EE Broadband Review

Our brief review of EE broadband

EE is a large and well-known mobile network provider, but they also offer home broadband, phone and TV services. EE provide their broadband over the BT network, meaning it is widely available across the UK. They provide special offers to their mobile customers for broadband packages, so you may be able to get a better deal for both your mobile network and broadband if you sign up for both at the same time. EE are a trusted mobile network provider, but is their broadband any good? Continue reading our review to find out more.

EE broadband speed review: How fast is it?

EE offer five broadband packages to choose from. All five packages are unlimited usage on 18-month minimum term contracts. Here are the five packages available:

EE Standard Broadband

Average download speeds of around 10Mbps and an upload speed of 1Mbps. This is a standard speed for connections that are not fibre optic – ADSL connections – and is a similar speed to those offered in basic broadband packages from other broadband providers. Should be enough for light internet users in small households. 

 

EE Fibre Broadband

Average download speeds of around 36Mbps with upload speeds of 9Mbps. This is a basic fibre optic package, and these speeds should be good enough for a household of 1-2 people who occasionally like to stream online content.

 

EE Fibre Plus 

Average download speeds of around 74Mbps and upload speeds of 18Mbps. This speed should be plenty for those streaming or gaming a lot, especially if there are several devices using the internet. This fibre broadband speed is similar to fibre broadband speeds provided by other providers.

 

EE Fibre Plus Max 100

Average download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 28Mbps. This is EE's basic full fibre package, and these speeds should be sufficient for medium to large households who like to stream or play online games simultaneously.

 

EE Fibre Max 300

Average download speeds of 300Mbps and upload speeds of 48Mbps. These speeds are entering the realm of 'ultrafast broadband', and it should be sufficient even for large households of multiple internet users. 

 

EE Fibre Max 900

Average download speeds of 900Mbps and upload speeds of 48Mbps. This is one of the fastest broadband connections you can currently get, and there's not much you can't do with these speeds. Great for serious gamers and people who work from home. 

 

EE broadband price review: How much does it cost?

EE broadband is one of the cheaper broadband providers, and most customers believe the provider to be reasonably good value.

Check out their top packages below to see what you'd pay in comparison to EE's competitors:

Deals	EE price	BT equivalent package price	Sky equivalent package price	Virgin Media equivalent package price	TalkTalk equivalent package price
Standard Broadband (10Mbps)	£23.50	£32.99	£30	N/A	£24.95
Fibre Broadband (36Mbps)	£24	£27.99	N/A	N/A	£22
Fibre Plus (74Mbps)	£27	£32.99	£28	£38	£25
Fibre Max 100 (100Mbps)	£35	£39.99	£35	£44	N/A
Fibre Max 300 (300Mbps)	£42	£49.99	N/A	£56	N/A
Fibre Max 900 (900Mbps)	£54	£59.99	N/A	N/A	N/A

What makes EE stand out?

EE have some great features and extras that they attach to their broadband packages. Here are a few features they offer:

• EE has two different routers – EE Brightbox for ADSL broadband customers and the Smart Hub router for fibre deals – both routers are included with your package.
• Mobile data boost – EE Mobile customers can claim a free monthly data boost if they sign up for EE broadband. Standard broadband and fibre customers get 10GB data boost per month, and EE Fibre Max customers get 20GB per month.
• Early cancellation credit – if you are switching from another provider to EE, then EE offer £50 credit when you switch. This can help with exit fees you may have incurred from your previous provider.
• Home phone – EE offer phone line rental with some of their broadband packages. They have various add-on packages that you will need if you use your home phone regularly, this will cost you between £5 and £12 per month depending on which package you require.
• TV packages – EE once offered a branded TV package known as EE TV, but this service was retired and replaced with Apple TV 4K. Pay monthly mobile customers are able to get an Apple TV 4K package which comes with BT Sport at no extra charge.

Are there any downsides to EE Broadband?

• Out-of-contract price hikes: While most broadband providers increase their monthly cost when any contract comes to an end, EE’s out-of-contract price hikes are particularly hard-hitting. Make sure you know when your contract is ending to avoid any nasty surprises on your bill.
• No short-term contracts: EE’s broadband contracts last for a minimum of 18 months, and most of their packages last for 24 months. This means you may have to pay high early exit fees if you want to switch providers before your contract ends.
• Limited extras: With EE you’ll get a broadband connection, a router, in some cases an Apple TV subscription, but not much else. It doesn’t offer any dedicated TV bundles and, unlike many providers, you’ll rarely get any free gifts such as a reward card or cashback.

EE broadband review: Installation and equipment

It should take up to 2 weeks on average for your EE broadband to be installed from the date of your purchase. If you are setting up EE TV as well, then you may have to wait a further five days from your installation point until you receive your TV box. 

Before your installation, an EE engineer will get in touch with you to confirm the installation date. On the day, the installation could take up to three hours depending on the size of your house and the existing infrastructure. 

In terms of the router you receive, the exact model you'll get will depend on which broadband deal you go for. Customers who sign up to EE's standard ADSL broadband deal will receive the EE Bright Box 1, which is a fairly standard bit of tech which won't blow you away, but should do what you need. 

If you sign up to EE Fibre, however, you'll get the Smart Hub. This is a much better device in terms of performance, and is in fact the same router that you'll get with BT's fibre deals. One of its best features is the ability to control which devices can connect to it and when, which is great for parents who want to limit the amount of time their kids spend online. 

If you're upgrading from standard EE broadband to one of their fibre deals, please note that you may have to pay an extra installation fee for the delivery of the updated router. 

Customer experience: How is EE rated by customers?

There are a few ways you can look at how any broadband provider performs when it comes to customer service and satisfaction. You can look at the official Ofcom customer satisfaction report, which is released each year and based on a survey of thousands of broadband customers. You can also look at customer reviews in the public domain, on review sites such as Trustipilot and Reviews.io. And, of course, you can determine their level of customer service by reviewing it as an actual customer yourself. 

EE customer satisfaction

According to Ofcom's customer satisfaction report 2022, EE customers were generally satisfied with the overall service they received. 

85% of respondents said they were satisfied with EE's broadband service - above the average of 83%. However, just 79% were satisfied with EE's speeds - slightly below the average. It also received the lowest number of Ofcom complaints per 100,000 subscribers, at just 20. 

Have a look at the table below to see how EE Broadband compared to other major providers in 2022:

EE public reviews

When it comes to customer reviews on public review sites like Trustpilot and Reviews.io, EE performed more poorly. It has 2.3 stars on Trustpilot, based on more than 10,000 reviews, with 69% saying its service is bad compared to just 21% claiming it's excellent.

It's rated even lower on Reviews.io, gaining just 1.7 stars out of almost 1,000 reviews. However, as EE is primarily a mobile network provider and has far more mobile customers than broadband ones, the majority of reviews are likely to be referring to their mobile arm, so take these reviews with a pinch of salt when assessing their broadband credentials.