MORE SCOTTISH households are switching on to the benefits of broadband - and competition has pushed prices down. So how do you pick the best deal from all those on offer?

You first have to check what's available in your area. Rob Barnes of Moneysupermarket, a comparison website, says: "Your choice of broadband depends on where you live. It's really a postcode lottery."

Now you have to decide how you intend to use broadband. The price typically depends on the speed of the connection and the download capacity. So there's no point in paying top price for top speed if you only ever use the internet to send a few emails.

A light user can probably get away with a speed of 2Mbps and capacity of 3GB. A connection speed of 8Mbps and a download limit of 10GB is pretty standard. If you are constantly on the internet and regularly download movies and play online games, you might want to opt for a 12Mbps connection speed.

Broadband firms have recently been criticised over connection speeds. It seems that the advertised speed is not always the actual speed. Which?, the consumers' association, recently tested speeds among its members and found that customers who were promised speeds of up to 8Mbps actually achieved 2.7Mbps on average.

Customers can check their connection speeds at the Moneysupermarket website. Anyone who is not satisfied should contact their broadband company or Ofcom.

You can now start to compare prices. Most firms charge a monthly amount, but watch out for hidden charges, such as set-up costs and technical helpline rates.

A number of firms have come under fire for poor customer service so it's worth checking out customer reviews.

In a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by uSwitch, another comparison website, PlusNet came top, winning nine out of 11 categories, including Best Overall Provider. PlusNet is owned by BT, but its parent company was rated bottom for value for money. Orange was ranked as the worst broadband provider.