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Plusnet is well-known in the UK for providing cheap, no-frills broadband. But how basic are its packages? It turns out the download speeds offered by Plusnet’s fibre broadband deals match those of its closest rivals, and you’ll struggle to find these speeds for a better price.
Plusnet currently offers two tiers of fibre connection: Fibre and Full Fibre. But what’s the difference? And which package is right for your household? Read on to find out.
| Deal | Fibre | Full Fibre 74 | Full Fibre 145 | Full Fibre 300 | Full Fibre 500 | Full Fibre 900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download speed | 60-72Mbps | 74Mbps | 145Mbps | 300Mbps | 500Mbps | 900Mbps |
| Time to download a 2hr HD movie | 7 minutes | 5.5 minutes | 3 minutes | 1.5 minutes | Less than 1 minute | 30 seconds |
| Upload speed | 17-18Mbps | 20Mbps | 30Mbps | 50Mbps | 75Mbps | 115Mbps |
| Time to upload a 1GB file | 7.5 minutes | 6.5 minutes | 4.5 minutes | 2.5 minutes | Less than 2 minutes | 1 minute |
| Monthly cost | £24.99 | £24.99 | £27.99 | £29.99 | £33.99 | £41.99 |
| Setup cost | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Contract length | 24 months | 24 months | 24 months | 24 months | 24 months | 24 months |
Plusnet’s entry-level fibre package, the next tier up from their basic Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) Unlimited Broadband deal, is known simply as Fibre. It offers average download speeds of 60-72MbpsMbps, which should be enough for a small household (one or two people) of heavy internet users or a large household (four or more people) of light internet users.
At £24.99 a month, it’s actually less expensive than Plusnet’s basic Unlimited Broadband, so it’s well worth the upgrade if it’s available in your area. Unlimited Broadband offers download speeds of just 10MBps. You won’t find speeds much slower than that, so if you want to use the internet for anything more than browsing the web and sending emails, you should go for Fibre.
Since the summer of 2022, Plusnet has offered Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections, also known as Full Fibre, to eligible households anywhere in the country. It currently has five tiers of Full Fibre broadband on offer.
The most basic Full Fibre offering from Plusnet is the Full Fibre 74 package. As the name suggests, it offers average download speeds of 74Mbps. Average upload speeds are 20Mbps.
If you’re already a Plusnet Unlimited Fibre Extra customer (a package that is no longer available to new customers) and are looking to upgrade, we recommend looking into one of Plusnet’s faster Full Fibre deals. However, if you’re switching from another provider and you’re on a basic fibre connection, or even ADSL, Plusnet Full Fibre 74 is a well-priced, reliable choice with enough speed to suit most medium-sized households.
This package gets into serious download speed territory, offering average download speeds of 145Mbps. It also offers slightly improved average upload speeds of 30Mbps.
These internet speeds should be more than enough for the average household and will even support multiple members of your family streaming their own shows simultaneously. At just £27.99 per month, it’s one of the best-value packages around offering this level of speed. Looking for higher speeds is really only necessary if you have avid online gamers in your household or you work from home and do a lot of uploading and video calling.
The Full Fibre 300 package offers average download speeds of 300Mbps and estimated upload speeds of 50Mbps.
At only £2 more per month than the 145 deal and offering double the speed, it’s well worth considering going for this package, particularly if your household has heavy internet usage.
Again, the clue to the download speed is in the name – 500Mbps on average with a minimum guaranteed download speed of 275Mbps. Its average upload speeds of 75Mbps are also a benefit over the 300 deal.
If you live in a large household of heavy internet users, or there are one or two serious gamers under your roof, then this package and these speeds should suit your needs. The Full Fibre 500 package is actually pretty good value at just £33.99 per month.
For those with serious internet speed requirements, Plusnet’s Full Fibre 900 package offers download speeds of up to 900Mbps and upload speeds of 115Mbps.
Most households won’t require these kinds of speeds unless there are multiple people working from home and making video calls at the same time as another member of the family is playing online games or streaming UHD films, so it’s important to consider whether you need to go for this all-singing, all-dancing package – particularly since it’s Plusnet’s most expensive plan.
