ADSL Broadband

ADSL Broadband is the name given to the most common type of broadband - broadband internet services delivered to your home over the phone line. With ASDL Broadband, you can download music, pictures and stream video clips from several computers and make calls simultaneously, unlike the old dial-up method where you had to disconnect from the internet if someone wanted to use the phone. The speeds available on ADSL Broadband connections are mostly affected by the distance between your house and the telephone exchange - as a general rule of thumb, the closer you are to the nearest exchange, the better your broadband service will be.

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Select your package below:

Provider	Package	Speed		Download Limit		Setup Cost		Monthly Cost	Rating
18 Months	BT Total Broadband - Option 1 Get a FREE Case of Wine Now! Award-winning broadband. Includes wireless BT Home Hub & UK calls. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	10GBBroadband with an ample monthly usage allowance of 10GB.	+	FREE	=	£7.99If you switch your phone line or calls to BT, BT Broadband Option 1 is £7.99 for the first 3 months, £15.99 per month thereafter. Offer includes the new BT Home Hub 2.0.	More Info 0800 328 1522
18 Months	BT Total Broadband - Option 3 Get a FREE Case of Wine Now! Award-winning broadband. Includes wireless BT Home Hub & UK calls. Unlimited downloads. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£18.99If you switch your phone line or calls to BT, BT Broadband Option 3 comes with a BT Home Hub 2.0 & Phone and is £18.99 for the first 3 months, £24.99 per month thereafter.	More Info 0800 328 1522
18 Months	Orange Home Max Get 3 Months Free Broadband now! Unlimited downloads plus inclusive line rental. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£6.50Orange Home Max broadband (inc. £10.50 line rental) costs £20 a month on its own or £16.50 a month for customers with an Orange Pay Monthly mobile phone contract. Customers who take the Broadband and Mobile option also qualify for the first three months of Broadband (£6.50 a month) for free (although the cost of line rental is still payable).	More Info 0800 072 2357
18 Months	AOL Wireless Broadband with Evening & Weekend Calls 8Mbps broadband with FREE wireless router. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	10GBBroadband with an ample monthly usage allowance of 10GB.	+	FREE	=	£9.99£4.99 a month for the first 3 months, and £9.99 thereafter. The AOL Talk Evening & Weekend phone plan is included at no extra cost. FREE wireless router and connection.	More Info 0800 049 4402
12 Months	PlusNet Value Award Winning Broadband! Get a FREE wireless router, FREE connection and FREE set-up. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	10GBBroadband with an ample monthly usage allowance of 10GB.	+	FREE	=	£5.99£5.99 a month. No set-up or connection fee if you stay with PlusNet for 12 months.	More Info 0800 073 1120
12 Months	O2 Standard Unlimited downloads. FREE wireless router & 50 day money-back guarantee. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£7.50O2 mobile customers pay £7.50 a month thereafter, with non-O2 customers instead paying £12.50.	More Info 0800 840 5342
12 Months	Be Value Get Be Broadband Value from £7.50 a month. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	40GBBroadband with a huge monthly usage allowance of 40GB.	+	FREE	=	£7.50Sign up to the BE Value broadband package for only £7.50 a month.	More Info
1 Month	AOL Monthly Wireless Flexi Broadband with Evening & Weekend Calls 8Mbps broadband with FREE wireless router. No long-term contract. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	10GBBroadband with an ample monthly usage allowance of 10GB.	+	£29.99	=	£9.99AOL Wireless Flexi is now £4.99 a month for the first three months, then £9.99 thereafter. A one off 29.99 connection fee for the service applies. The AOL Talk Evening & Weekend plan included at no extra cost. Wireless router (worth £50) comes included for FREE.	More Info 0800 049 4402
18 Months	BT Total Broadband - Option 2 Get a FREE Case of Wine Now! Award-winning broadband. Includes wireless BT Home Hub & UK calls. 15GB download cap. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	15GBBroadband with an ample monthly usage allowance of 15GB.	+	FREE	=	£13.99BT Broadband Option 1 has an introductory price of £7.99 for the first 3 months when you take out an 18 month contact, £15.99 thereafter. 12 month plans cost £15.99 per month throughout the duration of the contract.	More Info 0800 328 1522
24 Months	Demon Home 2+ - 24 Month Up to 16Mbps broadband, FREE set up, FREE wireless router & FREE dynamic IP address. More Info »	Up To 16Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£15.28Demon Home 2+ Broadband package costs just £15.28 a month for a 24 Month contract.	More Info
12 Months	Sky Base Light use broadband. FREE when taken with a Sky Talk phone package. More Info »	2Mbps	+	2GBBroadband with a monthly usage allowance of 2GB.	+	FREE	=	FREEGet Sky Broadband Base for FREE when taken with Sky Talk. £15 connection fee and line rental (£10 a month) applies (Limited Time Only!).	More Info 0800 840 5344
