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Compare broadband and phone packages

Our best broadband and phone deals in October

Rachel Sadler new profile April 2024

Deals checked by Rachel Sadler, our broadband expert

With her expert advice and knowledge, you can trust Rachel to guide you to the best broadband deal for your needs.

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Whether you use a home phone or not, most homes still require a landline to access the internet. If you’re looking for a broadband deal that includes home phone services or just a line rental for accessing broadband, this guide includes tips expert-recommended broadband and phone deals as well as money-saving tips. 

How do phone and broadband packages work?

These deals give you access to a broadband connection and a home phone service, which is ideal for people who still make and receive landline calls.

The cost of renting a line should be included in your monthly bill, and you can choose the kind of phone contract you want. The options typically include: 

  • Pay-as-you-go, where you pay per minute for every call you make (this is often included as standard)
  • Evening and weekend calls, which enables you to receive a set number of free minutes to use at certain times on weekdays (often 7pm to 7am) and weekends
  • Unlimited calls, which lets you call any UK number any time for free (although some ‘unlimited’ packages may have a minutes allowance)
  • International calls, granting you unlimited calls to UK numbers, as well as a set number of minutes to international phone numbers

Why bundle broadband and phone contracts?

There are a few reasons why you might want to consider combined broadband and phone contracts, including:

  • Lower overall prices: if you frequently use a landline phone to make calls, especially international calls, bundling it together with your broadband could bring the overall cost down
  • Sign-up perks: you might be eligible for a sign-up bonus such as a cash voucher when taking out a broadband and phone contract
  • Poor home signal: homes with poor 4G or 5G network coverage may rely on a home phone as a backup. Though mobile coverage has improved throughout the UK, some rural areas still suffer from poor mobile coverage

Pros and cons of broadband and phone packages

Before taking out a broadband and phone bundle, it’s always worth weighing up the pros and cons.

Pros

It’s easy to set-up and switch, as many households still need a phone line to connect to the internet You’ll have more choice when it comes to picking a broadband deal if it’s bundled with your phone contract If you make a lot of calls, combining broadband and phone contracts can save you money You can get specific international calls packages that can make ringing your loved ones overseas cheaper Landlines can provide a clearer, more stable phone connection than mobile phones

Cons

If you don’t intend to use a landline phone, you’ll end up wasting money on line rental (although this is unavoidable unless you can switch to full fibre) If you have full fibre, adding on a phone line can be more expensive than with non-fibre broadband Some full fibre broadband providers only offer digital phone services, rather than traditional landlines

Which broadband providers offer landlines?

Most major broadband providers like Sky, BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk offer line rentals, whether it’s a requirement to access broadband or for making and receiving calls. If these providers aren’t available in your area, EE and Vodafone offer ultrafast speeds alongside line rental, while Plusnet has affordable packages and excellent customer service.

How to find the best phone and broadband packages

Every household has different needs, so to find the best broadband and landline offer, you need to work out what ‘best’ looks like for you.

Here’s what our expert Rachel thinks are the most important factors to consider:

1. Availability 

The main factor that will decide what phone and broadband package you can get is what’s available to you. You can use our postcode checker to check what deals are available in your area. 

2. Price

When comparing the price of deals, you should consider the overall cost of the package. That’s not just the price per month, but any costs associated with the phone part of your package specifically. For example, can you pay extra to boost the amount of free minutes you receive? What is the price per minute? And what are the charges for international calls?

Our experts found these providers have the lowest call charges:

  • Hyperoptic: 7p to 17p per minute
  • Sky: 11.5p per minute
  • Vodafone: 11.5p to 13p per minute

3. Broadband speed

Broadband speed is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a broadband package. Providers will usually advertise the average download speed of a plan in megabits per second (Mbps).

You should consider the following:

  • The minimum speed you can expect is dependent on your provider and where you live 
  • Fast broadband speeds usually come with a higher price tag
  • Consider your household usage. How many people and devices will be using the internet? The larger the household, the higher the minimum speed required 

We asked broadband customers how often they received their advertised speed. EE came out on top, with 66 per cent of respondents claiming they always or mostly receive their advertised speed.

4. Call periods and usage

Unless you have a pay-as-you-go phone package, your deal will outline when you can make free calls, for how long, and to which numbers.

Here’s what to look for:

  • Free monthly minutes: some deals include a certain number of free minutes each month
  • Free call periods: your plan may include free minutes for certain times of the day, such as evenings or weekends
  • International calls usually cost more: some bundles offer a set number of free minutes to overseas numbers
  • Free calls to certain devices: check if your deal includes free minutes for landline or mobile numbers; some deals may include both 

5. Data usage

While almost all broadband packages now include unlimited data, it is always worth checking beforehand, so you don’t get charged for going over your allowance. 

6. Equipment and set-up costs

You should always be on the lookout for any set-up costs or installation fees associated with your phone and broadband package. This could include postage and packaging for your new router, or the cost of an engineer coming to install a new line. 

7. Contract length

The length of your contract will play a role in determining its cost. Most of the time, for example, if you sign up for a 24-month contract, it will be cheaper per month than the 18-month option. 

