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Best Broadband In My Area
There are various internet service providers in the UK and this can often leave you spoilt for choice when trying to find the best broadband package for you. However, if you're aware of all the broadband deals that are available to your address, the selection process becomes much simpler. Our broadband availability checker provides you with address-level data, allowing you to make the most informed choice about your broadband before you make a purchase.
If you're unsure about what to look for when searching for the best broadband deals in your area, read on below to find out all the information that you need.
Here are the seven different types of home broadband technology currently used in the UK:
ADSL
ADSL is the UK's entry-level broadband technology and it uses a copper phone line connection between your home and the telephone exchange closest to you. It provides its customers with average download speeds of 11Mbps. Standard ADSL broadband is available in almost every household in the UK but its speeds often vary, especially in more rural areas. ADSL is available in almost every single UK household. However, its speeds tend to vary, especially in areas that are more rural.
FTTC
FTTC technology, also known as fibre-to-the-cabinet technology, uses a fibre optic connection to your street cabinet and then a copper cable from the green street cabinet straight to your property. FTTC technology provides its customers with average download speeds of 60Mbps. It's not available in every single UK household yet, with 95% availability in homes and businesses nationwide.
G.fast
G.fast is a hybrid technology with fibre optic cables running to the telephone pole or pavement chamber. After the fibre optic cables have reached either one of the two, a copper connection is used to get directly to your home. G.fast technology has average speeds of 280Mbps as well as upload speeds that reach up to 50Mbps. This level of technology is great for those who wish to stream the most recent movies in 4K, chat on video calls with multiple friends, and also play video games online.
DOCSIS Cable
DOCSIS cable is mainly offered by Virgin Media, it works by having a fibre optic connection that runs to the green street cabinet closest to your home, with a coaxial cable then running from the cabinet to your home. This technology is known as Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC). With DOCSIS cable technology, you'll get average download speeds of 362Mbps.
Full Fibre
Full fibre technology, also known as fibre-to-the-premises technology, uses a fibre optic connection all the way into your home, rather than stopping at a street cabinet. With full fibre technology, you'll be able to receive average speeds of 1000Mbps (1Gbps) but this is heavily dependent on the broadband plan.
4G Wireless
Instead of using telephone lines, 4G wireless connection uses the exact same signal that your smartphone would use to access the internet. For those who struggle to get adequate broadband speeds from their traditional ADSL or Cable ISP (internet service provider). 4G wireless broadband provides its customers with average download speeds of 15-30Mbps.
5G Wireless
Similar to 4G wireless connection, 5G wireless broadband works by implementing 5G technology into a Wi-Fi hub instead of a smartphone. With average download speeds of 150-250Mbps, multiple people can access the internet all at the same time without suffering from any buffering or slowdown.
The UK's Most Popular Broadband Providers
The UK isn't short of internet service providers that customers can choose from but many of them aren't widely available as they only operate locally. We've made your search for the right broadband package easier by providing a summary of the most popular ISPs in the United Kingdom.
Sky Broadband
Sky broadband, as you may know already, is widely available due to their use of BT's Openreach network. Sky has a wide variety of broadband packages, with download speeds ranging from 11-900Mbps. However, Sky's 900Mbps package (Sky Broadband Gigafast) is fairly new and it continues to be rolled out throughout the UK as it is currently available in 24% of UK homes. Sky is also great for those who'd like more than just broadband as you can easily find Sky broadband packages with added extras such as Sky TV, Netflix, and various sports channels.
Virgin Media Broadband
Virgin Media is one of the UK's leading providers and due to the use of its own cable network, instead of BT's Openreach network, Virgin Media is able to provide its customers with some of the fastest internet speeds throughout the nation. The use of coaxial cables justifies Virgin's claims of being the fastest widely available provider in the UK. Virgin Media's latest improvements to both their network and the technology that they use means that download speeds over 1,100Mb are now an option for over 55% of UK households. Virgin Media also offers a range of packages that come with an abundance of TV and sports channels, Sky Cinema, Netflix, and many more.
Vodafone Broadband
Although Vodafone is more widely recognised as a mobile network due to its late arrival into the broadband industry, it has quickly gained a large customer base due to its ability to provide high-speed broadband packages at an affordable price. Vodafone has already stopped offering its standard ADSL services to all properties within the UK and now offers fibre optic packages only. Unfortunately, the availability of its elite full fibre (FTTP) packages is limited, akin to the majority of other internet service providers in the United Kingdom.
TalkTalk
TalkTalk is another internet service provider that uses BT's Openreach network to offer its customers with their broadband packages. This means that they can offer standard ADSL or fibre packages to the majority of people, as well as their fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) packages to over six million properties in the UK. TalkTalk is usually recognised due to its relatively cheap broadband packages that all come with unlimited usage, meaning that you'll never face an extra fee no matter how much you use your internet.
BT Broadband
BT is the UK's leading network and telecommunications provider and therefore, it is available almost anywhere in the UK. BT offers customers with a wide range of broadband packages, with average download speeds ranging from 10-900Mbps. The packages with download speeds on the higher end (900Mbps) still aren't widely available and currently, around 20% of households in the UK will have access to some of BT's full fibre broadband plans which use FTTP technology to direct fibre optic cables straight to your property.
