Our overall rating: 7 out of 10
If you owned a chunky mobile phone in the late 90s, there’s a good chances it would have been on a Vodafone network. This master of the mobile turned its sights to other avenues of communications, launching its first fixed-line domestic broadband service in 2015. It’s now one of the largest providers with over 1 million UK customers.
The positives
The negatives
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.
Vodafone offers a heap of different deals at a heap of different price points. These different packages have 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 Wi-Fi 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 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.
Vodafone Fibre 1
This entry-level package has average download speeds of 38Mbps. An offering that should be fine for browsing and streaming in small households with 3-5 devices.
Vodafone Fibre 2
This package has an average download speed of 67mbps at peak times. Great for 5-10 devices in a family home. You can sometimes find this available for the same price as Fibre 1 and it is a much better option.
Vodafone Pro II Fibre 1
Essentially the same speed as Fibre 1 - download speeds of 38Mbps - but with the added upgrade of Vodafone’s new tri-band Ultra Hub. It comes with a great Wi-Fi booster which means you’ll get faster speeds and have better signal in every room.
Vodafone Pro II Fibre 2
Again, the same as Fibre 2 - download speeds of 67Mbps, but with the upgraded features of the Ultra Hub which get you better signal and faster speeds.
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. Vodafone broadband offers several full fibre packages.
Vodafone Full Fibre 100
This entry-level Vodafone full fibre package has an average download speed of 102Mbps at peak times. Ideal for those uploading large content, streaming and online gaming.
Vodafone Full Fibre 200
This package can easily handle ten+ devices all requiring an internet connection at the same time. Gamers will be kept happy with its 27Mbps upload speed.
Vodafone 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.
Vodafone Full Fibre 900
Vodafone's fastest service. This full fibre package offers users an impressive average download speed of 910Mbps 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 Vodafone 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 Vodafone full fibre availability
Vodafone 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.
Because it’s with Openreach it means you have a 96% chance of being in reach of a FTTC connection, which gives you access to either of the two ‘Fibre’ tariffs in the above options.
Ofcom’s 2023 report shows that Vodafone customers were more likely than average to be satisfied with the speed of their broadband service with a rating review of 82% satisfaction (80% average score).
The report also found that Vodafone was slightly above average for customers “satisfaction with service overall”, scoring 83% (82% average score).
Vodafone is a very competitively priced broadband options. It’s possible to get fibre plans for as little as £25 a month.
Average price guide
Unfortunately most of Vodafone’s packages lock you into a 24-month contract with no chance of early release.
Vodafone doesn’t have TV packages you can bundle with its broadband. However, if you sign up for a Vodafone Xtra package (an extra £12 per month) you’ll get sent a Apple TV 4K box with three months free subscription.
If you’re already a Vodafone mobile customer and you take out a Vodafone broadband contract, or vice versa, you’ll become part of Vodafone Together and get access to some exclusive rewards. The incentives are actually pretty decent, you get up to £3 off your monthly broadband bill, a 30% discount on extra SIM cards, free virus protection for 12 months and exclusive VeryMe rewards. The latter is a loyalty programme that gives weekly treats, offers and discounts from lots of different big brands.
Yes, unfortunately like most other big providers, Vodafone increases its monthly prices every spring. In March 2023 prices rose by a whopping 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 Vodafone’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 the terms and conditions.
If you’re already on another Openreach provider, switching to Vodafone 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, Vodafone normally charges £60.
Vodafone Wi-Fi routers
Every customer will get the Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub. It’s a good bit of kit with four Gigabit Ethernet ports and two WAN ports. You’ll be told what port to use, depending on your chosen plan. It also has two handy USB slots and a smart Device Boost function that allows the router to speak with a specific device that is struggling to connect.
There’s an award-winning broadband app that lets you control your router via your smartphone. From here you can control family screen time, prioritise devices, and see who is using your network.
According to Ofcom’s latest customer service report Vodafone scores slightly below average. It scores of 49% (average score 51%) on ‘satisfaction with complaints handling’. It has 64 Ofcom complaints per 100,000 subscribers (average score 44) and an average call waiting time to speak to customer services of 3 minutes 19 seconds (average score 2:37).
If you’d like to speak to a human being, Vodafone customer service is available daily from 8am - 8pm, seven days a week.
Call Vodafone customer service: 0333 3040191
Helpful Vodafone community forum
Twitter/X: @VodafoneUK
Want to see more? Compare other broadband providers
