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Looking for the best broadband provider in the UK? We asked 2,000 broadband customers to rank their internet provider for speed, price and more to help you choose the right broadband deal.
To make your journey easier, our Home Tech Expert, Rachel Sadler, has catalogued some of the best broadband providers in the country, all the top speeds on offer and the types of broadband you can access. Her best picks include EE for speed, Plusnet for customer service and Vodafone for value.
Best for customer service: Plusnet
Best for value for money: Vodafone
Best for reliable connection: BT
We surveyed 2,000 broadband customers in the UK* to better understand how people feel about their internet services. We asked them more than 20 questions regarding their current broadband provider, including their opinion about the speeds they receive, the pricing of their plan, the value for money and their overall satisfaction.
Consumers were also asked about internet usage, the ease of contacting their provider, price increases and technical support. We used this data to discover which factors residents deem most important when looking at a broadband deal and created an overarching score for each broadband provider. Our overall score includes value for money, speed, customer service, reliability, ease of contact and technical support.
Survey methodology
Survey of broadband customers aged between 24 and 64 conducted on Censuswide, 11-14 March 2024. Survey sample: 2,003 respondents from Sky (489), BT Broadband (412), Virgin Media (396), EE (134), Vodafone (124), Other (102), Plusnet (66), NOW Broadband (45), Three (31), Hyperoptic (14), Community Fibre (8), Unsure (7). Respondents who selected Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, Other or Unsure were discarded from our review; however, the information gathered for Hyperoptic and Community Fibre was used in our broadband providers evaluation. Respondents were asked to rate each category on a five-point scale, from “Very Poor” to “Excellent” or from “Never” to “Always”, with the option of selecting “Don’t Know” for all questions. For the third question (“What issues, if any, have you experienced with your current broadband provider?”), respondents could select from the following: “Price Hikes”, “Slow Speeds”, “High Prices”, “Frequent Disconnections”, “Poor Customer Service”, “Billing Issues”, “Other” and “N/A”. The questions used to calculate our score were: “How often, if at all, do you feel the actual speed of your broadband service matches the advertised speed?”, “How would you rate your experience with customer service and support from your broadband provider?”, “What issues, if any, have you experienced with your current broadband provider? (Select all that apply)”, “How easy or difficult is it/would it be to reach your provider using your preferred method?”, “How do you rate the value for money of your broadband service?” and “How would you rate the transparency of pricing and additional fees in your broadband service?”.
Our Independent Advisor rating is a combination of our home tech team’s expertise (60 per cent) and the data collated from our survey (40 per cent).
Based on the survey we conducted, these are the best internet providers in the UK.
| Broadband provider | Independent Advisor rating | Customer satisfaction | Speed | Customer service | Reliability | Value for money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyperoptic* | ★★★★ | 100% | 64% | 64% | 93% | 79% |
| Community Fibre* | ★★★★ | 75% | 63% | 75% | 80% | 59% |
| EE | ★★★½ | 90% | 66% | 73% | 84% | 67% |
| Plusnet | ★★★½ | 88% | 53% | 68% | 83% | 74% |
| Vodafone | ★★★½ | 86% | 60% | 69% | 85% | 76% |
| BT | ★★★½ | 85% | 62% | 61% | 87% | 59% |
| Sky | ★★★½ | 82% | 62% | 64% | 81% | 57% |
| Three | ★★★½ | 74% | 61% | 74% | 68% | 77% |
| NOW | ★★★½ | 78% | 64% | 62% | 73% | 76% |
| TalkTalk | ★★★ | 78% | 57% | 53% | 80% | 59% |
| Virgin Media | ★★★ | 83% | 56% | 54% | 79% | 58% |
Through a combination of survey results and our experts’ research, we found that the following are the top five broadband providers in the UK.
Hyperoptic broadband takes the top spot on our best providers list – 100 per cent of customers said they were happy with the service they receive from this provider.
Choose a Hyperoptic deal if speed, reliable connection and price are important to you. According to our survey, this provider ranked second for value for money (79 per cent) and speed (64 per cent of customers report they always or mostly receive their advertised speed). Hyperoptic is also ranked first for reliability (93 per cent), pricing transparency (100 per cent) and technical support (71 per cent).
Although Hyperoptic is good for most things, its customer service isn’t the best: it ranked outside of the top five (64 per cent). It’s also worth noting that Hyperoptic doesn’t service the whole country.
What we like: there are no mid-contract price increases. The fastest deal, offering an average speed of 900Mbps, is just £36.