EE Broadband
As a sister company to BT, EE Broadband is also extremely widely available (as it also uses the Openreach network). Plus, they still offer low-cost ADSL broadband. EE's full fibre (FTTP) packages are incredibly similar to those offered by BT and thus, should be available to all households where FTTP technology is available.
Plusnet
As another part of the BT-group since the year 2007, Plusnet is going to be an option for all customers that Openreach can get to. Unfortunately, similar to some of the other providers listed here, Plusnet does not have any options available if you need next-generation fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) speeds.
Gigaclear
Gigaclear is different to many other providers in the UK as it has its own fibre optic network and is currently serving over 200 communities in more than 22 counties throughout the Midlands, South West and South East of the United Kingdom. These areas are usually missed out by other providers that simply don't reach them. Gigaclear's availability is limited, similar to other providers that use their own network, but their services could be perfect for customers in the areas mentioned above as in some circumstances they could be the only option.
Direct Save Telecom
Direct Save Telecom is yet another internet service provider that uses Openreach's network to offer standard ADSL and fibre optic broadband, and so it should be an option that is available to most properties. They also offer next-level fibre via G.fast, which offers download speeds up to 330Mb, but this is only available to around 10% of homes in the UK.
Shell Energy Broadband
Shell Energy Broadband offers its customers with budget priced broadband over a wide range of speeds. In their short time in the market they've been very busy and now offer connections via ADSL, FTTC, G.fast and FTTP. This should make them one of the most widely available providers in the UK, especially as they also utilise BT's Openreach network. Shell Energy also takes pride in the fact that there are no hidden costs with their services, you won't face any upfront costs when you sign and there'll also never be extra charges due to heavy usage of your internet.
John Lewis Broadband
John Lewis Broadband is offered via an arrangement with Plusnet (who are owned by BT). This means that the availability of John Lewis' broadband packages is very much aligned with Plusnet's. This means that there is very wide availability but, as of yet, there aren't any full fibre packages. Therefore, if you're looking for the fastest speeds available in the UK, John Lewis Broadband may not be for you. On the other hand, if you're looking for a simple broadband package that isn't too expensive, John Lewis Broadband may be perfect for you.
NOW Broadband
NOW Broadband uses the Openreach network and thus, it has very wide availability nationwide. It offers customers with relatively cheap broadband deals whilst still offering a great range of entertainment, films, kids TV, and sports. Its fastest package is the Super Fibre package, which has average download speeds of 63Mbps. This is fast enough for the majority of households, especially smaller households that are still quite internet-hungry and like to use multiple devices all at the same time.
Hyperoptic
Hyperoptic is slightly different to many other internet service providers because instead of using BT's Openreach network, Hyperoptic has built its own fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) fibre optic network. This allows its customers to access lightning fast speeds up to 1,000Mbps. These speeds are also symmetrical, which means that download and upload speeds in every single one of Hyperoptic's packages will be equal. Unfortunately, Hyperoptic is not widely accessible to all customers throughout the UK but its availability is on the rise and the company hopes to have successfully installed FTTP technology into more than 1.2 million homes and businesses by the end of 2022.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Coverage
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What Counts As u2018Good' Broadband?
Every customer has different needs, so whether a broadband package is u2018good' or not will vary from person to person. If you live in a small household and do not use the internet constantly, it's possible that a standard ADSL broadband package may be sufficient for you, offering average download speeds of 11Mbps.
If you like to game or stream HD videos, you'll probably need a faster and more expensive package than the standard ADSL one. Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology is great for those who have heavier usage of their internet and like to use many devices all at the same time.
For those who live in large households with many devices being used simultaneously, fibre-to-the-premises technology (FTTP) may be the technology that you need with your broadband package. This is because it is incredibly reliable and rarely comes with any slowdown or buffering. FTTP technology can provide both download and upload speeds of 1000Mbps, which is more than enough to carry out all of the most demanding activities without any latency.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find the best broadband package for me?
Finding the best broadband deal for your home can be a very difficult task. Here are some things to consider when trying to optimise your broadband package:
- Whether the broadband providers that you're interested in are available in your area
- The number of people using the internet
- The download and upload speeds that you require
- If you'd like extra TV channels and services
- The price that you'd like to pay for your broadband
- Whether you'd like a home phone package or not
Can I get BT broadband where I live?
It's highly likely that you'll be able to purchase a BT broadband package, no matter where you live, because BT's services are widely available throughout the UK. BT offers a vast range of broadband speeds - from standard ADSL broadband to full fibre broadband.
If you're unsure whether BT is available in your area, make sure to enter your address into the tool at the top of our page.
Which broadband technology is the most reliable?
Out of the seven different types of broadband technology currently available in the UK, fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology is the pinnacle of broadband in terms of reliability and speed. FTTP technology offers both upload and download speeds of 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) and it's unlikely that you'll ever experience any interference or slowdown.
Is a 50Mbps broadband package good enough for me?
Download speeds of 50Mbps are good enough for smaller households that only have a couple of devices using the internet all at the same time. With a 50Mbps broadband package, you'll be able to stream, play video games and download large files.
If you live in a larger household and tend to use the internet more frequently, you may want a package with faster download speeds.
What is the cheapest broadband deal in my area?
If you're looking for cheaper broadband packages, you'll be happy to know that they're not that hard to find. Simply enter your postcode into the tool at the top of this page and when looking at the various broadband deals available to you, sort them by u2018Price low to high'. This will give you the ability to view all the cheapest broadband packages available to your address.