PlusNet offers no contract broadband

PlusNet has begun offering residential broadband packages with no long contract to tie you in - as standard on their Broadband Your Way packages.

If you sign up with PlusNet now, you only have to give one month's notice if you want to leave. The downside is that if you do leave before an inital 12 months is up, you'll have to pay £20 for the modem they give you when you join, and £40 for your original connection (waived when you first sign up).

PlusNet have four broadband packages to choose from, all with download speeds of up to 8 Meg.

PlusNet Option 1, £9.99 per month with 1 GB monthly download allowance
PlusNet Option 2, £14.99 per month with 8 GB monthly download allowance
PlusNet Option 3, £19.99 per month with 20 GB monthly download allowance
PlusNet Option 4, £29.99 per month with 40 GB monthly download allowance

You can also buy extra download allowance if you need it.

Or visit their comparison page to decide which package is best for you.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Switch to Pipex and get two months free

Looking for a new broadband supplier? Check out Pipex broadband and if you’re switching from another provider to Pipex you'll get two months free broadband. Or switchers can choose a free broadband modem and microfilters instead.

Pipex Broadband is available in PipexMini for £14.99 per month for up 8 meg with a 2 GB monthly usage allowance, PipexMidi for £19.99 per month for up to 8 meg with 15 GB download allowance per month, or PipexMax for £24.99 per month with up to 8 meg and unlimited downloads.

How to switch:

1. Check you're out of your initial contract with your current broadband provider - broadband contracts are usually 12 months but can be longer or shorter.

2. Contact your existing broadband provider and request a MAC (Migration Authorisation Code). You will need to enter this code when you order your new Pipex broadband package online. Your MAC code is valid for 30 days.

3. Choose your Pipex package and order online.

4. Don’t cancel your existing broadband service as you could end up without broadband until your Pipex service is switched on - simply sit back and in a few weeks your Pipex broadband will be live!

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Virgin Media cable broadband offer

It hardly seems any time at all since the last Virgin Media offer, but they've brought out a special online offer which is ideal for broadband first-timers and light users.

The cable broadband Size M package is now reduced from £18 per month to just £14.99 per month. That's an annual saving of over £36.

This broadband package has a download speed of up to 2 meg making it a good starter package if you're new to broadband, or if you and your family just use your high speed internet connection for lower-bandwith online tasks such as web surfing and email. (If you want to download music, films and TV shows, watch live TV on your PC, play games, etc you would be better with their faster packages Broadband Size L or Broadband Size XL.)

And you still get £10 off when you buy Virgin Media cable broadband online.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Google Adwords voucher from Easyspace

Looking for web hosting? Easyspace has a great offer to help get you started with online advertising, so you can introduce your website to a targeted audience.

Sign up with any web hosting package from Easyspace and get a free Google Adwords voucher worth up to £30.

With Starter or Starter Plus web hosting packages you'll be eligible to claim a £20 voucher, and with Business or Pro there's a voucher worth £30.

Other benefits when you sign up with Easyspace web hosting include:

• a £50 free credit when you sign up for a Pay-Per-Click account with MIVA
  
• £25 worth of Pay Per Click Advertising with Mirago
• Free upload of 30 prints to Snapfish
• 3 free image downloads from Fotolio (a social marketplace for royalty free stock images)
• 50 free Easymailer credits (for customers signing up to the Starter, Business or Pro web hosting packages) - with Easymailer you can create and send an email marketing campaign in only 4 steps

Easyspace has a range of hosting options for everyone:

Starter website hosting, ideal for home and hobbyists - £25 per year
Starter Plus website hosting, ideal for advanced users - £39.99 per year
Business website hosting, ideal for small businesses - £89 per year
Pro website hosting, ideal for developers - £180 per year

Want cheaper hosting? Sign up for 2 years and save another 10 percent.

Find out more about the offers and packages, plus t&cs, here.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Starter broadband packages

According to the latest report from the industry / government forum The Broadband Stakeholder Group, broadband in the UK has reached 99.6% availability.

