Commitments · Consumer care, in writing

Seven commercial sites fund thirteen free, ad-free public-interest sites.

FBRE.uk is a small UK team running a 20-site network. We are honest about which sites earn money and which sites we run as a duty of care to UK consumers. We are also in active engagement with Ofcom on the Price Comparison Accreditation Scheme. This page lists every site, the funding model of each, and where we stand on accreditation.

7 / 20

Commercial · affiliate-disclosed

7 / 20

Free tools · no ads, no signup

6 / 20

Public-interest · safeguarding, research, community

Jump to the free tools Read the Ofcom position

The twenty sites, honestly classified

Every entry below links to a live UK site. The funding model is the same one shown on each site's own footer or affiliate-disclosure page. Where a site states its own mission, we quote it verbatim so you can compare what we say here with what the operator says there.

Commercial sites · affiliate-disclosed (7 of 20)

These sites earn money through affiliate commission when a UK consumer chooses a deal and switches. Every page carries the disclosure in plain English. Ranking is based on Total Contract Value, not commission. The commercial side is what funds every other site in the network.

Free tools for UK consumers · no ads, no signup (7 of 20)

These sites carry no advertising, no signup walls, no email capture, and no resold data. They exist because UK consumers should not have to pay (in money or attention) to find out how fast their broadband is, what speed they actually need, or what coverage their postcode has. Each one publishes its own methodology and privacy position.

  • UKSpeedTest.co.uk (DR 73) · UK broadband speed test (download, latency, jitter). Methodology page, privacy page, accessibility statement. "No server-side storage of test results."
  • Laggy.uk (DR 47) · Free UK broadband speed test, terminal-style UI. "Free to use with no sign-up or payment. Privacy-first. Analytics run only if you opt in."
  • BroadbandBoost.co.uk (DR 47) · Free UK broadband speed test with plain-English quality verdict for browsing, gaming, streaming, video calls and work from home.
  • HowFast.uk (DR 46) · Free UK broadband speed test. Methodology v2 published. "Free and you can run it as often as you like."
  • RightSpeed.co.uk (DR 46) · Eight-question planner that tells UK consumers and small businesses the broadband speed they actually need, so they stop overpaying. "No personal data collected."
  • BroadbandMap.org.uk (DR 46, .org.uk) · Postcode-level UK broadband coverage and performance data, primary source Ofcom's Connected Nations report. "Real-world connections in your area, rather than marketing claims."
  • NewPasswordGenerator.co.uk (DR 44) · Privacy-first password generator. "Generated locally in your browser using the Web Crypto API. No password tracking. No cookies." References UK NCSC guidance.

Public-interest, research and community (6 of 20)

The remaining six sites do not fit the "commercial" or "free tool" labels. ParentalControl.uk is our safeguarding programme. BroadbandInsights.co.uk is an explainer site that explicitly does not sell broadband. PauseDesk.com is a digital wellbeing prompt. FibreRush and FibreBlast are short community games that gently engage UK consumers with broadband-related themes. FBRE.uk is this network hub.

  • ParentalControl.uk (DR 2, launched May 2026) · Safeguarding scanner that runs from any UK home browser to test whether the network is blocking adult content, malware, gambling and other categories. Aligned to the Ofcom Online Safety Act Children's Codes that came into force on 25 July 2025. "Built in the UK as a public good for families."
  • BroadbandInsights.co.uk (DR 42) · Explainer and decision-support site for UK broadband. "We don't sell or supply broadband. We explain how it works and link to comparison and speed-test tools where you can take the next step."
  • FBRE.uk (DR 42) · The network hub you are reading now. Publishes the corporate structure, the methodology, the corrections log, and this commitments page.
  • FibreRush.co.uk (DR 45) · A 60-second community game that gently surfaces UK broadband brand awareness.
  • FibreBlast.co.uk (DR 44) · A short endless-arcade community game with UK broadband power-ups.
  • PauseDesk.com (DR 29) · A digital wellbeing prompt that nudges anyone working at a desk to take a short break.

What "free" really means here

"Free at point of use" is a phrase that often hides a price somewhere else. Across the seven free tools in the FBRE network, "free" means all of the following at once, on every page, by design.

  • No display advertising networks. No Google Ads, no Taboola, no Outbrain.
  • No paywall, no soft paywall, no metered access.
  • No signup wall before results are shown.
  • No email capture as a precondition for use.
  • No resold first-party data. We do not sell test results to ISPs or anyone else.
  • Where the tool measures something (a speed, a latency, a coverage figure), the measurement method is published. UKSpeedTest, HowFast and Laggy all expose their methodology.
  • Where the tool runs anything locally (NewPasswordGenerator uses the Web Crypto API, the speed tests run in-browser), we say so plainly so the technical audience can verify.
  • Where a tool stores data, it is opt-in only. Laggy's results sharing is the canonical example: off by default, enabled by an explicit user command.

The seven free tools are funded by the seven commercial sites. That is the trade. Every time a UK consumer switches broadband through one of our commercial sites and earns us a commission, a small share of that funds the free tools the rest of the country uses without payment.

Ofcom Price Comparison Accreditation: where we are

The Ofcom Price Comparison Accreditation Scheme assesses UK consumer comparison services against five principles: Accessibility, Accuracy, Transparency, Comprehensiveness and Independence. Comparison services that pass an independent assessor's review against all five principles can carry the Ofcom accreditation mark.

Our current position is honest and specific. We have approached Ofcom directly about the Price Comparison Accreditation Scheme. Ofcom has agreed to engage and has issued us their Due Diligence pack, which we are actively completing. We do not yet hold accreditation. We will publish the submission, the assessor's findings and the outcome (positive or negative) when complete.

We are pursuing accreditation because the five principles match the standard we want to be measured against. If the assessor finds gaps, we will fix the gaps and we will say what they were. If the assessor finds us short on any principle, we will publish that too. We would rather be honestly assessed than quietly self-certified.

Conflict-of-interest policy

Several of the free tools link to commercial sites in the same network. UKSpeedTest links to SearchSwitchSave for next-step deal comparison. HowFast suggests BroadbandSwitch.uk for postcode comparison. BroadbandInsights routes readers to the specialist tool for each task. These cross-links are editorial decisions, not paid placements. We choose the routing based on which tool fits the visitor's next question, and we route to non-network sites where that is the right answer (for example, Ofcom's Connected Nations report for postcode coverage detail, or the UK National Cyber Security Centre for password guidance).

The seven commercial sites disclose their affiliate model on every page. Their ranking algorithm uses Total Contract Value, not commission per click. We publish the methodology and the corrections log on /methodology. If you ever spot a deal ranked above another deal that you believe has a better Total Contract Value, please email us at hello@searchswitchsave.com and we will respond within one business day.

Independent challenge

Any UK consumer, journalist, regulator or competitor can challenge anything on any of our twenty sites. Email hello@searchswitchsave.com with the URL, the claim you are challenging, and the evidence you want us to consider. We commit to:

  • Acknowledging your message within one UK business day.
  • Investigating substantive challenges within five UK business days.
  • Publishing any correction in a public corrections log linked from /methodology.
  • Crediting your challenge by name if you would like that, anonymously otherwise.

Where a dispute is not resolved at our end, it can be escalated to the Communications Ombudsman or to CISAS, in line with Ofcom General Conditions.

Hold us to this

These commitments are deliberately specific so they can be tested. Email a challenge, a correction or a suggestion to hello@searchswitchsave.com and we will respond within one UK business day.

Speak with Alex or Adrian