UK broadband FAQ

How to use these answers

Each question below is the short version of a decision people get wrong: cancelling before the new line exists, ignoring an exit fee, treating a city as a coverage map, or buying a television bundle when they wanted a line. The answers are not a quote and not an instruction to a provider. Your contract and the address still decide.

Start with the address on the compare page if you want to see what this catalogue returns. Read the full fibre guide if the slogan is doing the selling. Read the social tariff page if the bill is the problem and you may qualify for a discounted package. A provider profile, such as BT, is there so you can see which network that brand sells in this catalogue before you assume it can be installed.

What is One Touch Switch?

One Touch Switch is the UK residential process for changing fixed broadband provider, and a landline where that service is in scope. You place the order with the provider you are moving to. They contact your current provider through the industry hub and agree a switch date. You should not cancel the old service yourself first. OneTouchSwitch is not that hub, and we are not Ofcom. We explain the process and let you compare address-level deals in a labelled catalogue.

The practical consequence is simple. One order, with the new provider, and a date you should recognise. If someone tells you to cancel the old broadband first so the switch can start, that is not the One Touch Switch path.

How do I switch broadband without downtime?

Order with the new provider and let them run One Touch Switch if both sides support it. Keep the old line until the agreed date. Do not cancel it the day you order. If the new service needs an engineer, book a day you can be at home, and do not treat a remote switch and a first full-fibre install as the same job. Keep the old router until the new one has worked. A gap usually comes from cancelling early, a wrong address match, or an install that was never booked.

Write the date down and keep the confirmation outside the provider’s app. If you work from home, do not put your only immovable call on the morning of an engineer visit.

Do I need to contact my current provider?

Not to resign, when One Touch Switch applies. Calling them to cancel can start a cease that races the switch and leaves you offline. Do contact them if you need the early-termination charge in pounds, if a bill is wrong, or if a phone number, television package, or care alarm depends on the line. Ask those questions before you agree a date. Get the fee in writing. A comparison page cannot tell you the figure on your contract.

Useful things to ask them, if you call at all: the exit fee, the contract end date, and what kit you must return after the new service works. Not useful: asking them to resign you on the same day you have already placed the order.

Are there early termination fees?

Often yes, if you are still inside a minimum term. The fee is set by the contract you signed, not by One Touch Switch and not by this site. Ask your current provider for the amount in pounds on the date you would leave. Add that number to the first-year cost of any new deal. If the fee is larger than the saving, wait until the term ends. A price you were told about in pounds and pence when you signed is not automatically a fresh right to leave without a fee.

Months remaining times the monthly price is only a sketch. Use the provider’s figure, in the same week you compare. A retention offer that restarts a long term is not automatically cheaper than paying the fee.

How long does a switch usually take?

There is no single number of days that fits every address. A remote change of retailer on a line that is already installed can be quicker than a first full-fibre install, which needs an engineer and sometimes a wayleave. The gaining provider should give you a date. If the date is a surprise, query it before the morning it happens. New-build plots and flats with a bad address match take longer because the match fails, not because fibre is slow. Do not book the only day you cannot be offline until that date is confirmed.

Ask which kind of order you have bought. A router-only change is a different wait from a first install that needs a landlord’s permission. London blocks fail this distinction often.

What is full fibre (FTTP) vs FTTC?

Full fibre, or FTTP, means the fibre reaches your premises. Fibre to the cabinet, FTTC, uses fibre to a street cabinet and then a copper line into the home. That copper is why upload is often lower and why speed can fall with distance. Full fibre is not a speed grade: you can buy it at modest speeds, and a gigabit advert can still describe a cabinet product. Cable is a third network, not a synonym for either. Read the full fibre guide before you treat the slogan as the product.

You do not need full fibre for every household. A cabinet line can be enough if the upload is honest. You do need to know which one you are buying. The full fibre guide goes further.

What is a social tariff and who qualifies?

A social tariff is a cheaper broadband package for people who meet a provider’s rules, usually linked to benefits such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit. Each provider sets the rules, the price, and the speed. OneTouchSwitch does not check eligibility and will not take benefit documents. Ask the provider, and ask whether they will move you without an exit fee, before you cancel a commercial contract. A one-month promotional price is not a social tariff. See the social tariff page for the questions to ask.

Rules are not identical between brands. A refusal from one provider is not a refusal from every provider at the same address. Do not upload benefit letters to a comparison site.

Can I keep my phone number / landline?

