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BT, one of the most well-known broadband providers in the UK, currently offers a range of fibre broadband deals at various prices. All of these deals, including BT Fibre Essential, should work well for most internet users. However, larger households and serious online gamers should consider the faster packages.
But how do you figure out the best broadband deal for you? Should you go for affordability over speed? What’s the difference between BT’s own deals, and how do they compare with other providers? We’ve got all the answers below.
| Deal | BT Fibre Essential | BT Fibre 1 | BT Fibre 2 | BT Full Fibre 100 | BT Full Fibre 300 | BT Full Fibre 900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download speed | 36Mbps | 50Mbps | 74Mbps | 150Mbps | 300Mbps | 900Mbps |
| Time to download a 2hr HD movie | 15 minutes | 11 minutes | 8 minutes | 4 minutes | 1 minute | 36 seconds |
| Upload speed | 9Mbps | 9Mbps | 18Mbps | 30Mbps | 49Mbps | 110Mbps |
| Time to upload a 1GB file | 16 minutes | 16 minutes | 8 minutes | 4 minutes 45 seconds | 1 minute 45 seconds | 1 minute 18 seconds |
| Monthly cost | £28.99 | £34.99 | £36.99 | £30.99 | £44.99 | £59.99 |
| Setup cost | £0 | £31.99 | £0 | £31.99 | £0 | £0 |
| Contract length | 24 Months | 24 Months | 24 Months | 24 Months | 24 Months | 24 Months |
BT’s entry-level fibre package, BT Fibre Essential, offers average download speeds of 36Mbps for a very reasonable price of £33.99 per month. This is a standard fibre speed using a fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) over a mixture of fibre optic and copper cables, and while it won’t blow you away, it should be more than enough for a small household of light internet users. Like all BT fibre deals, it also comes with unlimited downloads, so you can browse to your heart’s content.
Bear in mind that, according to a survey conducted by Ofcom, BT Fibre Essential customers received an actual average download speed of just over 30Mbps – almost 20 per cent slower than advertised.
This package offers average speeds of up to 50Mbps, which would work better for a household of four who like to stream videos at the same time. According to Netflix, you need at least 15Mbps to stream 4K Ultra HD content (compared to 5Mbps for standard HD). Theoretically, with BT Fibre 1, two people could stream 4K content simultaneously.
According to Ofcom, the actual speed that BT Fibre 1 customers get is just 42.4Mbps, which is not much greater than the advertised speed of 36Mbps for BT Fibre Essential. The upload speed of 9Mbps is the same as BT Fibre Essential, so if you depend on your home internet connection for work, you may not see the benefit of upgrading from BT’s basic fibre package.
BT’s fastest fibre package before getting to full fibre, BT Fibre 2 offers unlimited usage at speeds of 73Mbps for just £36.99 a month. This should be more than enough speed for even the busiest, largest households. With 73Mbps, two people can stream Ultra HD content at the same time without any issues, while you can download a standard HD movie in around eight minutes.
In reality, BT Fibre 2 customers get average speeds of 63.4Mbps, according to Ofcom’s report. While this is roughly 5 per cent lower than the 67Mbps promised, it’s closer to its full potential than cheaper BT deals. The upload speed you get is also double that of BT Fibre 1, so if you work from home and upload files regularly, we highly recommend going with BT Fibre 2.
This is where we start seeing serious download speeds. BT’s full fibre deals use fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections to deliver internet to your home. This means your entire connection is made up of fibre-optic cables. With average download speeds of 150Mbps, BT Full Fibre 100 would be enough for a large household of serious gamers.
For £44.99 a month, you can get average download speeds of 300Mbps with the BT Full Fibre 300 deal. Most households will be happy with this package, which allows up to 12 users to stream HD content simultaneously – and you can download an HD movie in around two minutes.
The fastest download speeds available with BT are now a whopping 900Mbps. Frankly, there’s not much you can’t do online at this level. BT Full Fibre 900 is on a par with some of the fastest speeds available from any broadband provider in the UK, but at £59.99 a month, it’s not the cheapest. It’s also not available for everyone – full fibre coverage from Openreach currently spans just 57 per cent of the country.
According to Ofcom’s latest survey, the actual speed that BT Full Fibre customers receive is on par with what it advertises, meaning you should get what you pay for if you go for this deal.
No. Depending on which level of package you go for, the router you receive will be slightly different. Most packages come with the BT Smart Hub 2 – an upgrade on the previous BT Smart Hub, which itself is an upgrade on the Home Hub 5. With each upgrade, you’ll get slightly more functionality and a stronger wifi signal.
None of BT’s fibre deals currently come with a TV package as standard, but you can choose to add an EE TV subscription at checkout. Existing customers can also add TV bundles to their contract at any time.
The following TV add-ons are available on all BT fibre deals:
EE TV’s Entertainment package comes with all the Freeview channels, as well as a Netflix Basic subscription. The package also includes a NOW Entertainment membership, giving you access to 16 premium channels, including Sky Max, Sky Atlantic and Comedy Central, as well as 300 box sets. Prices start from £15 per month.
This package has everything from the Entertainment package, plus Sky Cinema channels with NOW Cinema. Prices start from £30 per month.
The Sport package also gives you access to Freeview and all four TNT Sport channels and both EuroSport channels. Prices start from £20 per month.
