BT Broadband Review | Is BT Broadband a Good Choice?

Is BT broadband a good choice?

Our overall rating: 8 out of 10

Attracted by its well-known name, fast speeds and great TV and broadband bundles, BT broadband is now home to over 9 million customers. After attracting you with all the good stuff, it does tend to be on the more expensive side.

The positives

• Widely available network
• Free access to five million wi-fi hotspots
• High-quality wi-fi router

The negatives

• Can be more expensive
• Yearly price hikes
• Long contracts

In our full review we take a look at the pros and cons of each area in more detail: speed, full fibre review, cost, setup and customer service.

How fast is BT broadband?

There are a wide range of speeds available across its product range. But remember, where you live will also play a factor. We’ll list everything below, but you’ll also need to check your postcode to see what is currently available with BT.

Find out what is available to you with our postcode checker.

Speed is often the biggest consideration when choosing a broadband package. If you have multiple people using the internet at one time, then a higher speed and bandwidth will be essential. Equally, if it’s a small household using the internet for everyday usage, paying for business-grade bandwidth will be a waste.

You should decide what speed is right for you, based on your broadband habits at home. Here’s a handy guide to help show what bandwidth usage your different applications need.

BT broadband packages

In slow to fast order

BT’s standard broadband

BT does offer ADSL speeds (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines) which means broadband through your phone line. This has an average speed of around 10mbps and is an option – albeit a rather slow one – to those who can’t access fibre.

ADSL deals don’t actually show on BT’s website or comparison sites, so you need to contact BT directly for more information.

BT fibre options

BT’s fibre broadband (FTTC broadband, or Fibre To The Cabinet, which still needs copper telephone lines to work) packages are much more reliable than standard broadband. Making these a more suitable choice for households that work at home online and/or use the internet for streaming and gaming. There are three different options available:

Fibre Essential

With average download speeds of 36Mbps, this package is fine for browsing and streaming in small households

Fibre 1

A popular fibre broadband package with average speeds of 49Mbps which includes unlimited monthly usage. Great for streaming and downloading on multiple devices in a family home.

Fibre 2

This deal offers attractive average speeds of 74Mbps. Great for streaming and downloading on multiple devices in a family home.

BT full fibre broadband options

Full fibre is the next generation of broadband, providing the fastest internet speeds possible in the UK. Availability is currently around 34% of the UK, although constantly expanding as BT Openreach adds around an extra 62,000 premises to its network each week. BT offers several full fibre packages.

BT Full Fibre 100

With 100Mbps average download speed, this plan is great for most family homes and can easily cope with 5-9 devices being used at one time.

Full Fibre 300

An impressive plan that powers an average download speed of 300Mbps. This choice manages the demands of even the heaviest data users, whether you’re streaming constantly or running a business from home.

Full Fibre 500

BT’s second fastest plan has an average download speed of 500Mbps. These serious speeds make it possible to download a 70GB game in around 20 minutes – it would take 1 hour and 40 minutes on the Full Fibre 100 connection.

Full Fibre 900

BT’s fastest service. This full fibre package offers users an impressive average download speed of 900Mbps which will easily cover all high-use working and gaming internet usage in busy households.

BT full fibre review

What exactly is full fibre?

It’s the fastest available internet in the UK.

Around two-thirds of homes in the UK can now access ultrafast broadband via fibre-optic technology called ‘G.fast’ or ‘Fibre To The Premises’ (FTTP).

FTTP, also known as full fibre, is the next generation of broadband. It removes the need to rely on copper phone lines and instead connects fibre cables straight to your home. This means there’s no slowdown on the data between the street cabinet and your property and the speed and strength are much more powerful than any previous fibre broadband technology as a result. Common internet issues like buffering and outages become almost nonexistent.

This technology will future-proof homes and businesses across the UK because, once it’s installed, properties won’t need to install new cables for their broadband for decades.

Find out whether your postcode has BT full fibre availability

Our BT broadband rating for speed: 9

Does BT broadband have a reliable connection?

BT uses the well-established Openreach network – a company that it also owns – for all its packages. Openreach is the physical network (the wires under the street and the boxes on the street) and the biggest telecommunications network in the UK.

BT has the best broadband availability in the country. And Ofcom’s 2023 report shows a BT broadband rating review of 80% satisfaction with speed of service.

Confident of its reliability, BT’s packages come with a speed guarantee and you can claim £20 if your speed falls below a set rate.

Our BT broadband rating for connectivity: 9

How much does BT broadband cost?

BT’s prices do tend to be higher than average. But there are budget options available too and you no longer need a phone line to get BT anymore.

Average guide

How long are BT contracts?

BT’s broadband deals all have a 24-month contract as standard. You can get a shorter 12-month contract, but this will push the monthly price up.

Does BT put up its broadband prices every year?

Yes, unfortunately BT increases its monthly prices every spring. In March 2023 prices rose by almost 15%. This was the largest mid-contract price rise the UK has ever seen for broadband, as it combines the latest CPI inflation rate of 10.5% with BT’s own annual price increase of 3.9%.

You should factor the above in when signing up as you’ll probably need to agree to an annual price rise as part of BT’s terms and conditions.

BT bundle options

BT is one of the best providers to choose if you want to bundle your broadband with other services. There are TV, landline and mobile phone add-on options that can help streamline your telecom bills into one monthly sum.

TV options

Unlike other providers, there’s no need for a satellite dish or extra cable, BT’s TV packages work through your broadband connection.

For an extra £10 a month, sports fans can enjoy Sky Sports and TNT Sports, which gives access to UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and Premier League matches.

There are plenty of entertainment deals where you can get access to some of the best including Sky Atlantic, Sky Showcase, NOW and Netflix.

BT’s deals also give free, unlimited access to the company’s five million wi-fi network spots across the UK.

BT rewards

BT’s prices may be higher, but it is one of the most generous with free gifts. Its deals often come with some kind of incentive reward, normally a pre-paid credit card with a value around £50-£100.

Digital add-ons included

Any BT package you choose (over £100) will also come with these free online tools:

BT Virus Protect with McAfee

Top security protection for up to 15 of your devices – PCs, Macs and Android mobiles and tablets – against viruses, phishing and other online attacks.

BT Parental Controls

Keeping you in control of what your family can access online by setting filters for inappropriate content.

BT Cloud

Up to 1000GB of free, secure cloud storage for all your photos and files.

Our BT broadband rating for cost: 6

How easy is it to get BT set up?

If you’re already on another Openreach provider, switching to BT is easy. You probably will be as most providers operate through this network, the main exception is Virgin Media. If this is the case, you might have an extra task of getting an Openreach line installed, or if there is one, making this active.

Great quality, free router

BT broadband packages all come with the very capable BT Smart Hub or Smart Hub 2 router. These give great coverage to multiple devices and you’ll get speedy and reliable connection throughout your entire home. If you already have an Openreach connection, this router will be sent out to you and you can simply connect it yourself.

Our BT broadband rating for setup, installation & equipment: 9

Does BT broadband have good customer service?

According to Ofcom’s latest customer service report it scores fairly averagely. An overall satisfaction score of 83% (average broadband score is 82%) with a call waiting time of 2:45 (average waiting time 2:37).

BT customer service is open 8am to 9pm weekdays and 8am to 8pm on weekends and bank holidays. But technical support for any broadband access issues is 24/7. There is a web forum too where you can get useful advice from BT representatives.

How to contact BT broadband

Check BT Broadband's service status

Call BT customer service: 0800 800 150

Contact BT Live Chat

Twitter: @bt_uk

Facebook: BT UK

Our BT broadband rating for customer service: 8