The only way to get the best broadband provider and the right service for you, is to shop around and compare what’s on offer. Simply going for the cheapest option might leave you with an insufficient service, so you need to think what your needs are and find a package that is right for you.

How do I know what’s important?

There are 3 things you need to consider when choosing a broadband provider; 1. The download limit,  2. The bandwidth, 3. Whether to choose mobile broadband. In this article I will explain all of the above in simple terms, to make it easy for you to decide what suits your needs best.

1. Download Limit

Most service providers have a download limits on the packages they provide, so how do you decide which one suits your needs? To explain this in simple terms, if you use the internet a lot and are looking to download lots of music, then you will need a package with a high download limit. What is a high download limit? A 1GB limit would allow you to download 250 tracks a month, whereas with a 15GB limit you could download 3,750 tracks a month.
Please note that some providers offer unlimited downloads, but there is usually a ‘fair usage’ policy with this, so make sure you read it and understand it.

2. Bandwidth

The bandwidth tells you how fast your internet connection will be, i.e. how fast you can download something, or whether you can watch a You Tube video or catch up on a show in iPlayer without it buffering or cutting out. Have a look at the table below to give you a guideline of broadband speeds.

Internet Connection	Time Lapse to load webpage (seconds)	Average Time to download one song (mins/seconds)	Video Quality (Streaming)
56k dial up modem	14	12m30s	Very Poor
256k broadband	3	3m	Poor
512k broadband	1.6	1m30s	Low
1Mb broadband	0.8	41s	Watchable
2Mb broadband	0.4	20s	Good
4Mb broadband	0.1	5s	Good
6Mb broadband	Instantly	Instantly	Excellent
8Mb broadband	Instantly	Instantly	As good as your TV

**To test the speed of your current provider to see if you are getting what you are paying for go to www.speedtest.net and take the test, it will give you the download and upload speed of your current service.

3. Mobile versus Fixed

This is s relatively simple question to answer. Do you want to be able to travel around with your internet or do you mostly use it at home. Most mobile broadband services are a lot slower than fixed line broadband, so choose wisely.

Price comparison

When you have decided on the above then go to www.callcosts.ie (this is a price comparison site that is operated by ComReg, so it is completely impartial).It will ask you how long you spend on the internet per month and then ask you what bandwidth you want and offer you all the service providers and price plans based on your needs.

Other things to consider

www.callcosts.ie also details other information which should also be taken into consideration when choosing a provider:

1. What is the connection fee?
2. What is the penalty for early termination of the contract?
3. What technical support do they offer? (the site details the call-centre hours of each provider).

Can you recommend an Internet Service Provider? Have you had a bad experience? Please leave a comment to help others make an informed decision.