The lowdown
Owned by Sky, NOW Broadband has a very different appeal from its parent company. For starters it’s much cheaper with prices well below most of the other big providers. No credit check is needed either for accessing its services.
Up until now, the fastest speed offered by NOW was a distinctly average 63Mbps, but it’s finally offering full fibre broadband with speeds of 100Mbps.
NOW Broadband’s first full fibre plan
Full fibre gives you the fastest broadband speed possible. This technology relies entirely on fibre optic cables that run from the broadband exchange to your property, which is also why they can be known as ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP). There’s no need for anything in between. Using this technique it is possible to get speeds exceeding 1,000Mbps (1Gbps).
Although for now, NOW’s first move into full fibre, is offering the entry-level speed of just 100Mbps. Will there be more and faster to come? We’re not actually sure, but we certainly hope so.
The most important question you should be asking first, is…
Can I get NOW Full Fibre 100?
It all depends on where you live. NOW Full Fibre 100 is delivered by Openreach’s new fibre optic network which, according to Ofcom, is currently available to about 60% of UK homes. There are 11 million properties that currently have access to NOW Full Fibre, with future plans to push that up to 25 million. So, can you get it? Find out with our postcode finder.
Powered by Sky
When you see the Now Full Fibre 100 plan advertised, you’ll see it is ‘Powered by Sky’. This is because it using its parent company’s technology to deliver the connection. This means that when you select ‘check coverage’ you’ll then be taken to Sky’s website to complete the process. It does feel a bit confusing to whether you are going to be a Sky customer or a NOW customer on the sign-up journey. This is because you will be a bit of both.
This also means that you can’t get Now Full Fibre 100 if you’re already a Sky customer. Sky defines ‘new customer’ as anyone who hasn’t been in contract with Sky for at least 12 months.
Another Sky crossover is that if you want a landline with this service, the phone line you add will have to be a Sky line and it will be on a separate contract, just with Sky.
If the somewhat complicated distinction between the two companies and this package doesn’t distract you too much, try and remember that you are getting the advantage of Sky but without its higher prices.
You also get a Sky router
The router you’ll get with this deal is the very capable Sky Hub. This is another good reason to choose the ‘NOW Full Fibre 100’ – if you have full fibre connection – over NOW’s next best option, the ‘Super Fibre’ package which has a speed of 63Mbps. There’s only a small price difference – £3 at the time of writing – but the quality improvement that having the superior Sky Hub router really does make it the better choice.
The cost
Your NOW Full Fibre 100 package will currently set you back £24 per month on an 18-months contract. Unlike its other plans, this does not offer the choice of a monthly pay-as-you-go option.
Compared to its rivals
The table below gives you an idea on where NOW broadband is in comparison with its same-speed competition. As you can see, it really is one of the cheapest options.
NOW TV add-ons
Just like any NOW product, there are some great flexible extras you can choose to add onto your service too. NOW TV Passes starting from £6.99 per month let you pick from from entertainment, sports, cinema or reality packages which all come with a good handful of freeview channels too.
Minimum speed guaranteed
This package comes with a minimum speed guarantee. If you haven’t been able to get the minimum guaranteed speed promised from this package (90Mbps) NOW will let you leave your membership early without paying the termination fees.
