BT Broadband Review

Our brief review of BT broadband

BT is Britain’s biggest broadband provider and a major household name. It boasts the fastest Openreach speeds and comes with a range of benefits at home and out and about.

With standard ADSL and fibre broadband connections, BT is available pretty much anywhere. Plus, BT TV and broadband bundles are reasonably priced compared to the competition. But outside of bundles, BT is also one of the most expensive broadband providers available.

Does BT live up to its name?

BT broadband speed review: How fast is it?

BT offers a range of broadband speeds:

Broadband type	Average download speeds	Average upload speed	Ideal for
BT Fibre Essential	36Mbps	9Mbps	Small households with light internet usage
BT Fibre 1	50Mbps	9Mbps	Browsing and streaming on a few devices at once
BT Fibre 2	67Mbps	18Mbps	Families or homes streaming and browsing on multiple devices
BT Full Fibre 100	150Mbps	30Mbps	Gamers, large families or shared houses with heavy internet use and multiple devices
BT Full Fibre 300	300Mbps	49Mbps	Gamers, large families or shared houses with heavy internet use and multiple devices
BT Full Fibre 900	910Mbps	110Mbps	Gamers, large families or shared houses with heavy internet use and multiple devices

BT broadband price review: How much does it cost?

BT Broadband is quite competitively priced, check out the table below for a breakdown. 

Exit fees are charged for each month remaining on your contract if you terminate early.

If you need a new phone line installed for your broadband, this can cost up to £140. If you already have a phone line then you may not have to pay for connection charges.

Check the contract length before signing up, currently BT is offering most of its offers as 24-month contracts.

Deal	Monthly Cost without landline	Monthly cost with landline	Setup costs
Fibre Essential (36Mbps)	£28.99	£33.99	£29.99
Fibre 1 (50Mbps)	£29.99	£34.99	£29.99
Fibre 2 (67Mbps)	£29.99	£34.99	£29.99
Full Fibre 100 (150Mbps)	£35.99	£40.99	£29.99
Full Fibre 300 (300Mbps)	£45.99	£50.99	£29.99
Full Fibre 900 (910Mbps)	£55.99	£60.99	£29.99

*Prices correct as of 02/08/2021.

For more information on BT's broadband packages, head over to our page on BT fibre deals explained & compared.

BT Fibre review: Fibre Essential, Fibre 1 & Fibre 2

BT offers three levels of fibre-to-the-cabint (FTTC) broadband - BT Fibre Essential, BT Fibre 1, and BT Fibre 2. These are BT's most affordable broadband only packages, but they are also its most basic. If you need something a bit faster, BT also offers fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, which we'll review in the following section.

Fibre Essential review

BT Fibre Essential is the provider's most basic fibre optic connection, and the next level up from their ADSL offering. With this package, you'll get average download speeds of 36Mbps, and upload speeds averaging 9Mbps. While these speeds certainly won't blow you away, they should be more than enough for small households with 1-2 light internet users. 

 

In terms of price, BT's Fibre Essential package is slightly more expensive than many alternative packages from other providers. However, having access to some of BT's perks, such as cheaper access to BT Sport, could help to alleviate this extra cost. 

Deal	Download Speed	Contract Length	Monthly Cost
BT Fibre Essential	36Mbps	24 months	£28.99
EE Fibre	36Mbps	24 months	£26
NOW Fab Fibre	36Mbps	12 months	£21
Sky Superfast 35 Broadband	36Mbps	18 months	£25

Another thing to consider is that BT Fibre Essential doesn't come with landline calls included as standard - adding this will cost an extra £5 per month. 

Fibre 1 review

The next level up is BT Fibre 1, which offers average download speeds of 50Mbps and upload speeds of 9Mbps. While these upload speeds are the same as on the Fibre Essential package, the improved download speeds will allow browsing and light streaming on multiple devices. 

 

When it comes to price, BT Fibre 1 is certainly not the cheapest broadband package with those sorts of speeds, but it's also not the most expensive. In fact, most of the providers offering these speeds for cheaper are small, localized providers, so chances could be that BT's Fibre 1 deal is the best priced where you live. 

