Switching broadband provider: what to check first

How switching works now

Since September 2024, switching home broadband and landline in the UK has used a system called One Touch Switch. You only need to contact the new provider. They organise everything, including ending your old contract, and you agree a switch date. Your old service stops on that day, so you don't pay notice-period charges for time after it.

Two exceptions: it doesn't cover mobile broadband (the kind that uses a SIM card) or business lines. For those, you still need to contact your old provider yourself.

Before you switch, check these

1. When does your contract end?

If you leave before the end of your minimum term, you'll usually pay early-exit charges. Your provider has to tell you your contract end date. It's on your bill or account, or just ask. If you're out of contract, you're probably paying more than new customers, and it's a good time to switch or haggle.

2. Do you use your provider's email address?

This is the one that catches people out. If your email ends in something like @btinternet.com, @sky.com, @talktalk.net or @virginmedia.com, it belongs to your broadband provider. When you leave, some providers let you keep it for a monthly fee, and others close it eventually.

If you'd rather not pay, set up a free independent address (Gmail or Outlook, for example) a few weeks before you switch. Then update your bank, GP surgery, family and online accounts. It takes longer than you'd expect, so don't leave it to the last day.

3. Your landline and phone number

If you're moving your landline too, you can normally keep your number. Ask the new provider to confirm this. Calls now go through the router rather than the wall socket, so check anything that relies on your phone line, especially a personal alarm. My guide to the digital landline change covers what to look out for.

4. Ask about a social tariff

If you get Pension Credit, Universal Credit or certain other benefits, most big providers offer cheaper "social tariff" broadband. They don't always advertise it, so it's worth asking, whoever you're with.

5. Know what you're signing up to

• Price rises: any rises during your contract now have to be set out in pounds and pence when you sign. Check what they are.
• Speed: ask for the minimum guaranteed speed, not just the "up to" headline figure. Most big providers have to give you one before you sign, and may let you leave without penalty if they can't deliver it.
• Don't overbuy. The fastest package isn't always the one you need. And if the problem is Wi-Fi not reaching upstairs, a faster package won't fix it.

On switching day

The new router arrives in the post. Here's the tip that saves the most hassle: give the new router the same Wi-Fi name and password as the old one. Then your phones, tablets, TV, printer and smart speakers all reconnect on their own, instead of you setting up every device again. If that sounds fiddly, it's exactly the sort of thing I do.

Where I come in

I can help you choose a provider (honestly, I don't take commission), move your email address and contacts across, and set up the new router so everything in the house just reconnects. That's usually a single fix-it visit — £59 for up to an hour.

Written by Rich, Cumulus Technologies, Bournemouth.