Only if you ask and the providers support it. Many full-fibre plans are broadband only. A landline is no longer included by default. If you need a number, or a care alarm uses the line, say so at the start of the order and test the replacement before the old line stops. One Touch Switch does not silently carry every number that was ever on the account, and it does not know a pendant exists. Assume the number will not move until the order says it will.

If nobody uses the landline, do not pay to keep it out of habit. If a parent or a pendant does, do not drop it because a broadband-only deal looked cheaper.

What if my address only has one network?

Then you compare the retailers on that network, or you stay. A second brand on the same wholesale network is a real choice of price, term, and support. A brand on a different network is not a choice if they cannot be installed. Flats with a landlord-chosen alt-net, and some new builds, are in this position. Paying an exit fee to chase a logo that the building cannot take is a common waste. Check the premises, including the flat number, and believe a short list.

Openreach retailers can still differ on price and support when they share a footprint. A short list is information. It is not a broken comparison.

How do address-level deal checks work on this site?

You enter the address. The page lists plans from a labelled mock catalogue for networks that the check treats as orderable at that premises, with a first-year cost rather than only a headline price. It is not a live quote from BT, Virgin Media, Openreach, or anyone else, and it is not an order. A neighbour’s result can differ because networks are premises-level. Include the flat number. If the match looks like the wrong door, stop and correct it before you accept a switch date.

The catalogue is mock data so first-year cost, term and typical speed are visible. When a provider’s page disagrees with a card here, believe the provider. Start on the compare page.

Is OneTouchSwitch affiliated with BT, Virgin, Openreach, or Ofcom?

No. We are an independent comparison and information site. We are not BT, Virgin Media, Openreach, CityFibre, Ofcom, or the company that runs the provider messaging hub. A provider page on this site is an editorial profile of a mock catalogue, not an official page and not an endorsement. If we are paid when you continue to a partner, that is disclosed on the journey. It does not change the first-year figure and it does not make us the network.

A BT profile or a Virgin Media profile is not their shopfront. Virgin’s cable network is not Openreach. BT’s national footprint is not a promise that your flat is on full fibre.

What should I check before accepting a deal?

Check the premises, the upload as well as the download, the price after any introductory months, setup or router charges, the contract length, and the early-termination charge on the contract you already have. Split broadband from TV and mobile. Ask about a landline or a care alarm if you need one. Ask whether you qualify for a social tariff before you sign another long commercial term. Confirm the live price with the provider. Keep the confirmation, and do not cancel the old line first.

If those checks are unfinished, do not order yet. Waiting until a minimum term ends is sometimes the highest-saving switch available. When you are ready, order with the new provider and keep the old line until the date.

When should I not switch yet?

Do not switch if you do not know the early-termination charge, if the address match is the wrong flat, or if the saving disappears once the introductory months end. Do not switch to chase a brand the building cannot take. Do not switch on the morning you cannot be offline, and do not cancel the old line while you are still deciding. Waiting until the minimum term ends is sometimes the cheapest outcome. A comparison is not an order.

A comparison that still has a blank exit fee, a wrong flat, or a brand the building cannot take is a reason to wait. Order when those are known, not when a card looks tidy.

Does a broadband switch move my TV package?

No. One Touch Switch covers the broadband, and a landline where that service is in scope. A television package, a streaming puck, and a mobile handset stay on their own contracts. Price the broadband on its own if that is all you wanted. Ask the old and the new provider what happens to the TV on the switch date, and get the answer in the order confirmation. The guide on switching with TV is the longer version of this answer.

Price the television separately. If you only wanted the line, do not let a bundle set the broadband term. Ask both providers what happens to the TV on the switch date.

Who do I complain to if a switch goes wrong?

Start with the provider who owns the order, usually the one you are moving to. Quote the switch reference, the date you were promised, and what actually happened. If a care alarm is affected, contact that supplier the same day. Their complaints process comes before an ombudsman. Ofcom does not award you a personal payment for a single switch. This site cannot open a ticket on your line. The help centre is the short version of what to do on this website. The provider is who can change the order.

The provider who took the order is who can change it. Ofcom will not fix a single switch for you. Keep the reference, the promised date, and a note of whether the old line has already stopped.

Where to go next

Compare broadband at your address. If the bill is the issue, read the social tariff page and ask the provider. If the slogan is full fibre, read the guide before you pay for a speed you will not use. If you are weighing a national brand, the BT profile shows what that brand sells in this catalogue. If you are in London, the city page is about overbuild and flats, not a league table. None of these pages is an order, and none of them is Ofcom.