When it comes to finding the best student broadband deals, there is a wide range of deals on offer and students need to have a think about what they need before signing up.
It may also help to speak with the team at Glide to see what deals they can offer as part of a bill splitting process to ensure that students can budget effectively every month and pay the rent, utilities and broadband bill.
However, one of the big downsides for many providers of student broadband is the fact they offer longer contracts but there are suppliers in the market who understand the student’s needs.
This means it is possible to sign shorter contracts to cover the time a student is living in their student accommodation.
All of the big firms offer specific student broadband packages along with nine month contracts that will generally start in October and finish in June, to coincide with the academic year.
By doing so, the students will not be paying for the broadband supply when they will not be in the property and are away for the summer months.
12 and 18 months student broadband deals available
Having said that, there are some very good 12 and 18 months student broadband deals available that may well suit a student’s needs better, particularly if they are looking to live in the same student property for more than one academic year.
There’s even the prospect of broadband packages for students that run from 1 to 6 months which will deliver greater flexibility for students.
For those students who do sign up for a longer contract and need to cancel their student broadband deal then they will need to appreciate that that their provider may charge a disconnection fee.
So how good should the broadband be?
Firstly, the students will need to consider how many people will be sharing the property and therefore sharing the Internet connection.
Most student broadband packages will have a monthly download allowance and with more people using the Internet the speed for each of them will slow down.
Uncapped deal with a fast connection
This means that for student broadband deals, it’s best to go for an uncapped deal with a fast connection.
This will be a good move should one person in the house be streaming music while someone else is playing online games but someone else may be wanting to do research for their coursework.
There is also the option for a fibre-optic connection which delivers faster speeds and more capacity and is the best choice for faster connection, rather than standard broadband which may be too slow for the housemates.
It may be easy to opt for a cheap broadband deal at the beginning of the academic year and what may appear to be a bargain offer may not be so when lots of people are trying to access the Internet.
Paying extra for unlimited or high internet usage allowances
This means a cheap deal will be a false economy so it’s worthwhile paying extra for unlimited or high internet usage allowances so the housemates will avoid potential penalties and disconnection when their cap is reached.
One of the big attractions for sharing a student property is that those living there can share the higher costs of having a faster connection; the extra cost will be not much more than a basic package.
For those students who are living on their own or are sharing a two-bed property, then they may find that a basic package with speeds of up to 8 mbps will suit them.
Another drawback for lots of people sharing the student broadband is that the provider will (usually) only allow one of the students to put their name on the contract.
This means they will be legally responsible for paying that bill and they will need to get the money from their housemates.
Just one word of caution and that is to be aware that should a housemate not pay their share then the person with the name on the bill will be held liable for it.
While this may not be an important consideration while at university, it will become more important should there be a bad credit rating against that person’s name at that property because of non-payment.
Help when budgeting for the tenants’ utility bills
It may also be worth spending time for the students to look at the broadband bundles that are available which may include a digital TV package and an inclusive calls plan which will help also when budgeting for the tenants’ utility bills.
This may be a small additional cost but may well make the students’ needs for entertainment and keeping in touch with Mum.
Finally, another consideration when it comes to student broadband deals is for the freebies and extras that some suppliers will offer.
For instance, being offered a free wireless router is worth considering since they can cost £50 or more and some may offer online security software to help protect the user’s computers and their precious coursework.
Some providers also offer unlimited Wi-Fi minutes so the students can browse using computers and their mobile phones in public hotspots if they have an app and have signed up to the service.
These are just some of the considerations when it comes to finding the best student broadband deals and, as previously mentioned, it is possible to have a great student broadband deal bundled up into a bill splitting service so that the rent and utilities are paid for every month and the students can budget effectively as a result.
For more help and information about student broadband deals and bill splitting then speak with the team at Glide.