Our overall rating: 44 out of 50
Zen has everything to reassure those who have been flitting with the idea of leaving the bigger name broadband suppliers, including: fantastic customer service, no mid-price rises and reliable, speedy fibre connections.
Zen Internet was one of the first providers to sign up to Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme. And it's one of the few alternative network who has signed up to Ofcom's voluntary code of practice, which asks providers to give consumers a clear idea of the speeds they are signing up to.
It has been awarded Which? Recommended Provider for the fifth year running thanks for earning the highest scores in all categories. It was one of only three others to score four stars for customer service and communication, too.
Its availability is good as it uses both the Openreach and the CityFibre networks to deliver its connections. Overall it’s not the lowest price-wise on the market, however it doesn’t put up its prices mid-contract, so you’ll still be paying the same at the end of your 18-month plan.
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.
The speed you can get with Zen Internet all depends on your address. For those postcodes who still can't access full fibre, Zen Internet offers superfast partial fibre services with average download speeds of either 35Mbps or 66Mbps.
Zen Internet also offers ultrafast full fibre broadband to customers in certain locations – packages with speeds from 100Mbps to 900Mbps on offer.
Find out what Wi-Fi is available with our postcode checker.
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.
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If your address hasn’t got full fibre yet, there are two partial fibre options:
Unlimited Fibre 1
With average speeds of 33-36 Mbps, this will be suitable for small households, but you’d definitely be better off spending a couple more quid on Unlimited Fibre 2 if you can afford to do so.
Unlimited Fibre 2
This faster service will give you speeds of 71-73Mbps. It’s the best you’ll get if you can’t get full fibre and it should comfortably handle multiple devices in a family home.
Full Fibre 100
This 100Mbps plan will be good for most online activities, including streaming HD or 4K videos, playing online games, downloading large files and working from home.
Full Fibre 500
A 500Mbps broadband connection is great for a busy household with multiple devices, enabling smooth streaming, online gaming, and file downloads without lag or buffering. It's suitable for multiple users streaming Ultra HD content simultaneously or for gamers requiring a stable connection.
Full Fibre 900
Zen Internet's second 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.
Full Fibre Max
Who needs 2300 Mbps? Certainly not your average household. But if you really want speeds which will future-proof every type of high bandwidth activity and heavy file sharing you could possibly dream of, they are all yours (if your postcode allows it) with this mind-boggling fast package from Zen Internet.
What exactly is full fibre?
Full fibre is the fastest available internet in the UK.
Around two-thirds of homes in the UK can now access ultrafast broadband via fibre-optic technology called ‘G.fast’ or ‘Fibre To The Premises’ (FTTP).
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 non existent.
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.
Zen Internet runs on both the biggest network Openreach, and the full fibre services of CityFibre, to deliver its broadband services. It has excellent scores across the board not only for connectivity but also for resolution if there are any problems.
Zen Internet is signed up to Ofcom’s voluntary code of practice on better broadband speeds too, so it gives customers extra protection to get the broadband speeds and connection they expect.
For an extra £9 per month (plus £9 postage fee) you can add Zen EveryRoom to your package. This add-on uses Wi-Fi extenders to make sure you get seamless coverage all around your home. You’ll get a guarantee of Wi-Fi in every room and if one extender doesn’t do the trick, Zen will send you a second one, too.
Starting from £35 a month for full fibre speeds, Zen Internet isn’t the cheapest of networks. But it’s also important to factor in that this company has no one-off upfront set-up costs or hidden fees. It also has a price lock that promises never to unexpectedly increase your price mid-contract, so your deal will stay the same for the whole time.
Average price guide
All of Zen Internet’s contracts are 18 months in length. At the end of these as prices rise and you’ll default to a higher rolling monthly payment.
Zen Internet doesn’t have TV or mobile packages you can bundle with its broadband, it just focuses on full fibre broadband.
It does offer a digital landline service. You can add Digital Voice to your package and keep your home phone number for £6 a month. This includes 1,000 minutes of calls to other landlines and mobiles.
Zen Internet doesn’t really offer as many promotional deals or incentives as some of its rivals, although the plus side to this is that its prices remain fairly static. It does have a refer a friend deal where you both get a £25 retail voucher if they signup.
No, it doesn’t. It stands against the practice of mid-price hikes. On Zen Internet’s homepage and throughout the sign-up process you’ll find plenty of no price hikes promises.
Once your order is placed, Zen internet aims to connect your broadband service up and running within two weeks. It depends on your postcode (this will decide whether you’ll be on an Openreach or CityFibre network) what plan you are having (full fibre or partial fibre) and what broadband you currently have, but you’ll probably need an engineer visit to get connected.
Your engineer visit will typically take two hours and will require one of their experts to install the optical network terminal and connect the fibre network to your property. They’ll also connect your router and make sure the service is running properly by performing a speed test.
Zen Internet offer two routers to its customers. The FRITZ!box 7530 AX comes free with any package up to and including full fibre 900 Mbps. The eero Pro 6E is free to all customers taking the Full Fibre Max package.
They’re both powerful pieces of kit, with some subtle differences.
The FRITZ!box 7530 AX is designed for households with plenty of devices and high bandwidth demands. It features four gigabit ethernet ports for lightning-fast wired connections, providing the best possible performance. It uses state-of-the-art WiFi 6 technology for connection speeds between 600 Mbps (2.4 GHz) and 1800 Mbps (5 GHz).
The main difference between the two is that the eero Pro 6E comes with built in TrueMesh technology, so you don’t need a separate package - such as their EveryRoom product add-on- to eliminate dead spots and ensure a strong signal in every room. That’s true even in larger or multi-storey homes.
Which? says that Zen Internet has ‘fantastic customer service’. The consumer watchdog has named Zen Internet as its ‘Recommended Provider for broadband’ for five years in a row and also awarded it ‘Customer Service Brand of the Year’. They gave top scores for customer service, technical support, and value for money.
On top of this, Trustpilot gives Zen Internet a strong 4.5 for its customer support score with 76% scoring the provider 5-stars. There’s plenty of positive feedback that points towards helpful, reliable and efficient service. Have a look at the latest reviews here.
Customer support: 01706 902001 (Monday-Friday: 8am - 8pm. Weekends: 9am - 5pm)
Sales enquiries: 01706 902573 (Monday-Friday: 9am - 5pm. Weekends: 9am - 5pm)
Live chat (click on the bottom righthand tab): here
Post here: facebook/zeninternetuk
Tweet here: @zeninternet
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