Some offers will let you save money and get all the minutes and messages you want, but often the greatest rewards come in the form of free gifts or cashback which can be included when you sign up for a fixed term contract.

One of these reward-based offers will usually include a free handset as part of the package, so you can get a new mobile and plenty of added extras, plus the tariff you need to get on with your life, all for a simple monthly cost.

The free gift and cashback offers work in essentially the same way as receiving a free phone direct from your provider when you upgrade.

In reality you will be covering the cost of the item over the course of a contract and you will not be able to duck out early without paying some kind of additional charge.

However, since there are no upfront costs and the money will be taken over 18 months to 2 years, you will not feel the sting of having to pay for a high priced item at the start of the contract.

There are a number of different types of free gifts offered online. This can include everything from a games console or HD TV to an iPad or a Windows PC.

The best sites will let you pick your handset of choice, choose from a range of free gifts and then find the offers which fit the bill, ranked by their monthly cost and the network provider who will be giving you service.

When it comes to cashback you can choose from various packages worth from around £30 to more than £300, depending on the specifics of the deal upon which you decide. Both cashback and free gifts can be awarded in two different ways.

Firstly there can be instant cashback or gift offers, which will grant you your reward as soon as you commit to a deal, with many enabling next day delivery or instant bank transfer so you can start enjoying your entitlement as soon as possible.

More common are deals which involve getting your cash or your free gift by redemption.

This is done to ensure that you are committed to the offer and means you need to send off proof that you are paying your phone bills over the course of a few months in order to gain access to your reward.

You can get cashback and free gifts with a number of deals on HTC mobiles as well as on models from a host of other manufacturers, from Apple to Samsung and beyond.

Because the market is very competitive you will find that it should be easy to compare offers and find the right kind of bargain with the right kind of gift to meet your tastes and needs.

The way broadband speed is advertised and what you should expect is often confusing – and perhaps even deliberately so.

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) delivers your broadband through your phone line, on a separate service to voice telephone calls. This is called ADSL (Asymmetric or Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line), because upload and download speeds are different. You normally need a DSL filter if using a phone line rather than a cable service.

There are a number of things which affect your Internet broadband speed:

• Subscription Package with your ISP
• Contention ratio (how many people allowed to share the service at the same time)
• Telephone line or cable connection
• Physical length of the connection to your premises from the Exchange
• Age, quality and material of the connection (copper, aluminium, fibre)

CityFibre UK Attempts to Debunk Copper Based Superfast …

The most common network technology used to connect users to the internet is good old fashioned copper wire. The use of copper wire means that Nielsen's law … Copper wires as used to deliver broadband services tend to be very long and very thin, and while these were fine for delivering low bandwidth (or low frequency) analog voice, they are less well suited to deliver high speed (or high frequency) bandwidth." None of this is new and many of our readers will …

How to boost rural broadband speeds | News | TechRadar

Rural areas are often overlooked by broadband providers, but there are ways to improve connectivity. Amazing though it sounds, 4000 homes in the UK are classed as 'not spots', meaning they have no internet access at all. … This funding is only to help 90 per cent of the people who don't have 'high speed' internet, leaving the remaining 10 per cent still off the grid. What's more, it's down to the communities themselves to alert their local MPs so they …

Average UK broadband speed passes 7Mb

Average UK broadband speeds have passed 7Mb for the first time, latest speed test results have shown.

Will broadband improvements cost too much? | All About Fiber Optics

As the UK looks to improve broadband speeds available, customers are urged to take the broadband speed test to see what speeds they are entitled to. The best way to find the best deals is to compare broadband offers …

How to test your phone broadband speed

For several years, we've found this handy little broadband test to do just what we need http://speedtest.net/

Compare the result with your ISP broadband phone package and what it includes.

How to make your Internet broadband speed faster

The first thing to do is report a slow broadband speed to your ISP – it's quite possible they can reset or even replace your cable modem or router, or reprogram the network to restore the performance you're paying for.

Related articles

• UK broadband providers warned over speed, bandwidth throttling transparency (zdnet.com)
• Ofcom: Broadband speeds 'should be clearer' (telegraph.co.uk)
• UK households have an average of 4.6 devices connected to WiFi (thenextweb.com)
• Broadband advertising proposals 'a green light to mislead customers' (telegraph.co.uk)
• Broadband speed claims face new guidelines (guardian.co.uk)
• Slow broadband problematic for business insurance holders? (premierlinedirect.co.uk)
• UK 'lags on high-speed broadband' (bbc.co.uk)

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• and more …

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During that time, he had many interesting experiences and war stories that will be shared on this website for your interest, education and entertainment!

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A recent Ofcom report shows the UK leading the world in its use of digital communications, yet trailing behind in 21st position out of 30 for Broadband speeds.
News – UK prime in most digital areas but not broadband

The UK is one of the world’s most advanced countries in terms of digital communications, an Ofcom report says. The telecoms regulator said people in the UK watched more TV and sent more texts than people in many other countries, …

UK broadband must try harder | Latest Industry News | News …

The state of the UK’s broadband industry has received mixed reactions in Ofcom’s latest report. The regulator’s annual International Communications Market report looks at the entire £548 billion communications market in 12 major …

Related Broadband News

• UK consumers ‘in digital elite’ (news.bbc.co.uk)