Our overall rating: 8 out of 10
Plusnet is a great no-thrills option for anyone looking for a good, reliable broadband service. There aren’t all the extra bundle phone or TV options that some of the other big providers offer, but not everyone is looking for these too.
The positives
The negatives
Plusnet offers seven 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 with Plusnet.
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 probably end up being 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.
Plusnet Unlimited broadband
Plusnet still offers a basic ADSL copper broadband package (only sold via contact centres) for those who have no access to any kind of fibre line. This comes with average speeds of 10Mbps. This option is aimed at smaller households with very light internet use.
Plusnet Fibre Broadband
Fine for browsing and streaming in small households, this service offers average speeds of 36Mbps.
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. Plusnet broadband offers several full fibre packages.
Plusnet Full Fibre 74
Plusnet’s entry-level to full fibre has average speeds of 74Mbps. Great for streaming and downloading on multiple devices in a family home.
Plusnet Full Fibre 145
This package has an average download speed of 145Mbps at peak times. Ideal for those uploading large content, streaming and online gaming.
Plusnet Full Fibre 300
This full-fibre service offers an impressive download speeds of 300Mbps. Perfect for larger households
Plusnet Full Fibre 500Mbps
Incredibly fast connection, great for large households, multiple devices and downloading and streaming movies and videogames in UHD (ultra high definition).
Plusnet Full fibre 900
Plusnet’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 large, busy households.
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 Plusnet 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 Plusnet full fibre availability
Plusnet uses the well-established Openreach network 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.
Ofcom’s 2023 report shows that Plusnet customers were more likely than average to be satisfied with their broadband with a reliability rating review of 87% satisfaction (81% average score) with speed of service.
The report also found that Plusnet had the fewest number of faults, recording just 20 fault for every 1000 customers each month.
Minimum guaranteed speeds
Plusnet provide their customers with personalised speed estimates and a guaranteed minimum download speed upon signup. If the customer isn’t reaching these for at least three days or more, and Plusnet can’t resolve the issue within 30 days of notice, the customer has the right to leave their contract early without a penalty.
Unlike some of the other big providers, Plusnet does not offer a WiFi guarantee. WiFi guarantees promise to boost WiFi signal to a minimum level in all rooms of a customer’s home. Whilst this service does come at an extra cost, it can be useful for larger properties.
Plusnet is one of the best value broadband providers available. There are no entertainment or mobile extras to choose from. It keeps things simple and just focuses on getting the basics right – good, reliable broadband.
It costs less than most of the other big providers. At the time of writing this article, my postcode can get Full Fibre 75 at a very competitive £25.99 a month.
Average price guide
Standard broadband and fibre packages with a home phone line are available in 12 and 18 month contracts. Plusnet broadband only Fibre and Full Fibre packages are 24 month contracts. The general rule is that the longer contract you take, the cheaper your package will be.
Plusnet TV is no longer available. It ended its partnership with YouView in January 2021 and its option to include a full range of freeview and paid TV channels as a bundle no longer exists.
There is now only one TV offer, an option to add access to the BT Sport app for an extra £15 a month as a rolling contract that you can cancel at any time.
Sometimes Plusnet has offers that include an extra element such as cashback, a gift card or a Plusnet Reward Card. These are normally a pre-paid credit card between £50-100, or a third party gift voucher that you can claim for when signing up. These will be dependent on postcode and package.
Yes, unfortunately like most other big providers, Plusnet increases its monthly prices every spring. In March 2023 prices rose by 14.4%. 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 Plusnet’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 Plusnet’s terms and conditions.
If you’re already on another Openreach provider, switching to Plusnet 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.
Plusnet broadband packages all come with the very capable Plusnet Hub Two router. It copes well with both the FTTC (Fibre to the cable) and FTTP (for full fibre) connections and gives a solid Wi-Fi network strength through most family homes.
If you already have an Openreach connection, these routers will be sent out to you and you can simply connect it yourself by plugging in, attaching the ethernet cable, turning it on and allowing your new router to sync.
According to Ofcom’s latest customer service report Plusnet scores well. An overall satisfaction score of 89% (average broadband score is 82%) with a call waiting time of 2:08 (average waiting time 2:37).
Plusnet performed better than average on satisfaction with complaints handling with a score of 53% (average score 51%).
Along with EE and Sky, Plusnet customers were more likely than average to recommend their broadband provider to a friend. While BT and TalkTalk customers were less likely than average to do so.
Plusnet customer service is open 8am to 8pm Monday to Sunday. It has the same single telephone number for all queries whether you are an existing customer or not.
Call Plusnet customer service: 0800 432 0200
Their very helpful form manned by experts and other customers: Plusnet Community Forum
Facebook: facebook.com/plusnet/
Twitter/X: @plusnet
We’ve added up everything from each category making our overall average Netplus broadband rating score: 8
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