Looking at switching

I have 45 days before my fttp broadband contract ends, if I want to switch to a different provider when do I contact the new provider and does the switch date need to be after the current contract ends? any tips and tricks to a smooth switch would be helpful?

It generally takes 10 days to move provider these days. If you do it a bit early then you might end up paying some contract charges (which differ depending on who the ISP is). If you do it so it goes a little after the current contract ends then you might temporarily pay a higher rate with the old ISP but otherwise shouldn't be an issue. This is all assuming you are moving between the same wholesale provider (ie someone on OpenReach to someone else on OpenReach) - if you are moving to a different wholesale provider (ie from OpenReach to Zzoom) then you would be better running in parallel for a short time to make sure the new service is running before the old ends.

You are actually still in contract - all that is ending is the "minimum term" for which you may have got a discounted rate. You should just move onto a standard contract.

However, if you post who the two ISPs are then more details may be provided as there could be some nuances.

Yes I am on the openreach network with Sky, looking at moving but not sure who yet, it will come down to the best provider for the best price.

Then at the end of the minimum term Sky should inform you of what your new monthly costs will be. Start the migration some point after 10 days before the end of the term - you may pay the new monthly costs for a short period of time but it won't be long and means you won't have any penalties for leaving early (although I suspect by that point in the contract the penalties would be pretty low anyway.

I move away from BT a few weeks before the end of the minimum term and I think it cost me about £3 on a 900Mb/s FTTP service.

@PCJM40,

What I would do is start my "shopping around" 2 months before my contract is due to expire and whittle down the list of supplier to, at most. 4 providers. Then at the beginning of the last month I would contact my current provider and see if they could max the price of the cheapest provider that I found. This gives you the option of either staying with your current provider, if you're completely happy with them and they can match the cheaper price, or cutting bait and switching without incurring any extra fees.

HTH,

Just one thing to add. At no point should OP tell the current provider they are leaving. That is all handled when an order is placed with a new provider and therefore it avoids any potential issues with the provider cancelling the line.

This information from you and Mark is very helpful, thank you