Broadband prices hit seven-month low - check NOW to see if you can save

Broadband providers often battle for your business but this latest round of the price war, which includes deals from Sky-owned Now Broadband and Sky itself, has seen a welcome drop in prices.

Deals usually change weekly so it's hard to predict what could happen next, but this month's standard and fibre broadband offers are the lowest prices we've seen since August 2017, so now could be a good time to switch if you're out of contract.

Compare the cheapest deals available to you with our tool.

How good are the deals?

We haven't seen standard speed deals hit the £10 mark since August last year, when there was a decent deal for £10.06/month. Since then our top picks for standard speed broadband have ranged from £11.45/mth to £17.50/mth.

Here's a round up of the latest standard (up-to-17Mb) deals for newbies:

• Sky '£10.42/mth' – Until Mon 2 Apr. Pay £20/mth for 12 months, plus a £9.95 set-up fee, so £249.95 over the contract. However, you can claim a £75 prepaid Mastercard - as good as cash where it is accepted - from Sky and a £50 Tesco voucher via our link to Giftcloud. Provided you would spend at Tesco anyway, factor this is and its equivalent to £10.42/mth.

• Now Broadband '£11.67/mth' – Until Sat 31 Mar. Pay £15/mth for 12 months, plus a £9.99 set-up fee, so £189.99 over the contract. Enter your email when you click through to the deal and you will be sent a £50 M&S voucher so, if you would have spent at M&S anyway, you can factor this in and its £11.67/mth.

• Plusnet '£12.33/mth' – Ends at 11.59pm today (Tue 27 Mar). Broadband is 'free' for the first 12 months and you can pay £197.88 upfront for line rental (which is the cheapest way to pay). You can also claim a £50 cheque from Plusnet which, when factored in, is £12.33/mth.

Looking at our top picks for fibre, since a super cheap £14.50/mth deal in August the lowest prices have fluctuated between £17.50/mth and £26.50/mth - but the current top fibre deal from Now Broadband is under £17.

Here's a round-up of the best fibre (up-to-38Mb) offers for newbies:

• Now Broadband '£16.67/mth' – Until Sat 31 Mar. Pay £20 a month for 12 months, plus a £9.99 set-up fee, so £249.99 over the contract. Enter your email after the link and you will be sent a £50 M&S voucher which, so if you would have spent at M&S anyway, you can factor this in and its £16.67/mth.

• Plusnet '£18.33/mth'– Ends at 11.59pm today (Tue 27 Mar). Pay £197.88 upfront which is the cheapest way to pay for the line rental for the year plus £6/mth, so £269.88 over the 12 month contract. You can also claim a £50 cheque from Plusnet which, when factored in, brings it to £18.33/mth.

For more information, including how to claim the rewards, see our Cheap Broadband guide and try our Broadband Unbundled tool to check which deals you can get.

It's worth noting the deals above don't factor in those on specialist cashback websites, which pay their members when they sign up to some financial products. If you decide to go down this route do check that it's exactly the same deal though, as terms can be different. And remember the cashback is never 100% guaranteed until it's in your account.

Full help to take advantage of this and pros and cons in our Top Cashback Sites guide.

Beat them at their own game - constantly bag a cheap deal

If you want to constantly win the broadband price game, you need to be on the ball.

Most broadband providers bank on you not changing once your initial promotional rate ends, so follow these steps to always ensure you get the best deal:

1. Check when your contract ends, if you leave before this date you will usually be charged a penalty.

2. Around one month before it ends compare the deals available to you in your area using our Broadband Unbundled tool.

3. Switch to the best deal for you, your new provider will usually notify your existing provider and arrange a switch date.

4. Make sure you claim and activate any rewards as part of the deal.

For more information, see our top need-to-knows in our Broadband Unbundled tool.

Don't want to switch? Haggle with your current provider

For those who don't want to switch the other option is to haggle.

Our November poll found 80% of broadband customers who tried to haggle were successful in negotiating a better deal - that's pretty good odds. With some firms, the success rate was even higher – for example, 86% of Sky customers claimed victory in reducing their costs.

Use the above prices as a benchmark and give your provider a call. See our 15 top haggling tips for more information.