Comparing deals? What the results do and don't show

A postcode can cover a whole run of houses, a block of flats and a farm down the lane, and they don't all have the same lines. That's why the comparison asks you to pick your address after you type your postcode: the deals that matter are the ones for your front door, not your area.

Openreach's own checker works the same way: it asks for your postcode and then your address before it tells you what you can get, and it explains why neighbours can differ: it builds its network in stages, so availability can vary even within the same street, and engineering work, access routes and landlord permissions for flats or rented homes can all affect when a property can be connected.

What this means in practice:

• Pick the right address. If your flat number or house name isn't listed, don't choose the one next door just to see results. They may be for a different line. Our guide to what to do when your address isn't found covers that problem.
• Confirm with the provider. Before you order, check the same address on the provider's own website. If it says something different from the result you clicked, the provider's answer is the one that decides your order.
• Don't assume your neighbour's deal is yours. A friend two doors down may have full fibre (fibre all the way into the home) while your property is still on part-fibre (fibre to a street cabinet, copper the rest of the way). Part-fibre isn't guaranteed either: when a street cabinet runs out of spare ports, new orders often can't be completed until capacity is added (see what a full street cabinet means). Our broadband deals by area pages give you the local picture, but the address check is what counts.

A speed in a result is a figure for the package, not a measurement of your line. Citizens Advice's guide to switching provider (last reviewed in December 2022) puts it plainly: you might not get the advertised speed, depending on where you live.

The figure that matters for your home is in the contract summary, the short standard document a provider must give you before you agree. For fixed broadband it sets out minimum, normally available and maximum download and upload speeds for your service. If the minimum speed for your address is well below the figure that caught your eye, that's the one to plan around. Our guide to what to check in your broadband contract summary goes through each section, and you can run our broadband speed test to see what your current connection gives you before you compare.

Comparison results show deals that providers are selling at an address. Offers your current provider makes to keep you are a separate thing: they're made to you as an existing customer, so you have to go and get them.

There are three places such offers turn up:

• When you ask. Citizens Advice says you could tell your provider you're thinking of switching to a cheaper deal elsewhere, and it might offer you a cheaper deal to stay. "Might" is the important word: nothing in that advice says it has to.
• In your online account. BT, for example, suggests that customers thinking of leaving log in to their account to see their personalised broadband deals.
• In your end-of-contract notice. Under Ofcom rules in place since February 2020, the notice your provider sends before your contract ends must include its best deals, including the prices available to new customers. If one appeals, ask whether you can take it; our guide to what happens when your broadband contract ends covers the notice in full.

So a fair comparison has two sides: the deals at your address, and whatever your current provider offers you to stay. The only way to know which is better is to get both and compare them on the same terms. Our guide on how to haggle with your broadband provider covers how to ask and when you have most leverage.

Two practical points if you take an offer to stay. First, an offer agreed on a call may be a non-standard deal; ISPreview's retentions tips (written in 2017, before several of today's rules) advised getting any agreed deal confirmed in writing. Second, it's still a contract, so the same checks apply as for any new deal: the contract summary, the length of the new term and every stated price rise.

One more option from your current provider if you're on certain benefits: a social tariff, a cheaper plan for people who qualify. Citizens Advice says that if your provider has a social tariff you can move to it at any time without paying, without waiting for your contract to end. Our guide to broadband social tariffs explains who qualifies.

The first monthly price is the number that stands out in any list of deals, but it's rarely the whole cost. Our broadband deals page suggests looking at the full contract cost: the monthly price, any set-up fee and the stated rise. Here's a method you can use on any deal, including an offer from your current provider. You need the deal page and, ideally, the contract summary.

1. Find the minimum term in months. This is how long you're committed for. Ofcom's checklist says providers must offer a contract option of no more than 12 months, and a residential contract should be no longer than 24 months. Our guide to how long a broadband contract should be weighs up the options.
2. Write down each monthly price and how long it applies. A price may stay the same for the whole term or change at set points. If there's a discount or some free months, Citizens Advice says to check the monthly fee after the offer ends.
3. Add each price rise for the months it covers. For contracts taken out or renewed since 17 January 2025, any rise in the core price during the contract must be set out up front in pounds and pence, with when it applies, and inflation-linked rises are no longer allowed. So for a new contract you can see every step before you sign. The rule covers the core price of the service, not add-ons or call charges, so check those separately.
4. Add the one-off charges. Citizens Advice suggests checking for installation, line rental or connection charges. The contract summary lists activation charges and any equipment price.
5. Add anything you'll pay because of how you'll use it. Ofcom lists extra costs such as paper bills, caller ID, paying other than by direct debit and engineer visits.
6. Leave out anything you haven't confirmed. Don't knock off the value of a gift card or reward until you know exactly how and when you'd get it.

Example (hypothetical): a 24-month deal with a set-up fee, a lower price for the first six months and one stated rise from month 13 would come to: the set-up fee, plus six months at the discounted price, plus six months at the full price, plus 12 months at the risen price. Compare totals, not headline figures.

To set the sums out side by side, use the fill-in layout in our contract summary guide, which also shows where each figure sits in the summary.

Our guide to extra broadband charges such as set-up and delivery covers the one-off costs in more detail. How a provider must display these figures in an advert is a separate subject, covered in our guide to the rules on broadband advert prices; rises during a contract you already have are in our guide to mid-contract price rises.

The order of results matters, because it decides what you see first. When the CMA studied comparison sites in 2017, its advice to people using them was short: choose between comparison sites carefully, as you would any shop; not all sites are the same, so try more than one if you can; and check how the site has ordered the results.

On our broadband deals page you can filter the results by speed, price or provider and sort them, so put them in the order that suits you rather than relying on the default. The providers that appear in the results at your address can change, so treat the list you see on any day as the deals available to that comparison, not every deal in the market.

Ofcom also runs a voluntary accreditation scheme for price comparison sites. It says accredited sites are put through a thorough audit of whether the site works well and whether its information is accessible, accurate, transparent, comprehensive and up to date, and its website lists the sites it has accredited.

Use this once you've narrowed it down to one or two deals. It's about checking a deal, not choosing between types of package; for that, see our guide on how to choose a broadband package.

1. Address: check your exact address on the provider's own website, and that it says the service is available to order now, not planned.
2. Installation: ask whether your home needs anything beyond a standard installation, especially with a smaller network or a flat that needs the landlord's permission.
3. Your current deal: find your contract end date and any exit fee, and see what your current provider offers you to stay, by asking, by logging in or from your end-of-contract notice.
4. Full-contract cost: total each deal over its minimum term, including the price after any discount, each rise in pounds and pence and the one-off charges.
5. Contract length: check you're comfortable with the term. For a contract of 12 months or more, Citizens Advice says to make sure you can afford it for the whole length and to ask what happens if you move house.
6. Contract summary: read it before you agree. Check the price section, the duration and early-termination fees, and the minimum and normally available speeds.
7. Service extras: Ofcom's checklist also suggests checking fault repair timescales and whether the provider is part of the automatic compensation scheme.
8. Keep a record: screenshot the deal and save the contract summary and order confirmation, with dates.

If you're setting up a connection for the first time rather than switching, there's more to sort out, from a router to an account in your name; our guide to getting home broadband for the first time covers them. For the rules every provider has to follow when it sells to you, see our plain-English guide to Ofcom's General Conditions.

When you're ready, compare deals at your postcode on our broadband deals page, then take your shortlist through the checks above before you order.