BT's broadband deals have been experiencing a bit of a resurgence.

After years of being the provider for people who don't know any better, BT's broadband, phone and TV deals have been experiencing a bit of a resurgence.

That seems to be, in large part, because the provider has finally started to play to its strengths: decent quality, mid-market priced consumer deals.

But also, we're seeing that now BT are competing up against Virgin Media for cable broadband services, they seem much more inclined than ever to be offering more.

The UK communications giant now offers home broadband with speeds up to 76Mb - as well as home phone and TV. Here's a quick run down of those three.

Broadband

BT's Infinity broadband service now offers speeds of either up to 38Mb or up to 76Mb depending upon location and package choice.

BT Infinity, launched in 2010, is provided through BT's fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) network which is now accessible to about 40% or 11 million UK homes.

Unlike Virgin Media's network, BT are still rolling out their cable product and plan to add another 1 million homes to the fibre network throughout 2013.

We'll take a look at both BT Infinity and BT's standard ADSL2+ deals in this guide, however take a look at our BT Infinity review for a more specific look at fibre.

BT's standard ADSL2+ offers speeds of up to 16Mb and, while speeds can vary, is available more or less nationwide as it's provided over a normal BT copper phone line.

So, BT's broadband deals are divided by speed and usage allowance as follows:

Package	Speed	Usage allowance	Price
Broadband + E&W calls	Up to 16Mb	10GB	£13	Visit BT »
Unlimited Broadband + Wkend calls	Up to 16Mb	Unlimited	£16	Visit BT »
BT Infinity 1 + E&W calls	Up to 38Mb	40GB	£18	Visit BT »
Unlimited BT Infinity 1 + E&W calls	Up to 38Mb	Unlimited	£23	Visit BT »
Unlimited BT Infinity 2 + E&W calls	Up to 76Mb	Unlimited	£26	Visit BT »

Prices depend on those usage limits and extras such as additional inclusive landline phone calls or pay TV packages.

To check availability for both BT standard and Infinity broadband and see those prices in full see our BT deals table above.

Speeds and downloads

BT's up to 16Mb ADSL2+ service delivers average speeds of around 8Mb to 10Mb, according to Ofcom's 2012 report into broadband speeds.

That actually places them amongst the fastest ADSL2+ providers, although not as fast as competitors such as the O2/Be network (more here).

The 2012 Ofcom report found that BT was delivering on average:

	Average download speed during period
	Maximum	24 hours	Peak time: 8-10pm weekdays
BT ADSL2+ (up to 16Mb)	8.6Mb to 10.7Mb	8.1Mb to 10Mb	8Mb to 10Mb
BT FTTC (up to 38Mb)	34Mb to 37Mb	30Mb to 34.3Mb	29.8Mb to 34.3Mb
BT FTTC (up to 76Mb)	63.1Mb to 68.8Mb	55.3Mb to 61.7Mb	54.7Mb to 61.1Mb

As of 1st February 2013, BT also moved away from fair use, a bold move that now sees them offering the famed 'totally' unlimited usage.

Previously to this, BT was only managing traffic on peer-to-peer activity during peak hours (4pm to midnight on weekdays and 9am to midnight at the weekend), a policy which still applies to BT's capped use products.

Conversely, it's worth noting that BT's traffic management key facts indicator for their totally unlimited packages still notes that traffic management is used during peak hours, except without any traffic types shown as actually affected, which means there could still be overall network management in place.

Finally, it's worth noting particularly for customers on capped use products, that BT's on-demand TV viewing (see below for more information) doesn't count towards the broadband download usage and will receive additional bandwidth so that it doesn't slow down normal browsing.

Additionally, neither BT Digital Vault or BT Broadband Talk will be counted towards a user's usage allowance either.

BT Home Hub

A major selling point for BT is their Home Hub. Other providers tend to offer a standard wireless router from a big brand like Thompson or Linksys.

Aside from looking a lot more glamorous than a standard modem, the Home Hub offers Smart Wireless technology.

That means that the Hub constantly scans for interference from other devices and dynamically changes the wireless channel users are receiving to maintain a better connection; most modems just check for the least crowded channel when they're setup.

Given that speeds lost through wireless routers reduce broadband speeds by 30% on average a good router makes a significant difference to broadband connections.

There's also room for a USB port, acting as a network storage space or printer sharer and power saving features that aren't appearing on most other provider's routers.

We've looked at how BT's Home Hub compares against it's rival hubs in this guide.

Free BT wi-fi and other extras

In addition to the router, provided free, there are other bundled services here which aren't often found with other providers.

All BT customers can use the network of BT Wi-fi hotspots (formally BT Openzone), the UK's largest network, for free by logging in with their BT username and password when they're out and about.