What we don’t like: your home needs access to full fibre, and it’s only available to those who live in major cities, including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
EE, now owned by BT Group, first became a household name for its mobile services, but it’s now favoured by customers for its superfast broadband.
Our expert Rachel recommends EE’s deals as the best for speed, and our survey results ranked it first for speed (66 per cent of users reported receiving the speeds advertised on their deal or faster) and third for reliability (84 per cent). We’d also recommend EE as one of the best providers overall alongside Hyperoptic: EE ranked second overall for customer satisfaction (90 per cent) and third for customer service (73 per cent).
However, EE is not the provider with the best price. It was the fourth worst provider in terms of value for money (67 per cent), which means you may get a good price but will also have to spend some time comparing deals.
What we like: many bundles are available. Customers can add unlimited mobile data or TV packages.
What we don’t like: EE is not the best value for money compared to other providers’ deals. We recommend checking whether a cheaper deal with the same speed is available in your area.
Plusnet is our best provider for customer service. In our survey, 69 per cent of respondents rated its customer service as excellent, and it scored the highest of all providers (79 per cent) for ease of contact. It ranked third overall for customer satisfaction (88 per cent), marginally less than EE (90 per cent).
Plusnet didn’t just perform well in our survey; it also has a UK-based customer service team available seven days a week. Plusnet customers automatically gain access to Plusnet Perks, the provider’s loyalty programme, which unlocks lots of offers and deals from restaurants and shops.
However, Plusnet was ranked the lowest in terms of speed. Just 53 per cent of customers surveyed reported they always or mostly receive Plusnet’s advertised speeds, so we’d recommend checking whether the package’s minimum advertised speed is enough for your household’s needs.
What we like: it’s a great provider for families. Plusnet Protect and Plusnet Safeguard come free with all plans. They protect your devices from security risks and give you control over the content your children view.
What we don’t like: its fastest deal – Full Fibre 900Mb – is expensive compared to competitors. Deals for 500Mbps and below are reasonably priced.
Like EE, Vodafone has been a mainstay in the world of mobile phone networks for decades but is still relatively new to broadband. According to our survey, it was ranked one of the highest in terms of value for money (76 per cent).
We chose Vodafone as the best value for money because it scored highly across several categories. It ranked fourth on our list for overall customer satisfaction (86 per cent), customer service (69 per cent) and pricing transparency (74 per cent). We also like Vodafone’s bundle options that allow customers to include Apple TV with their broadband package, add unlimited mobile data to a broadband and mobile bundle and more.
Below is how respondents rated the different providers when asked “How do you rate the value for money of your broadband service?”:
Best providers
Worst providers
We wouldn’t recommend Vodafone for customers in need of top speed. It was ranked outside of the top five (60 per cent), so you should be wary of their advertised speeds.
Although Vodafone is reasonably priced, if you live in London, we’d recommend looking at Community Fibre’s deals, as they’re good value and come with no mid-contract price rises.
What we like: you can bundle broadband and mobile to save money, and a basic broadband deal costs less than £30.
What we don’t like: it’s not a great choice for TV bundles, which is only an issue if you watch live TV. However, it does still offer a streaming package.
BT is one of the UK’s largest broadband providers, so it will come as no surprise that it ranked the highest for reliability (87 per cent).
If you’re looking for a provider to bundle phone and TV services, we highly recommend BT for its selection of Sky channels. It’s also fifth on our list for overall customer satisfaction (85 per cent), and our survey showed that customers were least likely to say they had encountered issues with their BT broadband service.
However, we do recommend choosing a less expensive provider if you’re on a budget. BT was in the bottom three for value for money in our survey results – just 59 per cent agreed it was good value. BT also isn’t the best provider for speed, as it came in fifth.
What we like: TV deals include Netflix plans and bundles that cater to both sports and entertainment fans.
What we don’t like: deals are very expensive compared to other providers and come with mid-contract price rises.
Our survey also revealed the main reasons customers have considered switching to another broadband provider in the last year:
The survey found that smaller broadband providers were more popular. Hyperoptic and London-based Community Fibre were ranked one and two overall.
There’s no shortage of broadband providers to choose from. Each offers different speeds, contract lengths and bundled services. We’ve identified the main factors to consider to help you find the best deal for you.
In addition to reviews and ratings, another important metric is the number of complaints a broadband provider receives. The chart below shows the number of customer complaints each provider received per 100,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2023.
The fastest broadband widely available in the UK is usually 1Gbps, or 1,000Mbps (although some providers’ advertised speeds may greatly exceed this level).
