Best Broadband 2023 - The UK's Best Internet Providers for Service, Speed, Reliability and Value (2023)

Choosing the best broadband provider is not easy, especially when there are so many packages available from so many different providers. What speed do you need and what connection can you get for your home? What contract duration should you pay attention to and how can you tell whether a provider is trustworthy or not? Sign up and you might get the perfect broadband package, but it's all too easy to make a costly mistake.

We're here to clear up the confusion. Every year we carry out a comprehensive review of the internet packages offered by the major UK ISPs. We help ensure you don't get stuck on a long broadband contract you're not happy with, or pay for the chances of slow service.

In addition, we conduct a comprehensive survey every year to find out what users think of the biggest ISPs. Like last year, we pay attention to customer satisfaction, speed, customer service, reliability and value for money and award prizes to the suppliers with the highest scores in each category.

Below is our handy guide to choosing the best broadband provider for you. And below, our top picks for the best UK broadband providers in 2023.

READ THE FOLLOWING:This month's best broadband deals

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Best Broadband: Overview

• Bester All-in-One-Breitbandanbieter:plusnet
• Most Trusted Broadband Provider:now broadband
• Fastest Broadband Provider:virgin media

The best broadband deals near you

How to choose the best broadband provider for you

Check your coverage

When it comes to getting the best broadband, location makes a big difference. The speed and reliability of fiber and ADSL connections depend on the quality of the line between you and the nearest office down the street and the distance between your home and the local telephone exchange. The fastest full fiber connections may or may not be available depending on whether the required cabling has been installed in your area. This makes checking your coverage essential.

All major ISPs have a page on their website where you can enter your zip code and see what services and speeds you can expect. Do this before you start shopping in earnest or you might be disappointed.

Pay attention to the contract period.

Some broadband contracts still have 12-month terms, but ISPs are increasingly trying to attract new customers to 18-month or even two-year contracts. That might be fine if you're happy with the service, but if you want to switch to a faster or cheaper provider, you might have to wait a long time.

However, Ofcom regulations mean you can cancel your contract now if your provider isn't delivering the minimum speed promised, and most providers will allow you to cancel your contract within the first month if you're not getting what you paid for . for.

Calculate the total cost of registration

All ISPs charge monthly, but when comparing different packages it's wise to calculate how much you'll pay in total over the course of your contract, including initial setup fees.

If you're looking for a new ISP, check the prices up to the point you sign up. The market is incredibly competitive, and deals often pop up that can drastically reduce the cost of certain contracts or get you faster speeds for the same price as a cheaper service.

Also, keep an eye on what happens after the original contract period ends. Some ISPs increase the price after the first year or 18 months, sometimes massively increasing the monthly fee. However, this is usually negotiable if you call them and tell them you want to switch to another provider. If they don't budge on price, look for a cheaper alternative.

Speed ​​is key, but make no mistake

Nowadays, ISPs are obliged to do thisAdvertisement for average download speedsfor your internet packages. This gives you a good idea of ​​which packets are faster than others, but doesn't say much about the consistency or reliability of the service.

To get a clearer picture, we combined the results of ourPrice search for the best broadband- made in collaboration with YouGov - withOfcom Annual Broadband Customer Satisfaction Report, which collects customer surveys and user-reported data such as average download and upload speeds and connection reliability.

This allows us to see how different providers are performing. Note that Ofcom survey speed data refers to the connection speed between your ISP and your router: if your laptop or smartphone is connected via Wi-Fi, it can slow things down.

The good news is that the monthly data limits and traffic settings are pretty much gone, so you don't have to worry about spending a monthly usage limit or having a slow connection at peak times.

What else do I need to see?

Generally, ISPs offer phone service as a standard part of your broadband contract, but usually on an expensive pay-as-you-go basis, which often makes using your cell phone cheaper. It's usually cheaper if you sign up for weekend/night or all-day calling packages, and some providers offer free calling to other numbers on the same network.

Some of the larger providers also offer TV and if you are interested in Virgin, Sky, Vodafone or BT TV services buy one,complete packagecould save money. There are also savings when you use the same provider for your cellular connection. Keep that in mind if you're looking for a new 4G or 5G plan.

