Switch your broadband in five easy steps

If you're thinking about switching your broadband provider, make sure you take a look at these top tips.

If we’re not complaining about our bank, then we’re complaining about our broadband provider. Poor connection reliability and connection speed, along with appalling customer service, give many of us plenty to whinge about.

Of course, if you’re not satisfied, the most obvious thing to do is move to a different provider. But that in itself can cause problems and many of us are put off by the thought of the process taking a long time or being too complicated.

In fact, research from Broadband Choices has revealed that much of the problem lies in getting hold of a Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) to be able to move. According to its survey, 31% of people had to request their MAC more than once and 64% had to wait up to a week to receive it.

Meanwhile, 59% of people were left with no broadband connection for a significant time after switching providers.

So to help you avoid this hassle, I’m going to show you how to switch your broadband provider in five easy steps.

1. Ask your provider for a better deal

If you’re not happy with your current broadband deal and the prospect of switching provider is already proving stressful, you could simply try asking your current provider if it can give you a better deal.

As the market becomes more competitive, providers are reluctant to lose their current customers and as a result, if you say you’re thinking of leaving, your provider may suddenly come back to you with a fantastic deal.

That said, make sure you compare offers from other providers to ensure you’re definitely being offered a good deal. You can do this using a comparison service such as broadbandchoices.co.uk.

2. Know your rights

Before considering moving to a different provider, you should check the terms and conditions of your current contract carefully.

You need to find out whether you’re still within the original contract period, which generally runs for at least 12 or 18 months. If you are, you may have to see it out if you don’t want to get caught out by cancellation fees. However, these fees have recently come down by as much as 85% for customers of BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk (including Tiscali) who take a phone line and broadband bundle.

It’s also worth checking whether your supplier has breached your service agreement. If so, you may be able to terminate your contract early - so make sure you check the small print.

3. Get your MAC

As I’ve already mentioned, to leave your current provider, you may need to get hold of your MAC, so ask your provider if this applies to your service. Your MAC identifies your phone line so the new company can take over.

If you do need one, your provider is legally obliged to give it to you within five working days, along with its expiry date, and there won’t be a charge for this service.

If your old provider is taking too long to supply you with your MAC, you can complain to Ofcom who will investigate the matter further. It might also be worth telling your provider that this is what you plan to do as this may encourage it to get its skates on!

4. Look out for complications

When deciding which provider to switch to, you need to be aware that your choice may be limited by the type of broadband you currently have. For example, if you’re with Virgin Media or Kingston Communications, you’ll have a cable connection. So if you decide to switch to a different network, such as BT, you’ll need a different landline connection.

Meanwhile, if you’re with Sky, TalkTalk, O2 or a handful of other providers, you may be a LLU customer. LLU stands for Local Loop Unbundling. If you want to switch from a LLU provider to a new provider, you will have to stop your current service and ask your new supplier to provide their service. This is called cease and re-provide.

Related how-to guide

Lower your household bills

How to cut your insurance, phone, broadband, water and TV bills, and save thousands of pounds a year!

See the guide

5. Check for hidden costs

Make sure you always check for hidden costs in your new package before you sign on the dotted line. If you’re going for the cheapest option, you need to consider the quality of the service you’ll be receiving.

There may also be a download limit so you need to check what the penalties are for going over this limit. It could mean you end up paying more than your monthly rate for large downloads.

It’s also worth checking how much calls cost to the customer service call centre and technical support as this can often be expensive. And don’t forget to check the opening hours too.

Bundle it up!

As a final note, if you are thinking about moving to another provider, it’s worth considering a broadband bundle – in other words, bundling up broadband, digital TV and home phone services with one provider.

Research by Broadband Choices shows that over a quarter of broadband users are failing to do this, and as a result are missing out on a saving of £300 a year.

So if you are considering switching provider and opting for a broadband bundle, here are a few things you should think about first:

1. Think about your needs

Be realistic about what you need – if you only email and surf the net every now and then, you’ll probably only need a basic service. Find out more in You’re wasting money on your broadband.

2. Do your homework

If you’re looking at TV packages, make sure you do your research as providers offer different combinations of channels. So if you want all the movie channels or all the sports channels included, you need to factor in the costs of adding this to your deal.

3. Broadband speed

If you’re a light internet user, high speeds and unlimited downloads might not be your priority. But if you’ve got a large family with several PCs competing for bandwidth, you might want to consider upgrading to a fast 20Mb+ connection.

4. Home phone

Check that the call package included in your deal meets your requirements – do you need free weekend calls? Do you often call abroad? If so, what are the charges for doing so?

And don’t forget, before signing up to a new package, always ensure you’ve done your research fully and shopped around using a comparison service such as broadbandchoices.co.uk to ensure you’re getting a good deal.

Thanks to broadbandchoices.co.uk for these tips.

More: The best landline deals | Eight ways to stop spam emails