Our overall rating: 7 out of 10
Founded in 2003 as a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse, TalkTalk has grown into the UK’s fourth largest broadband provider.
It has a large range of packages and speeds, along with some interesting extras and low prices. Choice is of the abundance. On the downside it doesn’t always fare too well when it comes to feedback on connectivity or customer service.
The positives
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.
TalkTalk offers several 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.
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.
Fibre 35
With average download speeds of 38Mbps, this package is fine for browsing and streaming in small households with 3-5 devices.
Fibre 65
This package has an average download speed of 67mbps at peak times. Great for 5-10 devices in a family home.
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. TalkTalk broadband offers several full fibre packages.
TalkTalk’s entry-level to full fibre has average speeds of 77Mbps. Great for streaming and downloading on multiple devices in a family home.
Full Fibre 150
This package has an average download speed of 152Mbps at peak times. Ideal for those uploading large content, streaming and online gaming. Can connect 75+ devices at the same time.
Full Fibre 500
Incredibly fast connection, great for large households, multiple devices and downloading and streaming movies and videogames in UHD (ultra high definition). This has an average download speed of 525Mbps.
Full Fibre 900
TalkTalk's fastest service. This full fibre package offers users an impressive average download speed of 944Mbps 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 TalkTalk 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 TalkTalk full fibre availabilityÂ
TalkTalk uses the well-established and reliable 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 TalkTalk customers were less likely than average to be satisfied with the reliability of their broadband service with a rating review of 75% satisfaction (81% average score).
The report also found that TalkTalk fell slightly below average for customers' ‘satisfaction with service overall’, scoring 78% (82% average score).
TalkTalk has signed Ofcom's voluntary Broadband Speed Code of Conduct. This means if you report problems with your internet and it can't be fixed within 30 days, you must be allowed to leave your contract without paying an early exit fee.
TalkTalk is one of the lowest cost big broadband options. It’s sometimes possible to get fast fibre plans for as little as £20 a month.
**Average price guide **
Most of TalkTalk’s packages come as a standard 18 month contract.
TalkTalk bundle options
There are TV, broadband and landline services you can include in your deal. TalkTalk previously offered a mobile phone service too, but this was discontinued in 2018.
There are various decent TV options you can add on to selected fibre plans starting from £4 per month. Its TalkTalk 4K TV box gives you access to over 70 live channels and streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and NOW. TalkTalk TV’s 4K box does a seven-day catchup and can pause and rewind live TV.
TalkTalk frequently offers sweeteners to entice new customers. These normally take the form of pre-paid reward cards between £50-100, gift vouchers or free gifts, that you can claim after signing up.
Yes, unfortunately like most other big providers, TalkTalk increases its monthly prices every spring. In March 2023 prices rose by 14.21%. 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 TalkTalk’s own annual price increase of 3.7%.
You should factor the above in when signing up as you’ll probably need to agree to an annual price rise as part of the terms and conditions.
If you’re already on another Openreach provider, switching to TalkTalk 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 the extra task of getting an Openreach line installed, or making an old one active again. If you do need an engineer to install a new telephone line, TalkTalk normally charges £60.
TalkTalk Wi-Fi routers
TalkTalk provides three different routers depending on the speed of your chosen package. The TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub is provided for the Fibre 35 and Fibre 65 plans. For the faster connections - Full Fibre 150, 500 and 900 packages - you’ll receive the more advanced Amazon Eero or Pro Eero router. All are good modern routers, the latter have a longer Wi-Fi range and can handle faster speeds.
If you are having an internet connection installed, the engineer will connect the router and test it’s working. If you’re setting it up yourself, these routers will be sent out to you and you can simply connect the network cable to the network socket. Once all the lights are green, follow the instructions that come with the router to join your device to Wi-Fi and you’re all ready to go.
According to Ofcom’s latest customer service report TalkTalk scores below average. It has an overall satisfaction score of 78% (average broadband score is 82%).
With a score of 46% (average score 51%), TalkTalk also performed rather poorly on ‘satisfaction with complaints handling’.
Along with ,BT, TalkTalk customers were less likely than average to recommend their broadband provider to a friend.
If you want to speak to a human being, TalkTalk customer service is available daily from 9am-7pm Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm on Saturdays and closed on Sundays.
Call TalkTalk customer service and technical support: 0345 172 0088
Twitter/X: @TalkTalk
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