A couple of months ago we received our internet bill for standard dial up at one and a half pence per minute. After the postman complained about the weight of it, we opened it to find a bill for £33.57, and yes I have put the decimal point in the correct place.
That bill signalled the start of a change- a change so big, so extraordinarily important, so life changingly critical that.... well the important thing was that it was the start of a change.
Why should we pay over thirty pounds a month for ancient dial up, when there are broadnband packages available for half the price? Well the answer was simple, we shouldn't. We changed to BT broadband.
For those people who are only intersted in my life END OF REVIEW.

There are dozens of companies out there, all offering broadband. This list is endless/contains many companies/is infinite/is longer than a long piece of string held between a very long man's long arms etc you get the point. All of their prices differ by a couple of (insert preferred monetary unit, for me) pounds on face value. However, as with everything in life, there are many things you need to be aware of (and no I don't mean the irritating call girl somewhere in India trying to sell you a great value mortgage, whilst speaking in some language that resembles English but sounds more like the guy who does the tannoy announcements at railway stations).

When choosing an ISP (the people you hand over your hard earned cash in a very spiteful and begrudging manner), you need to look at if there are any set up/ activation costs and if you will need to buy a modem, or if it included in the price. Also check out any minimum term contract. Activation costs can vary from free to about fifty quid (daylight robbery eat your heart out!), but can also vary within each ISP depending on what speed you have. I will not make any specific references,as like Michael Jackson's face, it is always changing. However, when we chose BT broadbands 512K service it was free, as was the modem. Modem costs can also vary between free and about sixty quid (that really takes the biscuit- but not just any biscuit. It would have to be McVities HobNobs for such a special occassion. After shelling out for broadband however I have heard 27p for Asda Samrt Price digestives aren't too bad). As you can see, you could be paying over one hundred of your finest English notes before you even get broadband, so do shop around. As for a minimum ontract, 99.999% have a 12 month minimum (that must mean 0.047 ISPs don't have a minimum contract, intersting!?), so choose wisely. That is where BT really shows its true potential. It is the only company that is more or less garanteed not to go bust, so 12 months down the line you can still be assured a broadband service (I had my fingers crossed whilst typing that, so don't hold me to that). Other independent companies could go bust at any time, which could leave you out in the dark (unless you have a torch, but as we know from the films, the batteries always die at the crucial moment). Before you order, you will need to check you are within a broqadband enabled area (www.btbroadband.com will check it for you for most suppliers, as they nearly all use BT lines- NTL and Telewest don;t though). For the price BT is slightly more expensive for the monthly fee, but free modem, activation and technical support compensates for this.