Direct Save Telecom

Direct Save Telecom offers budget copper and fibre broadband to customers across the UK.

While they do offer some ultrafast broadband packages, Direct Save's main attraction is as a cheap broadband provider offering no-frills broadband at budget prices.

Their broadband packages generally come on 12-month fixed term contracts, but their standard and superfast broadband deals can be taken on a rolling monthly basis. This incurs extra monthly charges and requires larger upfront fees.

Read our full review of Direct Save Telecom.

Direct Save Telecom is an excellent choice for customers who want budget broadband without many extras.

Signing up to a Direct Save contract includes free membership for a year of the Direct Save Online Discount Club which suggests it can save a typical family of four over £1,500 annually.

However, it's worth noting Direct Save no longer include any calls in their base broadband packages. So customers will need to pay an extra fee even for pay as you go calls. Households looking for a broadband and home phone option should be cautious to check the pricing due to these additional charges.

Read more about the cheapest broadband and phone deals.

Direct Save Telecom offers three widely available broadband speeds: 11Mb, 35Mb and 63Mb.

In addition, they offer ultrafast speeds of up to 1000Mb to select locations using fibre to the premises (FTTP) networks.

Direct Save Telecom operates on the Openreach network, so their superfast broadband services are currently available to around 97% of premises across the UK.

Direct Save also deliver their ultrafast services via full fibre networks, although the number of locations where this is available is much more limited.

Customers taking out standard copper broadband or superfast fibre broadband from Direct Save Telecom will usually receive the TP-LINK TD-W8951ND router.

Features of this router include one-touch wireless security and an easy access button to turn the wireless signal on and off. However, the specs of this router don't compare favourably with some of the routers supplied by Direct Save's competitors, so the TP-LINK may provide the type of functionality we see elsewhere.

Yes, Direct Save Telecom comes with a home phone line on all their widely available broadband packages. However, this doesn't include any calls as standard so customers can only receive calls and not make them.

There are three call plans that can be added however, with customers able to select a Pay Per Call, 700 minutes or Anytime call option.

Extra call features such as call barring, call divert and call waiting can be added to a home phone line for an additional fee every month.

Yes, Direct Save Telecom comes with a home phone line on all their widely available broadband packages.

There are three call plans to choose from, with customers able to select a Pay Per Call option as standard which includes no inclusive calls.

Extra call features such as call barring, call divert and call waiting can be added to a home phone line for an additional fee every month.

Direct Save say new telephone line installations will cost £39.95 for customers willing to sign up to their services for an 18-month minimum term.

The price of installing and setting up a new telephone line will be part of a customer's first invoice which will also include the first partial month of services and the whole calendar month following it. This means that customers signing up to Direct Save Telecom and in need of a new phone line may have a large upfront bill to pay.

If customers are unwilling to commit to an 18-month contract with Direct Save, the standard price for the installation of a new phone line is £118.80.

Read more about getting a new phone line installed cheaply.

Direct Save offer three call plans known as Option 1, Option 2 and Option 3.

Option 1 is a Pay Per Call plan that doesn't have any inclusive calls and customers are subject to Direct Save's standard call rates every time they make a call.

Option 2 includes 700 minutes to UK landlines beginning 01, 02, 03 and mobiles, while Option 3 offers free anytime calls to both UK landlines and mobiles too.

Direct Save Telecom do not carry out a credit check on prospective customers. This makes them one of the few broadband providers who don't make this a requirement of sign up.

However, Direct Save customers will need to have an active payment method on their account such as a direct debit or recurring card payment authority, plus they must pay in advance for their monthly broadband and phone services.

So, when first signing up, customers will need to pay for the partial month of joining along with the full following month. This can make the upfront fees of signing up to Direct Save slightly more expensive than signing up to other broadband providers.

Yes, Direct Save offer broadband without a contract.

Their 11Mb, 35Mb and 63Mb broadband packages can all be taken on a rolling monthly contract. However, the price difference between taking these packages on a monthly contract and signing up to a 12-month deal can be quite substantial, so customers should check whether the flexibility is worth the extra costs for them.

Plus, Direct Save charge set-up fees for customers taking broadband on a rolling contract whereas they don't for their contract customers. This can add to the costs faced by customers looking for flexibility.

We've got more information about broadband without a contract and who offers it.

The major perk of signing up to Direct Save Telecom is their Direct Save Online Discount Club.

Contract customers will receive the first year of membership free while membership can be renewed at a cost of £9.95 per year.

Direct Save have negotiated discounts with a host of popular retailers, hotels, airlines, days out and services which they say saves a typical family of four over £1,500 per year.

Customers can opt out of the Club at any point, although it's a generous perk for customers and it's worth sifting through the offers to see if there are any that apply to them.

We don't know much about Direct Save Telecom's customer service because they are too small to be covered by Ofcom's complaint figures.

Their record on review site Trustpilot is mixed, with a substantial minority of customers criticising them. Yet review sites attract customers who are generally either very happy or very unhappy with the service received, so these should always be viewed with caution.

Switching to Direct Save from another Openreach provider like BT, Plusnet or TalkTalk is straightforward.

All a customer needs to do is sign up to Direct Save and their new provider will work behind the scenes to complete the switch.

However, customers switching to Direct Save from another network such as Virgin Media's fibre optic network will need to contact their old provider directly after signing up with Direct Save to tell them they are leaving.

For most customers, though, switching to Direct Save Telecom is simple.

A transfer to Direct Save Telecom from another Openreach provider usually takes 14 days.

Customers without an existing broadband connection may be able to connect within a few days if the routing behind the scenes is in place. If an engineer visit is required in this instance, they may not need to visit the premises themselves.

Customers who need a new telephone line installation will be dependent on the waiting times of network operator Openreach.

12-month contracts with Direct Save Broadband generally come with no set-up fees as long as there is an active phone line at the property. Though there is usually a delivery charge for the wireless router.

For customers who need a new phone line installation and are willing to sign up to a fixed term contract, the upfront cost would be £39.95.

However, Direct Save Telecom do warn that missed appointments for installations will be liable to a £125 surcharge, so it's important to stick to any dates provided for installation.