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Urgent. Cheapest fibre b'band & line rent equiv to £13/mth all-in - or standard speed £5/mth

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Weleid Omar
Weleid Omar
Consumer Analyst
17 March 2017

This is the cheapest fibre deal we can remember. While we can't say 100% it's the best ever, it's bloomin' cheap - and the standard broadband deal's a cracker too. With the big boys you typically pay up to £47/mth for fibre or £41/mth for standard speed, so the savings here could be £400+/yr.

1. Ends TUE: BT fibre b'band & line rent, £408 over a year, but £250 back so equiv '£13/mth'. This 1-year contract BT deal* via cable.co.uk starts early today (Wed) and ends next Tue. The broadband is both fast - up-to-52Mb fibre (3x standard speed, so good for heavy downloading, gaming, streaming or multiple users) - and discounted, but the real savings come from huge cashback. Here are the details...- Current BT broadband users can't get it. Yet BT phone users are fine. It’s available to 83% of the UK (you’re told when applying). - Fibre broadband £10/mth. After the contract ends you pay its standard rate, currently £28.50/mth. - Standard BT line rental, currently £18.99/mth. Includes weekend calls to UK landlines, see call costs. - £59.99 set-up costs. Includes activation and p&p for the 'free' router. - You get a prepaid Mastercard with £200 on (spendable almost anywhere) & £50 cashback IF you claim them. Annoyingly BT won't remind you, so diarise to claim via these Mastercard and cashback links within 3mths of activation (they take up to 45 days to arrive).- Is the price fixed during the contract? Technically it's not, though we're told BT has no plans to increase it. If it did though, you'd almost certainly be entitled to ditch your contract penalty-free.COST ANALYSIS: You pay a total of £407.87 over a year (before calls) but claim the cashback & use the Mastercard and it's effectively £157.87, which is equivalent to £13.16/mth. Already with BT broadband? Other fibre deals start at £19.33/mth - full info in Cheap Broadband.

2. Ends FRI or earlier.Sky broadband & line code gets equiv '£5.33/mth'. MSE Blagged. Grab one of 11,000 codes left via this Sky link* and then apply by Fri night for a 1yr contract with discounted standard, up-to-17Mb speed, unlimited-download broadband, and £50 bill credit on top. Here are the details...- You must be a Sky newbie. Or at least not have had its phone, TV or broadband in the last 12mths. It's available to 90% of the UK (if not, you're told when applying). - Line rental at half its standard price, currently £18.99/mth so you pay £9.50. Calls aren't included. and they cost a bit more than BT to landlines, less to mobiles. (Sky call costs.)- A year's 'free' broadband & router. After the contract end you pay its standard rate, currently £10/mth.- You pay £5 for card verification, which you get back. This is refunded on your first bill. - We've blagged £50 credit for your bill. It's added AUTOMATICALLY once your account's set up (on top of the refunded £5). So if you don't rack up other charges, eg, calls, the credit covers everything for 5mths, then you'll pay £2ish in month 6, followed by £9.50 in months 7-12.- No line/switching from cable? There's a £20 new line fee (applies to a few others too).COST ANALYSIS: The £50 credit means you'll only pay £64 for the year (excl calls & new line fee if charged), equiv to £5.33/mth. Already with Sky? Top alternatives start at equiv £16/mth - see Cheap Broadband for full options.

3. Don't want to switch? Haggle. This can be a secret weapon to bag top prices, as the big broadband providers are among the easiest to haggle with. If you're happy with your current service but paying too much, use the deals above as a benchmark to negotiate the cost down. See haggling with BT, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk & Virgin tips.

4. How fast is your current broadband & how fast will the new one be? Do a free 2-min speed test*to see how speedy your broadband actually is (try at different times of day for the best picture). As for the new provider, it's tricky to know how quick it'll be. Firms only have to list 'up to' speeds, and outrageously the rules say only 10% of customers need to get that speed to make that claim. Yet most major providers give you a minimum speed at sign-up, and if you're getting speeds "significantly below" that, you may be able to leave penalty-free.To find out your rights and what speed you're actually getting, see our guide to testing your broadband speed.

Urgent. Cheapest fibre b'band & line rent equiv to £13/mth all-in - or standard speed £5/mth

5. 14 tricks to boost your CURRENT broadband speed. There's lots you can do, from good router positioning to getting a free signal-boosting widget, or using your home's electricity circuit to increase Wi-Fi range. See our 14 Broadband Speed Boosting Tricks.

6. Don't want to pay line rental? Sorry. Our 'Is the landline dead?' poll showed 64% of you don't have a home phone or rarely use it. But while there are some broadband-only deals, they usually cost more than bundles with lines - so just get those and don't plug the phone in.

7. What does "available to XX% of the UK" mean? Firms tend to be only able to give the really cheap prices if they have their own kit in the exchange cabinets on the streets - these are called 'unbundled exchanges'. Otherwise the service isn't usually available, or it's at a much higher price - we tell you the percentage of homes that can get the deals we feature.

8. Member of a cashback site? Check if bigger cashback is possible. Sometimes deals are more lucrative via cashback sites (you can join them for free). Ensure you're comparing like-for-like, eg, check the prices and contract lengths are the same - you may find you get more cashback but are locked in for longer, meaning it's not worth it. For more help and pros & cons of cashback sites, read our Top Cashback Sites guide.

9. Want to add a TV package to a deal? There's no simple solution. BT and Sky also offer TV packages but it all depends on what channels you want. See our Cheap TV Deals guide for full info.

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Urgent. Cheapest fibre b'band & line rent equiv to £13/mth all-in - or standard speed £5/mth

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