12 Months	Sky Everyday FREE wireless router & 10GB usage allowance when combined with a Sky TV package. More Info »	Up To 10Mbps	+	10GBBroadband with an ample monthly usage allowance of 10GB.	+	FREE	=	£5.00Sky Everyday broadband is £5 extra a month when taken with a phone and TV package, from £16.50 a month. Line rental is extra at £10.50 a month. A £15 activation fee applies (Limtied Time Only!).	More Info 0800 840 5344
24 Months	Demon HomeOffice 2+ - 24 Month Up to 16Mbps broadband, FREE set up, FREE wireless router and FREE dynamic IP address. More Info »	Up To 16Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£18.21Demon Home Office package costing just £18.21 a month with free connection.	More Info
12 Months	Madasafish MAX 8Mbps broadband with FREE wireless router. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	5GBBroadband with an average monthly usage allowance of 5GB.	+	FREE	=	£9.99Cost £9.99 a month for the first 6 months, £14.99 a month thereafter.	More Info
12 Months	Madasafish MAX Plus 8Mbps broadband with FREE wireless router. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	20GBBroadband with a large monthly usage allowance of 20GB.	+	FREE	=	£19.99Cost £19.99 per month first 6 months, £25.99 per month thereafter. FREE ADSL2+ wireless router, and no charge for connection.	More Info
12 Months	Demon Home 2+ - 12 Month Up to 16Mbps broadband, FREE set up, FREE wireless router & FREE dynamic IP address. More Info »	Up To 16Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£17.25Demon Home 2+ Broadband package costs just £17.25 a month for a 12 Month contract.	More Info
12 Months	Demon HomeOffice 2+ - 12 Month Up to 16Mbps broadband, FREE set up, FREE wireless router and FREE dynamic IP address. More Info »	Up To 16Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£20.21Demon Home Office package costing just £20.21 a month with free connection.	More Info
12 Months	Madasafish MAX Premier 8Mbps broadband with FREE wireless router. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	50GBBroadband with a huge monthly usage allowance of 50GB.	+	FREE	=	£25.99Costs £25.99 per month first 6 months, £29.99 per month thereafter. FREE ADSL2+ wireless router, and FREE connection.	More Info
18 Months	Orange Home Starter FREE wireless router and off-peak landline calls. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£7.00Orange Home Starter broadband costs £10.00 a month or £7.00 a month when taken with an Orange Pay Monthly mobile phone contract.	More Info 0800 072 2357
18 Months	Orange Home Ultra Unlimited downloads, inclusive line rental plus FREE Orange Livebox wireless router. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£10.50Orange Home Ultra broadband costs £13.50 a month (£10.50 Orange line rental required) on its own or £10.50 a month for customers with an Orange Pay Monthly mobile phone contract (£10.50 Orange line rental required).	More Info 0800 072 2357
12 Months	Virgin ADSL National Broadband with Evening & Weekend Calls Unlimited downloads, FREE UK evening and weekend calls & FREE wireless router. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	£30.00	=	£5.00Virgin Media National Broadband with Evening & Weekend calls costs just £5 a month for the first three months (£12 a month thereafter). There is a one-off set-up cost of £30 for new customers.	More Info
18 Months	Orange Home Select FREE wireless router and unlimited downloads. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£9.00Orange Home Select broadband costs either £12.00 a month taken on its own or £9.00 a month for customers with an Orange Pay Monthly mobile phone contract.	More Info 0800 072 2357
18 Months	TalkTalk Essentials Get FREE connection now! 8Mbps speeds, FREE wireless router & FREE evening and weekend calls! More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	40GBBroadband with a huge monthly usage allowance of 40GB.	+	FREE	=	£6.99Create your TalkTalk Broadband & Phone package for just £6.99 per month. Line rental costs an additional £11.49 per month. Customers living in non-LLU areas can still get TalkTalk broadband, but it will cost £21.49 a month.	More Info 0800 049 7842
18 Months	TalkTalk Pro Get FREE connection now! Up to 24Mbps speeds, FREE wireless router & FREE anytime UK calls. More Info »	Up To 24Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£14.99TalkTalk Pro costs £14.99 a month. FREE connection. Line rental costs £11.49 per month Non-LLU customers can still get broadband from TalkTalk, but at £25.49 a month.	More Info 0800 049 7842
12 Months	PlusNet Premium Award Winning Premium Broadband! Get a FREE wireless router, FREE connection and FREE set-up. More Info »	Up To 20Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	FREE	=	£11.99£11.99 a month for the first three months, £15.99 a month thereafter. No set-up or connection fee if you stay with PlusNet for 12 months.	More Info 0800 073 1120
12 Months	Virgin ADSL National Broadband and Anytime Calls Unlimited downloads, FREE UK landline calls & FREE wireless router. More Info »	Up To 8Mbps	+	Unlimited*Broadband with no usage limit, but a fair usage policy does apply.	+	£30.00	=	£8.00Virgin Media National Broadband and Anytime calls costs just £8 a month for the first three months (£16 a month thereafter). There is a one-off set up cost of £30 for new customers.	More Info