8. Extras

Although it’s not the most important thing to consider, any sign-up perks or bonuses on offer can help you decide between two comparable broadband and phone offers.

9. Customer service

Customer service, though not as crucial as speed or price, should be considered when choosing the right provider for you. Our survey asked over 2,000 broadband customers whether they were satisfied with their current provider’s customer service.

The table below features the broadband providers who offer broadband and phone packages.

The number of complaints a provider receives is an important metric to determine their quality of their service. The table below shows the number of complaints per 100,000 customers each broadband and phone provider received in Q4 2023. [1]

Broadband providersNumber of complaints per 100,000 customers
Sky2
EE3
Vodafone4
Plusnet6
TalkTalk9
BT7
NOW Broadband10
Virgin Media13

Save more with a TV, broadband and phone package

Many providers offer bundle options which include both home phone and TV services. Combining all three services could save you up to 34 per cent on the price of individual deals, according to Ofcom. [2] 

Providers who offer broadband, TV and phone deals include Sky, BT, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Vodafone

Business broadband and phone packages

If you’re looking for business broadband and phone deals for your company, read our guide to find the best deals. Getting a quality, business-specific deal is important for companies that need a reliable connection, a secure firewall and a stable phone line. 

Can you bundle broadband and a mobile phone contract?

Broadband and phone contracts aren’t just limited to landlines. More and more broadband and mobile phone bundles are appearing on the market; these are often labeled as broadband and SIM deals. Sometimes the mobile SIM will be part of the package, otherwise it will be available as an optional add-on.

These deals can provide great discounts if you need multiple mobile phone contracts, for example if you require a family plan. Currently, the following providers offer Broadband and Sim bundles: Virgin Media (O2 provides the mobile network), Vodafone (family plan) and EE (£10 a month add-on).

Frequently asked questions

If you don’t use a landline, there are broadband-only deals you can go for instead. This may be cheaper than getting a bundled broadband and phone contract. Broadband-only deals are often full-fibre, so you may be able to benefit from faster download speeds.  

Yes, lots of providers offer unlimited broadband and phone packages. This type of deal includes unlimited data usage for your broadband, and unlimited calls using your landline. 

Some broadband connections require a phone line to deliver internet to your home. Most broadband connections use the copper phone line network, so even if you don’t use your landline to make and receive calls you may still need a broadband and phone deal. Can I still have a home phone with full fibre broadband? 

Yes, you can still use a landline phone with full fibre broadband. The only difference is, your landline won’t run on the old copper wire network. Instead, the service is provided by fibre cables which offer a more stable and reliable connection.

PSTN is the traditional phone line system. It’s used in two ways – to provide a home phone service and broadband. It’s scheduled to be switched off in 2027, by this time all homes should have access to fibre optic broadband and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Most customers won’t be affected by the switch, however vulnerable customers who rely on telecare alarms could be left without emergency care if not provided with a back-up battery for alarms. 

Sources

*Independent Advisor survey, March 2024.

Survey of broadband customers aged between 24-64 conducted on Censuswide, 11-14 March 2024. Survey sample: 2,003 respondents, totalling Sky (489), BT Broadband (412), Virgin Media (396), EE (134), Vodafone (124), Other (102), Plusnet (66), NOW Broadband (45), Three (31), Hyperoptic (14), Community Fibre (8), Unsure (7). Respondents who selected Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, Other or Unsure were discarded from our review. Respondents were asked to rate each category on a five-point scale, from Very Poor to Excellent, or from Never to Always, with the option of selecting Don’t Know for all questions. For the third question (“What issues, if any, have you experienced with your current broadband provider”) respondents could select from the following: Price Hikes, Slow Speeds, High Prices, Frequent Disconnections, Poor Customer Service, Billing Issues, Other and N/A. The questions used to calculate our score were: “How often, if at all, do you feel the actual speed of your broadband service matches the advertised speed,” “How would you rate your experience with customer service and support from your broadband provider,” ”What issues, if any, have you experienced with your current broadband provider? (Select all that apply),” “How easy or difficult is it/would it be to reach your provider using your preferred method,” “How do you rate the value for money of your broadband service,” “How would you rate the transparency of pricing and additional fees in your broadband service”.

[1] Ofcom, Report: Complaints about broadband, landline, mobile and pay-TV services, January 2024
[2] Ofcom, Report: Save money on your broadband, phone and pay-TV bills, January 2024.

Rachel Sadler new profile April 2024

Rachel Sadler

Home Tech Writer

Rachel is a seasoned writer who has been producing online and print content for seven years. 

As a home tech expert for Independent Advisor, Rachel researches and writes buying guides and reviews, helping consumers navigate the realms of broadband and home security gadgets. She also covers home tech for The Federation of Master Builders, where she reviews and tests home security devices. 

She started as a news and lifestyle journalist in Hong Kong reporting on island-wide news stories, food and drink and the city’s events. She’s written for editorial platforms Sassy Hong Kong, Localiiz and Bay Media. While in Hong Kong she attended PR events, interviewed local talent and project-managed photoshoots. 

Rachel holds a BA in English Language and Creative Writing and is committed to simplifying tech jargon and producing unbiased reviews.