A final point of differentiation between ISPs is the quality of the router that comes with their service. Some, like BT and TalkTalk, offer good quality, high-speed hardware. Others offer simpler templates; They'll get the job done, but you can expect better Wi-Fi speeds and more features if you use your own third-party router.

READ THE FOLLOWING:The best wireless routers

Best UK Broadband Providers in 2023

1. Plusnet: The best all-in-one broadband provider

Plusnet now has a decent track record in theExpertenbewertung Best Broadband Awards, after winning the crown two years in a row.

In addition to winning the overall award, it received individual awards for customer service, call center and reliability, and a highly commended award for value. In short, at our 2023 Awards, nobody even came close to matching Plusnet. That's why 78% of Plusnet customers we surveyed said they would be happy to recommend the broadband provider to friends and family.

Elsewhere, 74% of Plusnet customers said they were satisfied with the company's customer service, and even when things go wrong, the company's call center has a good record of resolving issues. Approximately 81% of customers surveyed said they were satisfied with the way the contact center was handling their issues.

Reliability is another of Plusnet's strengths, as in our survey it is the only provider in the top eight ISPs to score more than 80% for the reliability of its connections.

Plusnet may not have the fastest connections, but it offers a friendly service at a reasonable price that customers can trust.

read oursPlusnet broadband review

See offers in Plusnet

2. Virgin Media: Best Broadband Provider for Speed

Virgin Media is known for the speed of its broadband connections, which is why it won our Speed ​​Award again in 2023.

Virgin Media's entire network is now Gigabit capable and Ofcom's independent speed tests show that Virgin Media customers are definitely getting what they pay for when it comes to download speeds. Ofcom's measurements are backed up by the results of our own survey, in which 75% of the company's customers said they were satisfied with the speeds they received and 32% were very satisfied, the best result of any provider in our survey.

Virgin has a wide range of fares spread across different speed levels. All but one of Virgin's plans are 100Mbps or faster, and it currently offers very good prices on its two fastest plans, although potential customers should be aware that these prices will drop after the original deal with Virgin will increase significantly months.

One more thing to note about Virgin Media speeds, upload speeds are not as competitive as they could be, especially when compared to fiber broadband providers who offer symmetrical connections, where upload speeds match the download speed matches. For example, the upload speed of Virgin's Gig1 package exceeds 52 Mbps.

read oursVirgin Media Review

See offers at Virgin Media

3. Agora Broadband: Best Broadband Provider for Value Driven Businesses

Broadband has now won our Best Value for 2023 award and it's not hard to see why. This Sky-owned broadband provider mainly focuses on the budget end of the broadband market and you'd do well to find a provider that offers cheaper plans, with deals starting at £18 a month.

In fact, at the time of writing, there isn't a single Now Broadband plan with a monthly cost higher than £22 per month. It's not hard to understand why 71% of the company's customers were satisfied with the value for money they offered.

It's worth noting that Now Broadband doesn't yet offer full fiber optic connections, which are the fastest lines at the highest prices. If you want download speeds in the hundreds of megabits per second, you'll need to look to providers like speed king Virgin Media.

Also worth noting is the flexibility of Now Broadband's contracts. The company offers offers for one-month renewable contracts, which is highly unusual. Most providers want to lock you up for 18 or 24 months. This could make Now Broadband a perfect option for students or anyone just staying for a short time.

read oursnow broadband review

EE won a highly acclaimed award for customer service in this year's survey, making it a solid choice for existing EE mobile customers.

EE offers customers with paid monthly mobile subscriptions a £3/month discount on all of its broadband charges, making the overall prices shown in the table below more attractive.

In terms of service, 33% of EE customers said they were very satisfied, a result surpassed only by the award-winning Plusnet, also part of the BT family. EE's contact center also appears to be doing a solid job, with 70% of customers happy with the way it handled the issue.

Few EE customers find reason to complain to telecoms regulator Ofcom. Just six in 100,000 customers filed a complaint with the regulator, according to the latest figures, which is well below the industry average of 11 complaints per 100,000.

It's important to have a broadband provider you can trust, especially if you're already a mobile subscriber.

read oursEE broadband review

See offers in EE