Yes. All of Plusnet’s fibre and full fibre packages come with the Plusnet Hub Two router, which is a much-improved, updated version of the Hub Zero that you receive with the basic Unlimited Broadband package.
The Plusnet Hub Two has seven antennas for wireless connections at 2.5Ghz or 5Ghz. It also comes with three 1Gb Ethernet ports for fast, wired connections.
In most cases, the router will be sent to you to set up yourself and the process is straightforward. There is currently no setup cost for Plusnet’s fibre deals; although, this is subject to change.
Plusnet often includes free gifts for new customers with its broadband deals, such as a gift card or cashback, but this is not guaranteed and depends on whether the provider is running any special offers.
Customers also have access to the Plusnet Perks rewards programme, which gives them exclusive offers and discounts from the provider’s partners, including high street brands and online retailers such as The Body Shop, Audible and Tastecard. These perks are updated on a regular basis, so you’re encouraged to log in to you account from time to time to see the latest offers.
Unlike other major broadband providers, Plusnet doesn’t currently offer any broadband and TV bundle deals. But this doesn’t mean you won’t have access to any TV subscriptions as a Plusnet broadband customer.
Your best option for TV channels is probably NOW, which offers a range of TV membership passes (entertainment, sports, cinema, kids, etc.) that you can pick and choose from on a rolling, monthly basis and watch on any connected device.
Plusnet Fibre (72Mbps) will currently set you back £24.99 a month, but for just £23 per month, you could be getting average download speeds of 63Mbps as well as Pay As You Use Calls with NOW’s Super Fibre package.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Plusnet Unlimited Fibre | 60-72Mbps | £24.99 |
| NOW Super Fibre + Pay As You Use Calls | 63Mbps | £23 |
| NOW Fab Fibre + Pay As You Use Calls | 36Mbps | £21 |
Plusnet Full Fibre 74 currently costs just £24.99 per month, which is a pretty fair price. As an alternative, if you’re lucky enough to live in one of the select areas that Hyperoptic covers, consider its 150Mbps Superfast package. Just £30 per month gives you average download speeds of 158Mbps, which is more than double the speeds of Full Fibre 74. However, this package currently has a £19 installation fee.
You can also consider Community Fibre’s 150Mbps Fibre Broadband deal for £21. However, like Hyperoptic, Community Fibre is currently only available in very limited urban areas.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Plusnet Full Fibre 74 | 74Mbps | £24.99 |
| Hyperoptic 150Mbps Superfast | 158Mbps | £30 |
| Community Fibre 150 Mbps Fibre Broadband | 150Mbps | £21 |
Plusnet Full Fibre 145 will currently set you back £27.99 per month, which is one of the better deals out there for this speed. You could be paying just £30 per month for slightly improved download speeds of 200Mbps with Vodafone’s Full Fibre 200 package.
If you’re happy with the 145Mbps download speeds, another option to consider is TalkTalk’s Full Fibre 150 deal, which offers average download speeds of 152Mbps, but this deal is currently slight more expensive than Plusnet
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Plusnet Full Fibre 145 | 145Mbps | £27.99 |
| Vodafone Full Fibre 200 | 200Mbps | £30 |
| TalkTalk Full Fibre 150 | 152Mbps | £29 |
Plusnet Full Fibre 500 currently costs £33 per month, but you could be getting almost double the speed (900Mbps) with Hyperoptic’s 1Gbps Hyperfast package for just £36 per month. However, this deal is currently only available in a few select urban locations, so you’d be very lucky to get it.
If you don’t see the need for any more speed, then you could save a lot with Gigaclear’s Ultrafast 400 deal, which offers similar average download speeds (400Mbps) but at a much lower monthly cost of just £20. However, Gigaclear is another provider with a limited coverage area that is currently restricted to certain rural locations.
| Deal | Average download speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Plusnet Full Fibre 500 | 500Mbps | £33.99 |
| Hyperoptic 1Gbps Hyperfast | 900Mbps | £36 |
| Gigaclear Ultrafast 400 | 400Mbps | £20 |
Overall, Plusnet’s fibre broadband packages offer good value compared to its rivals, especially big names like Sky, BT and Virgin Media. After all, that is what Plusnet does best.
