Home broadband special offers: The August top five

As we barrel towards the end of August, many thoughts will be turning to the new educational year. Perhaps you're a parent who is nervous about your kid heading off to high school and probably needing their own computer (purely for research, of course), or maybe you're a university student that has just sorted out their shared house for the coming year. Whatever the situation, which broadband deal to go for could be on your mind (alongside school uniforms, or freshers week etc).

We've gone through all the special offers currently available from the UK's leading home broadband providers to bring you a selection of the best broadband deals on the market - but be wary, as some will end very soon. Once you've found a deal that looks like it suits your needs, simply click on the provider's logo to go to its website, where you can sign up directly with them. If you want more information on a particular broadband provider, click on its name to be taken to its Broadband Genie page. Here you'll find all of its tariffs, as well as details about the company itself - pros and cons, history etc - and customer reviews.

O2 Broadband: There's only one place to start this week - what could be better than a Broadband Genie exclusive offer! We've got together with O2 and top online retailer Zavvi to bring you a massive double whammy - the first three months of your O2 home broadband deal for free, plus a £20 Zavvi gift voucher. We're delighted to be able to get an exclusive deal with O2, as its quality and customer service records speak for themselves. And it isn't limited to a particular O2 package - you can choose the one that suits you best. As for Zavvi, you'll be able to spend your £20 voucher on the latest music, DVDs, games, Blu-rays and much more. But be quick! The offer ends on August 31.  Click for deal >

Orange Broadband: Orange's Home Max broadband offers good value at the best of times, especially if you're already an Orange mobile customer. As well as getting in on the Orange Wednesday two-for-one cinema ticket offer, if you sign up for an 18-month home broadband tariff you'll get 'unlimited' broadband (there's a fair usage policy, which means you may face restrictions if you download a lot of content in peak times) for £9.50 per month - or if you're already an Orange customer for another service, for only £6.50 per month. If you sign up now, the special offer means you'll get your first three months of broadband for free too! A wireless router is included free, as is free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines (if you sign up additionally to have your line rental through Orange for £10.50 per month).  Click for deal >

BT Broadband: If you would rather stick with good old BT, you need to get in quick to take advantage of this £20+ saving on its broadband and evening/weekend calls package. Sign up for an 18-month tariff by August 23 and you'll save £7 per month for the first three months of the deal, paying just £6.99 instead of £13.99 (which will be the cost for the remaining 15 months). You'll get your wireless BT Home Hub for broadband, with a 10GB monthly allowance, and you'll get free weekend calls to UK landlines (line rental is an extra £11.54 per month). It's a really good deal if you like to check  the web when you're out and about, because you can use your BT Broadband account to log into millions of Wi-Fi hotspots around the country with your laptop too - but hurry, the offer ends any day now!  Click for deal >

Sky Broadband: You'll have to be quick to grab this online exclusive Sky deal too, as it ends on August 26 - but if you want unlimited broadband and a Sky+ Box for satellite TV, you'll probably be clicking through right now anyway. This deal only has a 12-month contract, which will set you back £27.50 per month - but for that you'll be getting unlimited broadband (some restrictions may apply), two entertainment packs on your Sky TV plus free evening and weekend calls (if you also sign up for Sky Talk, £11 monthly rental). And, if you sign up now with this special offer, not only will you get the Sky+ Box free, but you'll also get a £25 M&S voucher thrown in!.  Click for deal >

PlusNet: There's slightly more time to run on this PlusNet promo - you've got until August 31 to make your mind up. PlusNet has got some great press over recent years for being cheap while still offering a high level of service. The big daddy of its deals is PlusNet Extra + Talk Evenings and Weekends, offering a 60GB per month download limit (with free wireless router and 24/7 customer service) alongside your telephone line rental (with free evening/weekend UK calls and a bonus of 300 minutes of free evening/weekend international calls) for £22.74 per month. If you sign up before the end of August though, you'll get the broadband part of the deal free for the first three months, meaning you'll only be charged £11.25 per month for a quarter of your 12-month contract.  Click for deal >