Deal	Download Speed	Contract Length	Monthly Cost
BT Fibre 1	50Mbps	24 months	£29.99
Virgin Media M50 Fibre Broadband Only	54Mbps	18 months	£38
Community Fibre 50 Mbps Fibre Broadband	50Mbps	24 months	£20
Hyperoptic Fast 50Mbps Broadband Only	57Mbps	24 months	£17.99

Fibre 2 review

This is BT's fastest FTTC connection, offering average download speeds of 67Mbps and upload speeds of 18Mbps. These upload speeds are double those provided by Fibre Essential and Fibre 1, which is good news for home workers and online gamers, while the improved download speeds are ideal for medium-sized families and households that like to stream on multiple devices. 

 

When it comes to the price of BT Fibre 2 and similar deal from rival providers, BT's offering is actually slightly overpriced. However, it's currently the same price as BT Fibre 1. So, if you're dead set on being a BT customer - perhaps you want cheaper rates on BT Sport - and both BT Fibre 1 and BT Fibre 2 are available where you live, it's a no-brainer over which one to go for. 

Deal	Download Speed	Contract Length	Monthly Cost
BT Fibre 2	67Mbps	24 months	£29.99
EE Fibre Plus	67Mbps	24 months	£28.50
Vodafone Superfast 2	67Mbps	24 months	£22
Plusnet Unlimited Fibre Extra	66Mbps	18 months	£25.99

BT Full Fibre review: Full Fibre 100, Full Fibre 500 & Full Fibre 900

BT has recently begun offering fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, also known as full fibre. These provide a much more reliable, and faster, internet connection than FTTC can provide, as the entire journey is made of fibre optic cables and doesn't rely on the existing copper cable network to deliver internet from the streetside cabinet to your home. 

Full Fibre 100 review

This is BT's most basic, entry-level full fibre offering, but compared to BT's FTTC deals, it's anything but basic. BT Full Fibre 100 offers average download speeds of 150Mbps and average upload speeds of 30Mbps. This is a vast improvement on BT's cheaper broadband only deals, and should be suitable for most large households and online gamers. 

 

Again, BT's Full Fibre 100 deal is slightly more expensive than similar packages from rival providers. Also, like all of BT's broadband deals, it runs for 24 months, which is the longest and least flexible contract length you can get. 

Deal	Download Speed	Contract Length	Monthly Cost
BT Full Fibre 100	150Mbps	24 months	£35.99
TalkTalk Full Fibre 150	152Mbps	18 months	£29.95
Sky Ultrafast Broadband	145Mbps	18 months	£32
EE Fibre Max 100	145Mbps	24 months	£32

Full Fibre 500 review

Next up is BT's Full Fibre 500 package, which offers impressive average download speeds of 500Mbps and upload speeds averaging 73Mbps. According to Ofcom, the median average download speed in the UK was just over 50Mbps, so this deal offers almost 10 times that, meaning the vast majority of households, including heavy internet users, will be left satisfied with this connection. 

 

While not massively overpriced at just £45.99 per month currently, a few other major providers offer the same average download speeds but for cheaper. However, some of these deals, like Sky's Ultrafast Broadband Plus package, have lower upload speeds than BT. 

Deal	Download Speed	Contract Length	Monthly Cost
BT Full Fibre 500	500Mbps	24 months	£45.99
Sky Ultrafast Broadband Plus	500Mbps	18 months	£42
EE Fibre Max 500	500Mbps	24 months	£40.50
Vodafone Ultrafast 500	500Mbps	24 months	£35

Full Fibre 900 review

This is BT's fastest broadband only offering, which promises average download speeds of 910Mbps, which is in line with most of the UK's major providers' gigabit-capable plans. Its average upload speeds of 110Mbps are also vastly improved compared to other BT Full Fibre deals, and this package should be more than suitable to all but a tiny fraction of people.

 

Following on from the pattern of BT's other broadband only packages, its Full Fibre 900 deal is slightly more expensive than many alternatives at £55.99 per month. However, this extra few quid a month could be worth it for the reduced BT Sport price you can get, or any other perks and freebies that BT often throw in with their deals - so watch out for these. 

