The fastest broadband deal ever!

If you like watching internet TV, HD movies online or you're a hardcore gamer, we've got the best broadband deal for you.

If you like a faster-than-the-speed-of-light internet connection, you're in luck.

Until recently, Virgin Media had cornered the superfast broadband market with its fibre optic package, XXL, which offers amazing download speeds of up to 50Mb, and unlimited usage. But Virgin's monopoly on this market was destroyed when, two weeks ago, BT entered the fray with Infinity - its own superfast fibre optic broadband, capable of download speeds of up to 40Mb. This is roughly twice the average maximum speed of standard ADSL broadband.

With fibre optic broadband you can now download a music track in less than a second, a DVD quality film in under five minutes, or a game in less than two minutes - now that's fast!

What is fibre optic broadband?

Most providers deliver broadband through a conventional ADSL or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line which uses existing copper wire telephone lines. The line is then split into one channel for normal telephone usage and another for high speed data traffic.

But this isn't the most reliable technology because broadband speeds usually reduce the further you live away from the telephone exchange.

With fibre optic broadband, instead of sending signals through copper wires, light signals are delivered through fibre optic cables which are made of glass. These cables are capable of sending vast quantities of data at high speed. The theory is there should be very little deterioration in speed no matter where you live.

In short, fibre optic broadband provides a more powerful connection to the internet.

Which fibre optic broadband deal is best?

So it's great news that competition is hotting up a bit for heavy broadband users who want a mega-fast speeds. But which deal is better: Infinity or XXL? The table below summarises the main features of both along with a total cost for each deal over the first year:

BT Infinity versus Virgin Media XXL

Source: Broadbandchoices.co.uk. *Subject to fair usage policy.

As you can see, BT Infinity Option 1 is the cheapest per month at £19.99 and for total cost in the first year, at £428.36. This includes a £50 connection fee and monthly line rental at £11.54. But this package does come with limitations.

You'll benefit from a superfast download speed of up to 40Mb, but there's a monthly usage allowance of 20GB, so you'll need to decide whether that's enough for you. If, for example, you like to watch high definition movies, each one is equivalent to around 4GB of data. That means you could only watch five HD films a month and your allowance would have been used up.

I would imagine heavy broadband users would prefer unlimited usage, therefore BT Infinity Option 2 or the fastest broadband deal ever - Virgin's XXL - may still be a better fit. Having said that, if you're likely to upload a lot of data yourself, notice that BT Infinity Option 2 is much faster at 10Mb than any of the other deals.

Is it worth paying extra for XXL?

XXL is still the best option for you if you're planning to download HD films regularly. Virgin say this can be done in less than an hour, so XXL should be quicker than the download speeds Infinity is capable of achieving.

On top of that, you'll get unlimited downloads with no fair usage policy, so you'll never run the risk of using more than you should and having your service restricted, or being charged more as a result. You'll also have the option to take a broadband-only deal without the need to tie yourself into a taking a Virgin landline, but that costs more at £38 per month - or £496 over the year.

Actual speeds

Don't forget that all-important 'up to' phrase for download speeds. As with all broadband deals, it's unlikely you'll get the maximum speeds advertised. BT says they expect most customers to receive an average speed of 20Mb to 30Mb.

Download speeds can be affected by a number of factors such as the processing speed of your computer and whether you connect to the internet with wires or by Wi Fi. Day-to-day speeds can also be affected by general congestion on the internet, the speed of the websites you visit, and any software you have running in the background such as spyware. Use a broadband speed checker to check your download speed.

If you think your download speeds turn out to be slower than they should be, don't hesitate in taking it up with your provider.

Availability

Both providers are working on even faster broadband connections for the future with pilots to achieve speeds of 100Mb and 200Mb. However, at the moment Virgin's 50Mb deal is currently available to 12.5 million cable homes, while BT says it will serve 4 million homes and businesses with Infinity by the end of the year.

Finally, as well as getting the right deal for superfast broadband, join these two goals: Kit out your PC for free and Spend less on your mobile  for great value on all your gadgets and gizmos. And for more tips on all things techy, why not surf over to Q&A and ask the lovemoney.com community for help.

Compare broadband deals at lovemoney.com partner, Broadbandchoices.co.uk

More: Save £132 with a dongle | Save a bundle with a broadband bundle!