With this comprehensive sport package, you’ll get everything from the basic Sport package plus a NOW Sports membership. With access to all 12 Sky Sports channels, you’ll be able to catch almost every Premier League game live. Prices start from £45 per month.
This package includes everything from the Big Entertainment and Big Sport packages, making it the most comprehensive broadband and TV package BT offers. Prices start from £78 per month.
All BT fibre deals can come with a home phone as an optional extra, which is delivered through Digital Voice. This new digital phone service is the only one available to any new BT customers, as Openreach is phasing out traditional copper phone lines as part of the PSTN switch off.
New customers on Digital Voice can choose a pay-as-you go plan, whereby you pay a £5 monthly line rental fee and pay for any calls you make, or an unlimited plan, which includes unlimited minutes to UK landline and mobile numbers at any time of day, for £18 per month. You can also add extras such as international calling.
If you’re thinking about getting BT Fibre Essential, BT Fibre 1 or BT Fibre 2, then you may be in luck, as these packages are currently available in over 93 per cent of addresses* in the UK. BT’s Full Fibre deals, however, are only available in 62 per cent of homes so far, though this number is growing by the month. To see what packages you can access in your area, pop your postcode into the box at the top of this page.
*According to statistics on BT’s website.
BT Fibre Essential (36Mbps) currently costs £28.99 a month, while, for £4 less per month, you could potentially get double the speed with Plusnet’s Fibre package (22-72Mbps). But if 36Mbps sounds like enough speed for your household, then you should also look into NOW Broadband’s Fab Fibre + Phone package for just £23 a month.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| BT Fibre Essential | 36Mbps | £28.99 |
| Plusnet Fibre | 72Mbps | £24.99 |
| NOW Fab Fibre + Phone | 36Mbps | £23 |
BT Fibre 1 (50Mbps) will set you back £34.99 a month, but for £27 a month, you could be getting roughly the same speed with Hyperoptic’s Fast 50Mbps broadband deal. However, this is currently only available in limited pockets of urban areas.
For a deal with similar speeds, you could try your luck with Sky’s Superfast package, which offers average speeds of 61Mbps for just £28 a month.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| BT Fibre 1 | 50Mbps | £34.99 |
| Hyperoptic Fast 50Mbps | 57Mbps | £30 |
| Sky Superfast Broadband | 61Mbps | £28 |
BT Fibre 2 (67Mbps) will cost you £36.99 a month. For £28 per month, you could get Sky Superfast, which has just a slightly lower speed.
If you don’t want to compromise on speed but would prefer to pay a little less, have a look at TalkTalk’s Fibre 65 package, which costs just £28 a month for up to 67Mbps.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| BT Fibre 2 | 67Mbps | £36.99 |
| Sky Superfast Fibre | 61Mbps | £28 |
| TalkTalk Fibre 65 | 67Mbps | £28 |
BT Full Fibre 100 (150Mbps) costs £30.99 a month, which comes in close to its competitors. TalkTalk’s Full Fibre 150 deal is almost the same price but with a slightly improved average download speed.
Meanwhile, Plusnet’s Full Fibre 145 deal promises 145Mbps for £27.99 a month.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| BT Full Fibre 100 | 150Mbps | £30.99 |
| TalkTalk Full Fibre 150 | 152Mbps | £29 |
| Plusnet Full Fibre 145 | 145Mbps | £27.99 |
BT Full Fibre 300 (300Mbps) currently costs £44.99 a month. You could get triple that speed with Community Fibre’s 1Gbps deal – and pay just £26 a month. The bad news is Community Fibre only covers certain areas of London. However, if you live in the capital, it’s worth checking availability.
Another alternative is Gigaclear’s Ultrafast 300 with Smart WiFi package, which advertises 300Mbps for just £20 a month. Unfortunately, this is another of those providers with limited coverage. It’s only available in certain rural areas that are without access to full fibre.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| BT Full Fibre 300 | 300Mbps | £44.99 |
| Community Fibre 1Gbps | 920Mbps | £26 |
| Gigaclear Ultrafast 400 with Smart WiFi | 400Mbps | £20 |
BT Full Fibre 900 (910Mbps) will set you back £59.99 a month, which certainly isn’t cheap, but it’s on a par with what you’ll pay for the same speed from providers such as Vodafone and Gigaclear. However, if you want to sacrifice speed for entertainment, you could pay £61 a month to get Virgin Media’s Bigger Bundle + Movies (264Mbps) or £57 a month for Sky Superfast Broadband + Sky TV + Sports (61Mbps).
If it’s those gigabit speeds you’re after, a cheaper alternative would be Hyperoptic’s Fast 1Gbps Broadband only deal at just £36 a month. However, like many of the alternatives above, you’ll be lucky to find this offered in your area. A good national alternative is TalkTalk’s Full Fibre 900, coming in at £45 per month.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| BT Full Fibre 900 | 910Mbps | £59.99 |
| Virgin Media Bigger Bundle + Movies | 264Mbps | £61 |
| Sky Superfast Broadband + Sky TV + Sports | 61Mbps | £57 |
| Hyperoptic Fast 1Gbps Broadband only | 900Mbps | £36 |
| TalkTalk Full Fibre 900 | 900Mbps | £45 |
