The Independent’s journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?
There are many providers and packages to choose from if you’re looking for broadband deals. Luckily, most providers offer plans with unlimited data. This means that while the speed at which you can download (and upload) content will vary depending on your package, provider and postcode, the actual amount you can download each month won’t be capped or limited.
Essentially, unlimited broadband means you never need to worry about hitting a limit on how much you download each month using your broadband. Downloading on broadband encompasses streaming films and TV shows, browsing the internet, checking emails, video calling and gaming.
Downloading is what you’ll use the internet for the most, while uploading is anything you upload, such as posting a photo on Instagram. This is why you’ll read more about a provider’s download speeds than upload speeds, and you can expect the upload speeds with your package to be much slower than your download speeds (seeing as you’ll be downloading much more often).
Several factors determine your download speeds, such as where you live and what speeds the provider offers with the plan you pay for. But when it comes to how much data you can download each month, most providers nowadays don’t put a cap on this. The exceptions to this are often no-contract broadband deals or mobile broadband deals.
Everyone will benefit from unlimited broadband, as it’s a service that gives you complete freedom. However, some people should consider this type of broadband more than others. These include:
If you’re confused about how much data you use when using your broadband for different purposes, we’ve broken this down for you below.
| Activity | Data it uses |
|---|---|
| Browsing the internet for one hour | 180MB |
| Sending/receiving 100 emails | 40MB |
| Streaming 10 songs | 80MB |
| Streaming a video for one hour | 429MB |
| Online gaming for one hour | 30-300MB |
| Streaming a standard-definition film for two hours | 1.9GB |
| Streaming an HD film for two hours | 4.2GB |
Whether or not your data is unlimited doesn’t affect the average download speeds you can get with your broadband. Your speed will depend on what area you live in, the speeds your particular plan can reach and other factors such as the time of day you’re using the internet (evenings tend to see slightly slower speeds due to being busier times for browsing and streaming).
While most home broadband today is either fibre or full-fibre broadband, there are actually four different types of broadband:
All top UK broadband providers offer unlimited broadband, so if having unlimited downloads is something that’s important to you, you’re in luck. If you can access the fast download speeds on offer and your postcode is eligible for fibre and full-fibre broadband (not everyone in the UK can get it quite yet), you have many choices. Below are the best deals, with the fastest download speeds, from the top UK providers – but cheaper packages are available with slower speeds.
| Deal name | Average speed | Contract length | Price | Extras (included in cost) | Setup costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOW Super Fibre | 63Mbps | 12-month minimum term | £24/m | Line rental, NOW Pay as You Use Calls, no contract broadband available | £0 |
| Plusnet Full Fibre 900 | 900Mbps | 24 months | £45.99/m | Hub Two router, Plusnet SafeGuard and Plusnet Protect | £0 |
| Sky Gigafast | 900Mbps | 18 months | £44/m | Sky Pay As You Talk, WiFi Guarantee | £0 |
| Vodafone Pro II Full Fibre 900 | 910Mbps | 24 months | £48/m | Ultra Hub with Wi-Fi 6E, Super WiFi 6E Booster, wifi Xperts for the first 10 days, 4G broadband back-up | £0 |
| TalkTalk Full Fibre 900 | 944Mbps | 24 months | £27/m | Two Amazon eero pro routers with Wi-Fi 6, connecting with up to 75 devices | £0 |
| Virgin Media Gig1 Volt Fibre Broadband + Weekend Chatter | 1.13Gbps | 18 months | £49.99/m | Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines, Wifi Max guarantee, 10% Stream credit | £0 |
| EE Busiest Home Broadband | 1.6Gbps | 24 months | £69.99/m | Unlimited data plans for EE mobile customers, Smart Hub Plus router, Smart Wifi Plus (using Wi-Fi 6), plus a wifi enhancer | £0 |
Because so many providers offer unlimited broadband, which is considered the norm for broadband plans now, there are lots of packages available for unlimited broadband deals.
Each provider offers different monthly costs (and activation or setup fees) for its packages, with the most comprehensive packages that provide the fastest download speeds unsurprisingly being the most expensive.
When looking for unlimited downloads for your new broadband package, you should research the top UK broadband providers, which include TalkTalk, Plusnet, Vodafone and Virgin Media. Enter your postcode onto their sites to find out which packages are available to you, including which download speeds you can access.
Consider which add-ons are important to you, whether you just want a broadband-only deal and what speeds you’re willing to pay for. Remember that each broadband package will have guaranteed download speeds, which are lower than the average download speeds – so make sure you know what these are and what compensation or support you can get if they end up lower than guaranteed before you commit to a new plan.
Broadband deals are often changing, but the cheapest deals at the moment are those from Sky and NOW, with packages between £20 and £24 per month. However, these cheapest packages are, of course, for the providers’ lowest speeds, with the Sky Basics broadband plan costing £20 per month but only averaging speeds of 11-36Mbps.
In addition, other providers will have introductory offers, which often slash the monthly price for the first six or 12 months of your contract. It’s always best to look at every provider you’re interested in and make sure that you’re getting a good deal and reaching the speeds you need for your internet usage.
Social tariffs, or broadband for low-income families, are cheaper broadband packages offered to families and households on Universal Credit or other benefits from the government. Some packages may have a monthly download cap, while others offer the same unlimited broadband packages as their non-social tariff plans. For example, BT Home Essentials offers unlimited broadband from £15 a month, aimed at low-income families and those on benefits.
If your broadband provider is one of the top UK companies or even a smaller, local provider, chances are you’re already enjoying unlimited broadband. Most packages and deals include unlimited downloads as standard, so it’s unlikely you’ll need to switch to a different deal or provider.
When providers first offered unlimited broadband, some promised unlimited broadband while still technically having a cap on monthly downloads or a fair usage policy that limited the number of downloads available. Truly unlimited broadband is a broadband service with no download cap and a fair usage policy.
A fair usage policy is a policy whereby internet activity and downloads have a cap so that the internet available to other users in the area isn’t limited. This means that the internet usage of heavy users, for example, people who are regularly gaming and streaming HD films, might be limited because it’s affecting the internet connections of other people in the area.
Luckily, a fair usage policy isn’t very common anymore, and this is because fibre and full-fibre broadband have a much higher capacity for downloads and fast internet speeds than traditional ADSL broadband. Fibre and full-fibre broadband use fibre optic cables, which are much more reliable than the copper cables used in your phone line and can provide much faster download speeds.