Not on broadband yet? If you want to join the UK's 13 million broadband subscribers, check out some of the broadband starter packages I've selected.

They offer cheap broadband and mostly download speeds of 1 or 2 meg (though the BT Option 1 is up to 8 meg) - ideal for web surfing, email and a few song downloads when you're just getting used to using the internet from home. (If you or your family are likely to want internet telephone calls, peer to peer applications etc you'll need a package with more bandwith / download speed - search my broadband availability website, or for something really fast check out these superfast broadband packages).

BT Total Broadband Option 1

• £8.95 a month for six months then £17.99 a month (18 month contract)
• Up to 8Mb download speed
• FREE connection and 20GB usage guideline
• Email anti-virus protection, parental controls, anti-spyware, pop-up blocker, spam filter, online fraud prevention
• FREE evening and weekend UK BT Broadband Talk calls (VoIP) (conditions apply)
• 250 free BT Openzone WiFi minutes a month for duration of minimum term
• Free BT 220v router
• FREE BT Broadband Talk free video calls (terms and conditions apply).

BT Total Broadband Option 1 - buy or find out more

UK Online up to 1 meg unlimited broadband

• From £9.99 to £19.99 a month
  
• unlimited time online
• unlimited downloads
• Up to 1Mb download speed
  
• 24/7/365 UK based technical support
• 10 free UK Online email addresses with SpamFilter
• £25 connection fee
• 12 month contract
  

UK Online 1Mb unlimited broadband - buy or find out more

Orange Broadband Starter

• £14.99 per month
• up to 2Mb download speed
• 2GB download allowance each month (90% of customers use less)
• 30 day money back guarantee
  
• FREE McAfee® Privacy Service with parental controls
  
• webmail - access it anywhere and includes 750 MB storage space
• 150 MB free webspace - that's enough to build up to five sites (30 MB limit per site)
• webspace beginner's guide to help you get started
• 12 month contract
  

Orange Broadband Starter - buy or find out more

Virgin Media Unlimited Broadband Plan Three

• up to 1Mb download speed
• unlimited downloads (fair use policy applies)
  
• Only £14.99 per month
• PCguard with anti-virus, firewall, pop-up blocker and privacy manager
• Free modem
• Wireless Kit (£40 optional extra)
• Award winning customer service
• Minimum contract applies

Virgin Media Unlimited Broadband Plan Three - buy or find out more

AOL Broadband Silver

• First month FREE when you sign up online, then only £14.99 a month - every month (ends 29/04/07)
  
• FREE wireless router worth over £55 (ends 29/04/07)
• Download speeds up to 2Mb
• FREE connection and setup
• Inclusive Safety & Security Centre with anti-virus scanning on emails, spam filters, spyware protection, Parental Controls and McAfee® Personal Firewall™ Plus
• Online support at no extra cost
• 12 month contract
  

AOL Broadband Silver - buy or find out more

Not seen a package that suits you? Find more on my cheap broadband page on my broadband comparison website UK Broadband Finder.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

AOL extends broadband offers

AOL has extended its broadband offers until 29 April 2007.

New customers signing up online to either AOL Silver or AOL Platinum get a month free, AND a free wireless router, worth £55.

Alternatively if you are switching to AOL and you have an AOL supported modem you can get broadband with no minimum contract.

Switching to AOL Platinum?? You'll get £5 off - it's £24.99 per month instead of £29.99 per month.

These offers end 29/04/07.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Superfast Be broadband connection offer is back

Be Broadband has brought back its popular free connection offer.

Order any of Be's superfast broadband packages - Be Lite, Be Unlimited and Be Pro - before 30 April 2007 and get free connection saving you £24.

If you're on a budget this could be the time for going for a superfast deal - especially as Be's cheapest broadband package, Be Lite, is only £14 a month.

Be has been expanding rapidly and loads of UK exchanges are now Be-enabled. So find out if your local exchange can offer up to 24 meg broadband from Be.

