It may appear to be a rhetorical question because we all want the best student broadband deals that are currently available.
But how do you, as a student, find them and know it’s a good deal?
There’s no doubt that for many students moving into student property that the Internet connection will be the most important aspect of their needs.
That’s without even considering the utilities such as water, gas and electricity!
However, there are lots of student broadband offers available and they aren’t all impressive and it can be hard work trying to sort the wheat from the chaff.
Before signing up with a broadband provider, it is important that you appreciate exactly what you will be getting with your broadband deal.
Important tip when looking for broadband for students
The most important tip when looking for broadband for students is that the offer is for nine months as broadband for 12 months means that you’re paying for three months where you’re not be living in the property.
This could save a substantial amount of money when student finances are tight.
However, you should also appreciate that this issue of short-term tenancies for student properties has been picked up by broadband suppliers and now increasing numbers of them will offer a nine-month contract as a consequence.
There could also be in issue with setup fees that the provider may not flag up when you agree to a deal and this will also have an impact on the overall cost of the broadband.
These are the steps you will need before signing up to a student broadband deal:
- The first step is potentially the most important since you will need a landline that is active into the property; if not you may need to pay to have a phone line installed.
- The next is to find out whether the broadband supplier will be delivering a router with their offer or you will have to buy one for the property.
- Finally, you will need to appreciate how long it will take to install student broadband and that these things are not just arranged overnight and can take several weeks -an important issue if you have not organised broadband before moving into your student property.
Have a phone and broadband bundle
It’s also important to appreciate that you may decide to have a phone and broadband bundle and even a TV package as well but this is something you will need to discuss with fellow housemates since the offer could add to your monthly bill.
So, we discovered that we have an active phoneline, we know there will be a router in place and we know when the broadband will be installed.
What comes next? Well, you’ll need to understand what data allowance you will need.
That’s because if you decide to go for a cheap deal that comes with a capped allowance then you will need to be prepared for breaching any data limit which will cost extra money. Some providers will charge a lot for this privilege.
It makes sense if you are moving into a student house with several other people that you get a data allowance that is not capped but make sure you read the small print because even unlimited download offers can have restrictions – particularly for ‘fair use’.
The next issue that needs to be discussed is the question of broadband speed; you will need a fast download speed with several people in a house sharing the connection because you will all suffer lag and long periods of buffering.
This will, almost inevitably, lead to arguments about who is hogging the bandwidth.
Be wary of the advertised student broadband speed
Just as a word of caution, you should be wary of the advertised student broadband speed because they always add the words ‘up to’ which is used to indicate that you may not enjoy the speed advertised.
Indeed, what appears to be a cracking broadband deal with excellent broadband speeds may be nothing like that in reality so it’s worthwhile checking online to see what other people are enjoying in the area.
For those who are looking for cheap student broadband deals, it is possible to pay upfront for the duration of the contract and this will be a cheaper offer. It may mean that the students in a property will get a month or two free for doing so.
Considering what their student utility bill UK will be
For students moving into a property and want to work out how much their utility bill UK will be then it makes sense that with more people living in a property, the lower their monthly bill for utilities will be. This notion also extends to the broadband provision.
This also means that students will be able to enjoy a good broadband deal since the shared cost makes this a sound proposal.
As mentioned previously, with most students having to budget effectively for their studies means sourcing the best deals for broadband and utilities is a crucial exercise and they need to ensure that the bills are paid promptly when they arrive.
Some student houses will split the bills equally and others will make a particular tenant responsible for the water, for example, and they will then need to claim the money off their fellow tenants.
There is another way to pay a utility bill and a broadband deal for a student property and that is to utilise the experience of Glide.
There are many reasons for doing so, one of the best is that a bill for the supplied utilities including broadband will be sent every month and each student is responsible for paying their own bill.
Also, Glide will have access to some of the best student broadband and utility deals available and then arrange for everything to be installed and set up ready for the students moving into their property.
For help about utilities and finding the best student broadband deals, then speak with the team at Glide for more information.