We compare the UK's major broadband providers
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The UK is phasing out its reliance on copper telephone lines for broadband delivery. Gigabit-capable broadband (1,000Mb) is now accessible to 80% of UK homes, amounting to 24 million households. Are you ready to switch?
According to Ofcom, as of January 2024, 62% of UK homes have access to 'Full-Fibre' broadband (also known as Fibre to the Premises, or FTTP), which equates to approximately 18.7 million households. This represents a rise of 5 percentage points since September 2023.
A game changing broadband speed might be available in your street.
Here are some of the UK suppliers providing 'Full Fibre Broadband'
Superfast broadband is the most popular broadband option in the UK, partly due to it's cost and widespread availability. Superfast broadband is available to over 97% of the UK. Superfast is classed as a broadband connection speed of over 30Mb. A Superfast broadband connection is sold as 'Fibre Broadband', perhaps a little misleading as it’s still delivered to your property partially via the copper phone line! Typically, 80Mb is the maximum achievable download speed with a Superfast broadband connection. If you're more than 850 metres from the cabinet, you can expect at least a 50% drop in speed.
The term Ultrafast broadband refers to a broadband connection that is capable of achieving between 300Mb and 1000Mb. Ultrafast broadband is currently available to over 57% of the UK. GFast is one of the latest ultrafast broadband technologies that is capable of supercharging your FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) broadband speed up to 300Mb without the need to have fibre to your premises (FTTP). GFast is a cheaper way to boost your broadband speed, but your local exchange would need to be upgraded to be able to deliver G.Fast broadband. GFast isn't a long term solution to improving the UK’s broadband speed. There are limitations to the scope of G.Fast's delivery. It's main limitation is that it's only suitable for properties that lie within a 500 metre range of the street cabinet. It’s also still reliant on the old victorian copper telephone line. Compare Gfast broadband deals from TalkTalk
Hyperfast broadband is the future of broadband in the UK. Unlike it’s predecessors it isn't reliant on any aging copper cables. Hyperfast broadband is delivered via fibre-optic cables direct to your property. This is known as ‘fibre to the premises’ aka FTTP. Hyperfast broadband is capable of delivering symmetrical broadband speeds, so the upload speed is the same as the download speed. But, not all Hyperfast broadband providers supply a symmetrical service. BT currently offer FTTP with asymmetric speeds of 900Mb down and 115Mb up for residential customers. Other budget ISP like TalkTalk now offer FTTP Broadband options.
If the upload speed is an important part of switching to FTTP, opt for a provider who offers a symmetrical connection.
Hyperoptic cover 64 UK towns and cities in small clusters. They offer relatively limited coverage compared to the scale of national providers like Virgin Media and BT. But, if you want cost-effective gigabit broadband and they're in your area, we highly recommend Hyperoptic. Hyperoptic offer a VoIP phone service for customers who don't want to retire their landline number just yet.
Vodafone broadband is delivered via the Openreach and CityFibre networks. CityFibre's network continues to expand and evolve, they are currently preparing to launch the first 2.5Gb wholesale broadband product in the UK. This 2.5Gb service will gradually become available to Vodafone customers, beginning in areas where CityFibre has already established advanced XGS-PON (10 Gigabit Symmetrical Passive Optical Network) technology. This cutting-edge platform is designed for easy future upgrades to 50G PON.
Gigaclear cover 26+ counties across the South West, Midlands and South East. They provide FTTP with a 920Mb symmetrical connection, capable of reaching up to 300,000 properties in the UK.
Community Fibre are a London-focussed FTTP ISP who cover over 100,000 properties around London. Four different packages are available with the Gigafast one offering a 920Mb symmetrical connection.
FTTP isn't just about speed, there are other advantages of switching to FTTP broadband. FTTP isn't subject to interference like ADSL and VDSL2, making broadband less prone to weather-related issues. FTTP also offers an ultra-low latency which can help online gaming response times and improve VoIP calls.
The following results display the median download speeds of countries ranked within the top 100. This data is collected from billions of consumer-initiated tests conducted globally via fixed-line broadband connections on the Ookla Speedtest website. The speed data was compiled in August 2024. This represents a significant improvement from last year's results, which previously ranked the UK 57th with an average download speed of 82.80Mb. (Scroll to view all 100 countries.)