ADSL Broadband

ASDL is short for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, due to the fact that the download speeds and upload speeds differ, with the download speed typically being the faster of the two, hence 'asymmetric'. The reason for this is because consumers of broadband internet services typically download more information than they upload, and so will want faster download speeds, as opposed to the two speeds being equal - by contrast, this type of broadband service is called SDSL, Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line.

When talking about download speeds with regard to broadband services, it is worth mentioning that this does not exclusively refer to how fast you can download large files, like MP3s, for example. Download speeds also refer to how quickly a web page will load over a connection, as your computer downloads information for things such as links, pictures and text from the web, then displaying them on your screen.

A common misconception with regards to the monthly usage limits on some ADSL Broadband products is that you can download up to that amount in MP3s, videos, updates, patches for programs, games etc, but this is not the case - general browsing of the internet also contributes towards your usage limit, so just because you have a 10GB usage cap, don't think that you can start downloading hundreds of music files and think it's OK.

The main advantage of ADSL Broadband is its availability. ADSL connections and services are available practically everywhere in the country - wherever you can get a phone line, you can generally expect to be able to get ADSL Broadband. As ADSL Broadband connections are so plentiful, there are also a greater number of money saving bundle deals available than, say, cable or mobile broadband services, and so generally speaking, ADSL Broadband services often represent the best value for money.

The chief disadvantage of ADSL broadband is that the quality of service largely depends upon how far away your house is from the nearest telephone exchange. The further away you are from your exchange, the slower and less reliable your broadband service is likely to be, due to the physical distance electronic signals have to travel between the premises and the exchange - this is the main reason why broadband connections in remote rural areas typically suffer from slower speeds; some locations are so far away from the nearest telephone exchange that achieving broadband services just isn't feasible. However, it has recently been announced that by 2012, the Government plan to have every home in the UK able to achieve broadband services in some form, using a combination of ADSL broadband lines, as well a fibre optic cable and mobile broadband solutions.

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