Or visit my broadband comparison website to see which broadband providers and ISPs can supply broadband in your area.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Just broadband from UK Online

Are you fed up with special offers for broadband bundles? Do you simply want a great standalone broadband package?

Then take a look at UK Online.

UK Online has four broadband packages:

• Up to 1 Meg broadband, available from a super £9.99 per month (up to £19.99 per month)
• Up to 2 Meg broadband, from a good value £14.99 per month (up to £24.99 per month)
• Up to 8 Meg broadband, via uK Online’s own network and only £24.99 per month
• Up to 22 Meg broadband, also via their network and currently on special offer at £24.99 per month (usually £29.99 per month - offer ends 31/03/07)

If you sign up for either of the two faster packages (up to 8 Meg and up to 22 Meg) you’ll get an amazing upload speed of up to 786kb. And free connection, saving £25.

By Sarah, UK Broadband Finder

Internet Security

Back in the day, when t'internet first reached those of us who aren't US military scientists or Tim Berners-Lee, most of us would happily open any email just because we were so pleased to receive one that didn't have "test email" in the subject header (or a follow-up phone call asking if you'd received it). And if it asked us to open an attachment, well if it said "click here" it seemed only polite to do as they asked.

A few mystery pc crashes and blue-screens-of-death later we're a bit more savvy, but the internet threats have expanded from the odd email virus to spyware, unsuitable content, key logging, download-ridden viruses, spam and more.

On my broadband comparison website I promote McAffee security products. From the vicious sounding SpamKiller to VirusScan, the Internet Security Suite to Wireless Protection and more, you can keep your digital life safe online. Check our my McAfee security page now.

By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder

Bookmark my broadband offers page

If you are looking to sign up with a new broadband package, take a look at the latest broadband offers page on my broadband comparison website.

It includes some great ongoing broadband offers, and new short-term deals that ISPs and broadband providers are currently offering.

Bookmark the offers page and check back for latest deals.

By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder

More Virgin Media offers

Virgin Media seems to operate on the basis that you should never have one great offer when you can have two (or three, or four).

They are currently running a Virgin Media Easter promotion - order the Broadband, TV and Phone 3 for £30 package and get your first month, free. And you'll be automatically entered into a competition to win a new home entertainment system, a PC, a portable home phone or Virgin Media's Very Impressive Package (free for 12 months). (Offer ends 6pm, 09/04/07)

They also have a great value deal for people wanting cable broadband and a phone service. You can now get 1/2 Price cable broadband when you take a Virgin Media phone package. This offer is open to new and existing customers. That's Medium Broadband (2Mb) for just £9; Large Broadband (4Mb) for £12.50; X Large Broadband (10Mb) for £17.50 (all prices per month). (offer ends 30/04/07)

The Virgin Media 3 for £30 broadband, phone and TV bundle now includes TV package XL, which includes over 129 digital TV channels.

And finally, From April 2, customers living outside cable areas can get Free TV from Virgin Media with no monthly subscription when they take Bundle One non-cable broadband and phone (which is £19.99 per month). (You can't use this with any other offer). Free TV gives you over 40 channels including ITV2, E4, BBC News 24 and Film4 - all in crystal clear digital.

By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder

Broadband bundles

Ofcom's Digital Progress Report, published yesterday, included the statistic that at the end of 2006, over 40% of all adults with broadband available at home took other communications services from the same provider. For many users, the ability to bundle was the most important factor when choosing a broadband provider - 27%, the same percentage who saw price as the most important factor in their choice.

Bundles typically include broadband and phone, though increasingly there are bundles of three (broadband, phone and TV; broadband, mobile and TV; or other combinations) although Virgin Media is now offering quadplay - broadband, TV, phone and mobile.

Some communications providers are now including broadband in a bundle for no extra charge - for example, Sky and TalkTalk.

Visit my bundles page on my broadband comparison website for more providers and bundles.

By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder