What is unlimited broadband?

With the internet having become such a big part of our daily lives, unlimited broadband has become an incredibly common feature of today's internet packages.

Our guide will take you through all you need to know about this incredibly convenient feature, explaining just what it is, what its advantages are and where it's available from. 

What is unlimited broadband?

Unlimited broadband is a type of internet package where there’s no limit on the amount of data you can use per month. 

This leaves you free to stream, game, shop, download music, browse social media and whatever else it is you like to do online as often as you like without having to worry about incurring a hefty fine for exceeding your data cap. 

Should I get unlimited broadband?

You should get unlimited broadband if you’re frequently online, so for an hour or more a day, streaming, gaming, using VOIP services like Skype, uploading and downloading content or if you live in a busy household where there’s normally multiple people online on lots of different devices. 

It can be tricky difficult to gauge your exact usage, but as a rough guide these are generally the kinds of activities which use up the most data. 

Although it might not initially seem like they require a lot of data, streaming Netflix in HD uses up to 3GB an hour for example, think how quickly you could potentially eat through an allowance if there’s a few of you doing it everyday!

Which providers offer unlimited broadband?

All of the UK’s major broadband providers like Sky, BT, Virgin Media, Plusnet, TalkTalk, EE, and Post Office offer unlimited packages with ADSL, superfast and ultrafast speeds. 

They might be a slightly more expensive than those with a fixed data allowance, but it’s definitely worth paying that little bit extra per month if you know you’re likely to exceed that limit anyway. 

While a few providers still practice traffic management, none of those listed above still have fair usage policies in place where they act deliberately slow down your connection because your activities are taking up too much bandwidth.

What is traffic management?

Traffic management is when your broadband provider prioritizes certain online activities by either speeding up or slowing down your service. 

You’ll mostly find that video calls, streaming, gaming and the like are placed in the “fast lane” and allocated the the quicker speeds while software updates and peer-to-peer file sharing are more likely to be restricted. 

It’s thankfully nowhere near as common a practice as it used to be but it’s worth checking what your provider’s stance on it is as heavy traffic management could really affect how much you’re able to use your service.

How much does unlimited broadband cost?

Unlimited broadband is a feature that you get as part of another broadband package so how much it’ll costs really depends on the speeds you’ll be getting. 

A 12Mb ADSL package with unlimited broadband for example is going to be quite a bit cheaper than a top-tier 67Mb superfast package with unlimited broadband, so you just need to figure out which speed is right for you and do a bit of shopping around to find the best deal.