Every guide we publish

Frequently asked questions

What does this guides index cover?

Everything BroadbandSwitch.uk publishes: more than a hundred guides across switching and consumer rights, speed and performance, the comparison hubs, cost and value, setup and installation, business broadband, fifty-six local coverage guides, the 152-term glossary, and the trust framework pages that document how the site works. Every guide is written by Adrian James and reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith under the published editorial policy.

Where should a first-time switcher start?

At the switching hub, which covers One Touch Switch, in force since 12 September 2024, your pricing rights, compensation and the cooling-off period, followed by the switch checklist. From there, the postcode hub shows what your address can order, and the what-speed-do-I-need guide stops you paying for headroom you will never use.

How do I find what is available at my address?

The compare-by-postcode hub is built for exactly that: one check shows every network at your address, majors and altnets together. For street-level context, the fifty-six local guides map who has built where, including the genuinely unusual markets: Hull on KCOM's near-universal full fibre, Greater Glasgow with CityFibre's largest city build, and Belfast at 95 percent full-fibre coverage.

What broadband speed do I actually need?

Most households are comfortable between 100 and 300 Mbit/s, which covers 4K streaming, video calls, home working and gaming. Light single-person use sits happily at 30 to 60, heavy multi-stream households benefit from 500 and up, and multi-gigabit mainly rewards content creators and heavy simultaneous uploaders. Upload, latency and jitter often matter more than another hundred megabits of download.

How does One Touch Switch work?

You order with the new provider and that is the whole job: the old provider is notified automatically through the TOTSCo hub, and in most cases there is no break in service. Same-network brand swaps typically involve an hour or two of downtime; cross-network moves are provisioned in parallel, so the new line is live before the old one is ceased. A 14-day cooling-off period applies to distance contracts either way.

What are the April 2026 price rises?

Fixed pounds-and-pence amounts, visible before you sign: £4 a month on BT, EE, Plusnet and new Virgin Media contracts; £3.50 on Vodafone, for contracts after 2 July 2024, and in-contract Virgin Media; £3 on Sky, on TalkTalk contracts after 12 August 2024 and on Three after 1 September 2024. Several altnets charge flat prices with no rise at all. The full schedule and the maths live in the in-contract price rises guide.

Is there help for low-income households?

Yes. Households on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and similar benefits qualify for social tariffs at £15 to £20 a month, including BT Home Essentials, Sky Broadband Basics, Vodafone's voucher scheme, Virgin Media Essentials and NOW Basics, with Hull served by KCOM's Flex tariff. Social tariffs are exempt from mid-contract rises, and the social tariffs guide covers eligibility and how to apply.

How does the site earn, and does it affect the guides?

BroadbandSwitch.uk sometimes earns affiliate fees when readers switch through its comparison, and that never affects which providers are covered or how they are described: altnets are included on the same scale regardless of any commercial relationship. The affiliate disclosure, editorial policy and methodology hub document the separation, and the public corrections log shows the accountability working in practice.