Users also get free secure online storage to back up files.

The point is that while BT broadband deals aren't the cheapest around it's not a totally empty price hike hidden behind a strong brand.

Calls

To get broadband, customers must take BT line rental.

The price of line rental stays set across any BT bundle, although you can pay extra for inclusive UK landline calls anytime or evening & weekends. Free UK weekend calls are included as standard.

BT's call deal comes with all the basic features you'd expect: services such as 1571 voicemail, free texts every month and even security extras like caller ID.

However, as we update this review, BT have managed to get themselves into the somewhat ridiculous situation of charging more for line rental than any other provider.

Over the past few years, we've got used to seeing them increasing prices and other providers - semi-shamefacedly - following, but this time even TalkTalk (reviewed here) - who are never shamefaced - have stayed significantly cheaper.

BT do allow customers to pay for a year upfront which brings the price down to an effective £10.75 a month from £15.45 - a total saving of £56.40 over a year, but at £129 it's a lot to shell out in one go.

Note, though, that those households that do need a new phone line installed will be able to get it done for free with their broadband. See our new phone line installation guide for more details.

TV

Last, but not least, BT have recently revamped their TV deals, which now offer the new YouView service, a combined effort between Freeview TV providers - BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and ISPs BT and TalkTalk.

While BT Vision is still available, it's been hidden away slightly on the BT site in favour of the new YouView service.

Both YouView and BT Vision offer the same package choice between Essentials and Unlimited, and while the services are similar there are a few major differences.

YouView vs Vision

To get ESPN or Sky Sports with BT you need to opt for BT Vision, and you can't receive YouView as well as Vision.

Additionally, BT Vision is only available in BT Infinity enabled areas - although confusingly, while you do need BT broadband to get BT TV, you don't actually have to choose an Infinity package to sign up for Vision.

YouView offers slightly more channel choices, Freeview in HD, plus extra services such as Sky's Now TV - a version of Sky Movies.

Both YouView and Vision offer similar 500GB boxes and both package choices, Essentials and Unlimited, cost the same amount.

Essentials vs Unlimited

Both Essentials and Unlimited offer all 70 Freeview channels, a free YouView or Vision+ box (which allows users record, rewind and pause live TV) and free on-demand from BBC iPlayer, ITV player and 4OD.

However, Unlimited also includes all of BT's standard on-demand content for free. There are five on-demand 'packs':

• Vision TV: US and UK drama and soaps many of which are unavailable through Freeview
• Film Club: around 200 movies a month (14 swapped in every week) from a variety of genres
• Kids: cartoons from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney channel shows etc
• Sport: 'non premium' sports like wrestling and football highlights
• Music: music video playlists, albums and documentaries

With Essentials this on-demand content starts at 50p for a show, video playlist or movie.

What do you need?

To get the Freeview services you'll need to be in a digital enabled area and have a TV aerial, plus you'll also need to sign up for BT broadband.

For BT Vision you need to be in a BT Infinity enabled area - although you can still choose a cheaper up to 16Mb broadband package if you want to.

Currently, all broadband bundles with TV are subject to a £49 setup fee, although either the YouView box or Vision+ box are provided free.

Check out our guide to the best TV deals for more detailed information on BT Vision and its competitors.

What about sports?

As we've mentioned, ESPN and Sky Sports are now only available on BT Vision.

BT Vision TV Unlimited includes ESPN for free.

You can add Sky Sports 1 & 2 for £15 each or £20 together with either deal, though, which is what you want to watch the Champions League or Rugby Union.

The viewing card to watch Sky Sports costs £10 as a one off, but monthly prices are just lower than Sky and Virgin Media's.

In addition, BT have the edge over those two because they offer Sky Sports on a one month minimum term contract so you can pay just for the sports seasons you actually watch.

See our article here on getting Sky Sports the cheapest for more on this.

Customer service

Let's be honest, you don't go to BT broadband for the UK's best service. They're a huge provider with a huge number of variably trained call centre staff.

They've improved a lot over the past year or so - at one point we might as well have replaced this section with a giant thumbs down picture - and now we'd say, overall, they're pretty good.

Big providers' service has its downsides but one of the upsides is a really well staffed and useful online customer forum which can help with niggling service problems.

So: is BT broadband any good?

All in all, BT have really improved their broadband offering over the past few years and seem eager to compete against rival cable provider Virgin.

They've become much better value for money and Infinity offers better speeds and reliability than we've seen before.

But they're also bringing innovation to the market: the new BT Home Hub's smart wireless, secure online storage and free BT Wi-fi minutes among other benefits justify, for those that will use them of course, the provider's less than rock bottom prices.