Rank | Country | Speed |
---|---|---|
46th | United Kingdom | 108.61Mb |
1 | United Arab Emirates | 297.62Mb |
2 | Singapore | 297.57Mb |
3 | Hong Kong (SAR) | 280.00Mb |
4 | Chile | 265.62Mb |
5 | United States | 242.27Mb |
6 | Thailand | 232.15Mb |
7 | France | 223.72Mb |
8 | Denmark | 219.23Mb |
9 | Iceland | 213.98Mb |
10 | Israel | 206.42Mb |
11 | Spain | 205.17Mb |
12 | Switzerland | 203.50Mb |
13 | Romania | 200.94Mb |
14 | Taiwan | 198.28Mb |
15 | Japan | 197.78Mb |
16 | China | 189.49Mb |
17 | Kuwait | 188.29Mb |
18 | Canada | 188.20Mb |
19 | Netherlands | 186.84Mb |
20 | Liechtenstein | 186.36Mb |
21 | New Zealand | 178.80Mb |
22 | Hungary | 174.95Mb |
23 | Qatar | 173.33Mb |
24 | Portugal | 172.13Mb |
25 | Brazil | 170.42Mb |
26 | Peru | 166.89Mb |
27 | Macau (SAR) | 162.24Mb |
28 | South Korea | 157.63Mb |
29 | Uruguay | 156.02Mb |
30 | Poland | 154.51Mb |
31 | Panama | 151.94Mb |
32 | Vietnam | 151.69Mb |
33 | Jordan | 150.88Mb |
34 | Colombia | 144.98Mb |
35 | Luxembourg | 142.05Mb |
36 | Sweden | 138.62Mb |
37 | Ireland | 133.34Mb |
38 | Malaysia | 131.03Mb |
39 | Norway | 129.00Mb |
40 | Moldova | 120.73Mb |
41 | Trinidad and Tobago | 119.78Mb |
42 | Lithuania | 119.59Mb |
43 | Malta | 116.51Mb |
44 | Finland | 114.33Mb |
45 | Saudi Arabia | 112.24Mb |
46 | United Kingdom | 108.61Mb |
47 | Belgium | 100.82Mb |
48 | Barbados | 99.09Mb |
49 | Costa Rica | 96.65Mb |
50 | San Marino | 94.78Mb |
51 | Philippines | 94.43Mb |
52 | Saint Lucia | 94.01Mb |
53 | Ecuador | 93.79Mb |
54 | Dominica | 93.74Mb |
55 | Slovenia | 92.98Mb |
56 | Austria | 92.86Mb |
57 | Paraguay | 92.67Mb |
58 | Latvia | 92.62Mb |
59 | Guyana | 90.78Mb |
60 | Germany | 90.63Mb |
61 | Russia | 88.08Mb |
62 | Argentina | 88.03Mb |
63 | Cyprus | 86.10Mb |
64 | Bahrain | 84.66Mb |
65 | Serbia | 82.28Mb |
66 | Ukraine | 81.84Mb |
67 | Slovakia | 81.08Mb |
68 | Estonia | 80.14Mb |
69 | Mexico | 79.31Mb |
70 | Italy | 78.42Mb |
71 | Brunei | 77.75Mb |
72 | Bulgaria | 77.60Mb |
73 | Egypt | 76.48Mb |
74 | Jamaica | 76.44Mb |
75 | Oman | 72.64Mb |
76 | Australia | 71.87Mb |
77 | Nepal | 71.62Mb |
78 | Mongolia | 71.45Mb |
79 | Czechia | 69.55Mb |
80 | Uzbekistan | 69.37Mb |
81 | Kosovo | 69.35Mb |
82 | Palestine | 68.16Mb |
83 | Kyrgyzstan | 65.44Mb |
84 | India | 63.79Mb |
85 | The Bahamas | 63.11Mb |
86 | Albania | 62.71Mb |
87 | Côte d'Ivoire | 62.04Mb |
88 | Montenegro | 61.13Mb |
89 | Belarus | 61.05Mb |
90 | Venezuela | 59.81Mb |
91 | Nicaragua | 59.51Mb |
92 | Kazakhstan | 58.81Mb |
93 | Armenia | 56.54Mb |
94 | El Salvador | 55.77Mb |
95 | Guatemala | 52.32Mb |
96 | Mauritius | 51.61Mb |
97 | Croatia | 50.69Mb |
98 | Honduras | 50.52Mb |
99 | Bangladesh | 48.14Mb |
100 | South Africa | 47.35Mb |