Fone Forum

Although Orange is said to be ready to trial a 20 Mbps ADSL Broadband service for a small group of its customers, ITProportal (http://www.itproportal.com/network/news/article/2009/3/9/forget-orange-5-uk-isps-that-offer-20-mbps-broadband-now/1/) says to look at existing offers already available in the UK.

"UK ISP Orange has reveealed that it has started ground tests for a 20Mbps upgrade that will be trialled by 300 customers at first and if successful, could be extended to the rest of its UK user base.

However, whether you are with Orange or not, you don't need to wait for the France-telecom owned company before making a move to superfast broadband.

Orange's service will cost you at least £19.57 per month if you are not an Orange customer and will cover around two thirds of UK Household.  Here are five ISPs that will provide you with 20MBps or more for less than you'd think.

Be Unlimited

Be there is already one of the most celebrated ISPs around and a firm favourite at ITProPortal.com towers since its launch.  It was one of the first broadband providers to implement ADSL2+.  It is currently offering its Be Unlimited package (https://www.bethere.co.uk/homebroadband.do) for only £17.50 plus a £24 connection fee but with a £40 credit to your account.  Bethere reaches speeds of up to 24Mbps (download) and up yo 1.3Mbps (upload).  There's no download limit, you get 1 static IP for free and 24/7 support line.  There's no contract.  Just give them 3 months notice.

NewNet

NewNet has introduced a new service for businesses called (http://www.newnet.co.uk/40meg/home_nd40.php) the Home S 40meg ND which is UK's fastest broadband line by any ISPs out there.  Newnet achieved this speed by combining or bonding two 22Mbps lines together thanks to a ZyXEL P-663H router.  You should in theory achieve speeds of up to 44Mbps and uploads of 2.6Mbps.  It doesn't come with any data transfer limit.  There's no contract terms (only one month notice), you also get 100 POP3 mailboxes, free antivirus and antispam as well as a one static IP.  The price is, as expected, on the expensive side.  That's £420 per annum for the lines plus nearly £99 for the connection lines to which you have to add the cost of the router at £299.

MyTalkTalk

Mytalktalk is the cheapest 20+Mbps on offer but you won't find any mention of that speed anywhere (http://www.talktalk.co.uk/products/broadband/essentials).  However, it comes with a Boost feature that will upgrade your broadband to the fastest speed your line can possibly support.  This means that some people can potentially connect to the internet at 24Mbps.  The Speed boost costs £4 on top of Talktalk's £16.99 cost which includes free line rental.  You get a 40GB download limit which can be overturned with a download boost.  Altogether your upgrade package could cost you up to £24.99.  This will include free evening and weekend calls to landlines as well as free anytime international calls to 35 countries worldwide.

O2

Another favourite of ours (ed: at least amongst iPhone users) is O2 which shares the same network as Be. Their Premium package (http://broadband.o2.co.uk/home/packages.jsp) allows users to reach speeds of up to 20Mbps for a mere £14.68.  You get free UK customer service, no connection charge, McAfee security software (3-licenses), unlimited downloads and 200 free web texts per month.  O2 customers (both on contract or PAYG) can get it for as little as £9.79 per month.  There's a one year warranty and no static IP address but you will get the first month free.

Virgin Media

Virgin Media offers its fastest Broadband speed (http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/bundles/triple-builder.html) - a 50Mbps line - for only £35 per month (plus £11 for line rental).  You get free unlimited weekend UK landline calls and free TV.  Unfortunately, Virgin Media charges you a whopping £80 but you get a £50 online credit if you take 3 services from them.  The XXL service comes without any download limit, a great looking Wireless N router and adaptor as well as free internet security package.