expose a cheap cabinet plan that looked fine when one person streamed. Prefer a stated upload over a gigabit poster. If the house is on a landlord-chosen alt-net, you may not have a choice of brand. Ask the landlord which network is in the building before you all sign a national 24-month deal that cannot be installed.

In the summer, the account holder returns the router and keeps the proof. Everyone else does not get to ‘just cancel it’ from an app they do not control. If the next house wants service, that is a new order at a new address, not a magical transfer of a student discount.

Money between housemates should be dull. Agree the monthly amount, who pays the provider, and what happens if someone leaves at Christmas. A bank transfer into a friend’s account is not a contract with the broadband company. If the account holder stops paying, the provider will not negotiate with the group chat. Put the name of the customer on the fridge next to the account number. If a parent is the customer, they need to be reachable in exam week, not only at the start of term. And if the house is only available on one network because the landlord signed a wayleave, compare plans on that network instead of arguing about a national brand that cannot pull a cable into the close.