EE offers the fastest advertised broadband speeds at 1,600Mbps, followed by Vodafone at 910Mbps. BT, Hyperoptic and Plusnet all have top speeds of 900Mbps.
Some things to consider:
If you want to find out more about broadband speeds and how to measure them, read our guide for more information.
“To improve your broadband speed, you’ll need to investigate the root cause of the issue. Keep in mind that when you sign up for any broadband package, the provider’s advertised speed is not necessarily what you’ll get. Instead, check the small print for your provider’s guaranteed minimum speed. If your speeds still don’t match the guaranteed minimum speeds in your contract, you could try moving your router, using a wifi booster or ethernet cable or even jumping ship and switching providers.”
Our experts found that switching providers can take up to three weeks. We found Community Fibre can be installed in up to five working days, which is the quickest based on our research. We also researched the number of steps it takes from choosing your package to installation. TalkTalk and BT had the fewest number of steps.
| Broadband provider | Time until engineer visit | How many steps are involved in the setup process |
|---|---|---|
| BT | Up to 10 days | 3 |
| Virgin Media | Up to 7 working days | 4 |
| TalkTalk | 1-2 weeks | 3 |
| Community Fibre | Up to 5 working days | 4 |
| Sky | 2-3 weeks | 4 |
| Vodafone | 2-3 weeks | 4 |
| Plusnet | 2-3 weeks | 4 |
There are various types of deals available from different providers, both in terms of contract length and package type.
No-contract broadband: this arrangement provides flexibility and can be cancelled at any time with no exit fee, provided you give a month’s notice. Not all providers offer no-contract broadband deals, and they tend to be more expensive with higher setup fees. We found that Hyperoptic, NOW Broadband and G.Network offer some of the best deals.
Mobile broadband: this technology uses a portable router and connects to 5G or 4G. O2, Vodafone and Three offer the most affordable mobile broadband packages.
Wireless broadband: this provides a stable internet connection through a wireless local area network, which makes wireless broadband deals best suited to households in more rural areas. EE and Sky offer some excellent full fibre deals, but for a more affordable option, consider TalkTalk.
Satellite broadband: this is another great option for those without access to a fixed internet line. However, satellite broadband deals are generally more expensive than traditional offers and come with limited speeds.
Broadband and phone: if you want additional features with your package, you can find a variety of broadband and phone services from a range of providers. It’s worth noting, however, that landlines are being phased out and replaced with a service called Digital Voice. TalkTalk offers affordable broadband and phone bundle deals.
Broadband and TV: bundling the two services could save you money. Broadband and TV deals can include TV channels or subscriptions to popular streaming platforms, which can ultimately be cheaper than purchasing them separately. If you watch lots of live TV, Sky and BT offer the best bundle deals, but if you’re just interested in streaming, NOW Broadband might be the best for you.
NOW Broadband’s Brilliant Broadband package came out cheapest at just £20 per month.
However, the best broadband provider for you, especially when looking at pricing, will depend on your circumstances. Our broadband expert Rachel recommends Community Fibre if you’re London-based, as 100 per cent of its customers rated it highly in terms of value for money. But if you live in another area, Three’s mobile broadband is a great choice; 77 per cent of its customers agreed it provided good value for money.
Our survey found that, on average, UK internet users pay £53 per month for their broadband package.
The Sky customers surveyed pay £60 a month on average for their broadband package compared to TalkTalk customers, who pay an average of £44 per month. While broadband-only customers pay £41 per month on average, customers with a broadband, phone, TV and mobile bundle pay an average of £74 per month.
If you’re on certain benefits, you may be eligible for a cheaper social tariff broadband package. There are several advantages to these packages:
You may be eligible if you receive the following benefits:
Internet providers are regulated by the Office of Communications, otherwise known as Ofcom. Broadband providers must follow Ofcom’s rules and regulations to ensure customers receive a fair service. Its rules are regularly reviewed and kept in line with new technology and industry changes.
If you have any issues with your internet provider, you may be able to make a complaint to Ofcom.
When comparing internet providers in your area, it’s wise to consider:
According to the latest Ofcom report, Plusnet scored the highest customer satisfaction rating out of the major providers at 89 per cent. Plusnet was also the highest-scoring provider in terms of customer service quality in our survey, with 69 per cent of its customers giving it an excellent rating.
If both your current and new provider are on Openreach’s network, your current provider will take care of cancelling your old contract and making the switch, including fitting any new cables you need. However, if they’re not on Openreach, you’ll need to cancel your old service yourself, and you may need to arrange for new cables to be fitted depending on which type of connection you’ve chosen.
