Is NOW Broadband a good choice?
Our overall rating: 7 out of 10
Owned by Sky, NOW Broadband has a different appeal from its parent company. For starters it tends to be a bit cheaper than the other big providers. No credit check is run or needed either for any of its contracts.
One of NOW Broadband’s standout features is the ability to bolt on NOW TV Passes. These are flexible, no-contract streaming memberships that you can add or cancel monthly. This flexibility means you can enjoy Sky’s premium TV content without being tied to a long-term pay-TV deal, making it ideal for seasonal sports fans or binge-watchers.
The big downside comes in speed. There are just three options to pick from with the fastest being a respectable - but hardly jaw-dropping - 300Mbps.
The positives
- Great TV add-on options
- No credit checks
- Nationwide availability
The negatives
- Not the fastest
- Yearly price hikes
- Fairly basic router
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 NOW Broadband?
Now Broadband offers three straight-forward packages with varying speeds. 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.
Check what is available 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.
NOW Broadband packages
When you put your postcode in, the packages that come up will depend on your postcode. If you are still in an area that isn’t yet connected to NOW’s full fibre network, you’ll only see the slower first option shown below. This is FTTC broadband, also known as part fibre or fibre to the cabinet, and still needs copper telephone lines for some of its delivery which makes the maximum speed for your home, 67Mbps.
NOW Superfast
A popular fibre broadband package with average speeds of 67Mbps and includes unlimited monthly usage. It’s the best option for anyone unable to connect to full fibre. It will take you 3 minutes, 13 seconds to download an HD movie on this broadband. And is able to handle around 8 devices simultaneously.
NOW full fibre broadband options
The following packages will be shown to anyone that can access full fibre from their postcode.
NOW Full Fibre 75
With a 75Mbps average download speed, this plan is fine for most family homes and can easily cope with 5-8 devices being used at one time. It will take 2 minutes 37 seconds to download an HD movie.
NOW Full Fibre 100
This 100Mbps average download speed plan is the sweet spot for households of 3-5 people and can easily cope with 5-8 devices being used at one time. It will take 1 minute 43 seconds to download an HD movie.
NOW 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. It can manage 9-12 devices and get your movie downloaded in 39 seconds.
NOW Broadband full fibre review
What exactly is full fibre?
Full fibre offers the fastest available broadband – it’s possible to see speeds exceeding 1,000Mbps (1Gps).
Around 85% of homes in the UK can now access this ultrafast broadband via fibre-optic technology also known as ‘Fibre To The Premises’ (FTTP).
Full fibre 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 broadband technology as a result.
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.
Don’t have access to full fibre yet? Hopefully you will soon. The government target is to have gigabit-capable broadband available to 99% of the country by 2030.
Find out whether your postcode has NOW full fibre availability
Our NOW Broadband rating for speed: 5
Does NOW Broadband have a reliable connection?
NOW Broadband uses the well-established Openreach network to deliver 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.
The latest ofcom report (Office of Communications) doesn’t include full figures for customer’s satisfaction with NOW broadband’s connectivity due to the sample size being too low. However, in 'Customers with a reason to complain, NOW Broadband scores 10%, which is actually the top score of all broadband providers (20% average score).
Our overall Sky broadband rating for connectivity: 7
How much does NOW Broadband cost?
Starting from £24, NOW Broadband offers good value. But remember, the speed is reflective of the price. Also to be noted, NOW sometimes charges a set-up fee, so look out for this during your order.
How long are NOW Broadband contracts?
NOW Broadband deals are typically 24 months as standard. There used to be a flexible 30-day rolling broadband contracts, but these no longer seem to be available.
NOW Broadband includes a phone line
All packages include a Pay as you Talk landline in the price. This pay-as-you-go system for phone calls means you are just charged per minute for any calls made.
If you do use your landline frequently, NOW Broadband also offers optional call plans (like Evening & Weekend or Anytime calls) that allow you to bundle in inclusive calls for a monthly fee.
NOW TV add-ons
There are various flexible streaming TV options you can add on to selected plans as NOW TV Passes starting from £6.99 per month. Pick from from entertainment, sports, cinema or reality packages which all come with a good handful of freeview channels too.
Remember though, these are open to anyone, you don’t necessarily have to be taking out NOW Broadband to choose these as an add-on.
NOW Broadband rewards
Gift cards or cashback incentives aren’t a feature for NOW, but it does sometimes run special offers where you can free setup or a discounted monthly price thrown in.
Does NOW Broadband put up its prices every year?
Yes, although NOW Broadband doesn't include specific price increase details in their contracts, unlike some other providers who might have annual inflation-linked increases that you have to agree to when signing up. Because of this, when NOW Broadband does typically raise its prices – this is usually in April and as an idea of by how much, they increased it by £3.50 in 2025 – customers can leave their contract without a penalty if they aren't happy about their new monthly cost.
Our NOW Broadband rating for cost: 8
How easy is it to get NOW Broadband set up?
If you’re a new customer, NOW Broadband aim to get you up and running within two weeks.
NOW Broadband will handle the switching process, so you won’t even have to contact your current broadband provider to tell them you’re leaving. Now Broadband will manage the whole transfer for you.
Will you need an engineer visit? Maybe, it depends on whether your home has had Now Broadband installed previously. But Now Broadband will be able to tell you whether this is necessary during your ordering process and book this in for you.
If this isn’t needed, your service will likely be self-installed. You’ll receive a router in the post and this will need to be connected on the activation date.
What router do you get with Now Broadband broadband?
Anyone now signing up for Now Broadband broadband will get the Sky Broadband Hub.
This capable router gives decent enough coverage to multiple devices and you should get a reliable connection throughout your home.
But it is not Wi-Fi 6 enabled, it’s only a fifth generation in networking standards. It operates on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands (dual-band), and features a powerful array of eight internal antennas for enhanced coverage. It also offers four gigabit-speed Ethernet ports for fast wired connections, plus smart features like automatic channel selection and the ability to self-recover from issues
Our Now Broadband broadband rating for setup, installation & equipment: 8
Does Now Broadband broadband have good customer service?
We always look at Ofcom’s latest customer service report for our results on this and due to its customer database sample size being too low, there isn’t a direct score available.
However, in ‘Customers with a reason to complain’, NOW Broadband scores 10%, which is actually the top score of all broadband providers (20% average score). It also has an exceptionally quick call waiting time of just 51 seconds (average 2 mins 37 seconds).
How to contact Now Broadband broadband
If you want to speak to a human being, NOW Broadband customer service is available daily from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.
Existing customers call: 0330 332 3050
New customers call: 0330 332 3050
X: @NOWHelpTeam
Facebook: NOWTV/
Our Now Broadband broadband rating for customer service: 8
We’ve added up everything from each category making our overall average NOW Broadband score: 36/50
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