Deal	Download Speed	Contract Length	Monthly Cost
BT Full Fibre 900	900Mbps	24 months	£55.99
EE Fibre Max 900	900Mbps	24 months	£50
Sky Gigafast Broadband	900Mbps	18 months	£52
Vodafone Ultrafast 900	900Mbps	24 months	£45

What makes BT Broadband stand out?

BT broadband comes with a range of benefits:

Good value TV bundles

• Free access to BT Sport 1 is included in every BT Broadband deal
• Full BT Sport is available with TV bundles
• 80+ Freeview channels as minimum

BT Cloud storage

• Up to 50GB BT Cloud storage for only £3 a month
• Up to 500GB BT Cloud storage for £9 a month

Smart Hub router with Superfast Fibre

• Sends Wi-Fi to the most remote rooms in your house
• Filters block your neighbours’ signals and improve your Wi-Fi connection

Truly unlimited broadband connection

• No cap on any download or upload limits mean you can browse, stream, and game to your heart's content.
• No fair usage policies or traffic management

Free access to thousands of BT Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK

• Over 5 million WiFi hotspots across the country
• Save on mobile data whilst on the move

Home phone

• Free calls to UK landlines
• BT call protect helps stop nuisance calls
• International Freedom package means free calls to 36 countries

BT review: Installation and equipment

Installing BT Broadband or BT Superfast Fibre takes around two weeks on average.

BT Superfast Fibre comes with the Smart Hub. Its Wi-Fi technology means multiple devices can connect and get the same fast connection. It is easy to set up yourself at home and you won’t usually need an engineer to visit.

If you are switching from a cable service like Virgin Media, or you do not have an active phone line, you will need an engineer to visit your address. You may be charged an installation fee.

Installation means setting up your new router. You will need to pay a set-up fee and delivery charge of £9.99 - £19.99.

Customer experience: How is BT rated by customers?

Generally, customers seem to be satisfied with their speeds and their overall service. Although BT has connectivity issues and many customers complain of being disconnected, according to Ofcom's customer satisfaction survey 2022, BT’s overall satisfaction rating is above average.

In fact, BT had the highest satisfaction with overall service out of all the providers included in the survey, with 88% of customers satisfied - above the industry average of 83%. It also had the highest proportion of customers left satisfied with their speeds, at 83%. 

Furthermore, out of the customers that had a reason to complain, 55% were left satisfied with BT's response. Again, this was the highest proportion out of all the providers in the survey, with the average being 50%. 

BT public reviews

In terms of public customer reviews, BT performs quite poorly, scoring just 1.6 stars on Trustpilot out of 11,000+ reviews, and just 1.5 stars on Reviews.io.

Looking at the reviews, customer service seems to be BT’s biggest downfall. BT customer service ratings are generally quite poor. BT customers tend to report only minor issues with their broadband service, but major problems when trying to get those issues resolved.  

However, we wouldn't recommend looking too much in to these public reviews. This is because the vast majority of customers that make a review on a website like Trustpilot will do so because they have had an issue with the service, which can skew the data negatively for the company involved. 

On the other hand, Ofcom's customer satisfaction survey asks a cross-section of customers about their experience, regardless of whether they have had issues in the past or not. Therefore, it's understable that their can be such differences in the perception of customer service between the two, so we would suggest taking each with a pinch of salt. 

BT broadband review: Verdict

Overall, BT is a good choice of broadband provider if you're after a good, reliable service. It's also a great option for people looking for a broadband and TV bundle, especially for sports fans thanks to exclusive offers on BT Sport. 

However, BT's broadband only packages are quite expensive when compared to similar deals from rival providers. So, if you have a wide option of providers in your area, you may be able to save some money elsewhere if all you're after is a simple internet connection. 

That being said, you should always consider BT as an option, in part thanks to their high customer satisfaction, but also due to the fact that they have widespread coverage across the UK, so it could be a good alternative if you're having issues with your current provider.  

If you're a BT customer but unhappy with your service, see if you're free to switch providers with our page on how to cancel BT broadband.