Broadband for older people: support and set-up

You don't automatically need the fastest package: the speed a home needs depends on how many people are online at once and what they do. Our broadband speed test shows what the current connection delivers. For many older households, the bigger difference between providers is how help is delivered.

If the person you're helping would rather pick up the phone than open an app, put phone hours near the top of the list. Then look at those providers' deals, for example on our Vodafone broadband deals or Plusnet broadband deals pages, or start from the list of broadband providers.

Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, requires every provider to have clear policies for treating vulnerable customers fairly. That rule, General Condition C5, lists age among the circumstances that can make someone vulnerable, alongside illness, disability and bereavement. Getting older doesn't make anyone vulnerable in itself, but you can ask the provider to record your needs and offer support that fits.

Record your needs on the account so you're not explaining them on every call. Vodafone has a "Tell us about your needs" option for exactly this, and a dedicated accessibility team on 0333 304 3222 (Vodafone says that number is only for customers with accessibility needs; everyone else should call 191). TalkTalk's Sunday support and Virgin Media's prioritised repair appointments are only for customers who have registered, so registering is what unlocks them. Worth mentioning, if they apply:

• a personal alarm or other device that uses the phone line
• no mobile phone, or no reliable mobile signal at home
• hearing, sight or memory difficulties, and how you'd like to be contacted
• a relative who helps with the account

Ask about bills too: Plusnet offers Braille, large print, coloured paper and audio; Vodafone offers Braille, large print, audio or cream-coloured backgrounds; Virgin Media sends large print, Braille or audio on request. Our guide to broadband support for disabled customers covers accessibility services and priority repairs in more depth.

We haven't found reliable evidence that any particular router or phone is easier for older people, so we won't name "best" kit. The box the provider sends is usually called a router or hub, and it creates the Wi-Fi your devices connect to; our guide to broadband vs Wi-Fi and what the router does explains the terms. What you can plan is the installation. From the providers' own pages:

• Sky: if there's already an active line, no engineer is needed and you plug in the Sky Hub on the activation date; otherwise an Openreach engineer installs the service.
• EE: homes with working Openreach full fibre equipment can be connected remotely; otherwise an engineer visit takes up to three hours.
• Hyperoptic: the engineer usually delivers and sets up the router at installation.
• Community Fibre: its Premium WiFi option (24-month plans at 1Gbps and above) adds extra mesh routers, engineer set-up and priority support.
• Three: its 4G/5G hub has no engineer visit; you plug it in and follow the user guide.

Plug-and-play avoids waiting in for an engineer, but someone has to connect the kit on the day. If that's hard for the person, arrange for a helper to be there, or ask before ordering: "Will an engineer come, and will they set up the router and Wi-Fi or only the connection?"

Plenty of families help informally, by ringing up as the parent or logging in with their password. There are proper routes instead. Ofcom's guide on treating vulnerable customers fairly says providers must offer third-party bill management, and expects them to deal sensibly with relatives and carers acting for a customer (with reasonable checks and consent) and to handle powers of attorney, deputyships and appointees.

There are two quite different arrangements:

• A helper on the account (called an account manager, nominated user, authorised user or trusted person). The account holder stays in charge and agrees to it. This suits someone who can make their own decisions but wants a relative to be able to report a fault or check a bill.
• Legal authority: a power of attorney, a deputyship order from the Court of Protection or a benefits appointeeship. This matters when the person can no longer manage their affairs, or wants someone else to take over fully.

The difference has real effects. At Plusnet, an authorised user can't close the account, accept additional charges or change the contract, but once a power of attorney is registered Plusnet treats the attorney as the account holder and the original holder can no longer manage the account. Talk that through with the person first.

Landlines are moving from the old analogue network to digital technology. BT plans to retire its old landline network by 31 January 2027; Virgin Media O2 and KCOM hadn't set dates when Ofcom last updated its guidance in August 2026. A digital landline works over broadband: the phone usually plugs into the router, and you can keep your number. Openreach reported 1.5 million lines, homes and businesses together (roughly 350,000 of them business premises), still on the old services at the end of July 2026, as reported by ISPreview.

For anyone who only uses the phone, the government says providers will contact customers before moving them, and a "landline only" service remains an option; some providers offer an interim service for customers without broadband until a digital solution is available, or 2030 if sooner. See our guides to keeping a landline without broadband and the digital landline switchover.

Ofcom says to tell your provider before the switch if you have a care alarm or other device on the line, need extra help because of age or disability, or have no mobile phone or no mobile signal at home. BT, for example, asks customers to call about additional needs or telecare before moving to Digital Voice, its digital landline.

Telecare means devices such as personal alarms that can call for help, often over the phone line. Citizens Advice says to ask your telecare provider whether the alarm works on a digital line, and that you shouldn't be switched until both the phone and alarm providers are confident it will. A friend or family member can be nominated to deal with the switch. Ofcom adds that providers can check telecare and pause the change until a safe solution is in place.

Tell the phone provider directly even if you think it already knows. In September 2026 Ofcom closed a compliance process with BT after finding weaknesses in how it handled vulnerable customers during the switch, including staff incorrectly identifying telecare users. BT added checks to verify telecare customers before orders go ahead, with final changes due by the end of November 2026.

1. Find the alarm provider's name and number (often on the base unit or paperwork).
2. Ask the alarm provider whether the alarm works on a digital line.
3. Tell the phone provider there's a telecare device and ask for it to be recorded.
4. After any change, ask the alarm provider how to test the alarm, and test it.

Our guide to telecare and alarms after the landline switch-off goes into more detail.

Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits. BT Home Essentials accepts Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), and Sky Broadband Basics accepts Pension Credit too; each provider sets its own list, so check yours. Ofcom says the person claiming must be the main person on the contract, so the account must be in the claimant's name. For example, if Dad claims Pension Credit but the broadband is in his daughter's name, the account would need to be in his. You can switch to your own provider's social tariff at any time, free, with no fee to leave your current deal early.

Our guide to broadband social tariffs compares who qualifies at each provider. If the household doesn't qualify, the comparison on our cheap broadband deals page shows lower-priced packages at the postcode.

The switchover gives scammers a handy story. Citizens Advice is clear: your home phone provider will never ask you to pay to switch to a digital line, and a request to pay is a scam. Our own advice, rather than a provider rule: if a caller pressures you or threatens to cut the line off, hang up and ring the provider yourself on the number from a bill or its official website. Age UK publishes free guides on phone scams, AI scams and what to do if you've been a victim, and our guide to broadband scams and nuisance calls covers the common tricks.

Under Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme (last updated 20 July 2026), signatory providers including BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk (Ofcom notes restrictions for TalkTalk customers who aren't on the Openreach network), Virgin Media, Vodafone and Zen pay £10.34 for each day a lost service isn't repaired after two full working days, £32.31 per missed engineer appointment and £6.46 for each day a new service starts late. See our automatic compensation guide.

Plusnet offers free Priority Fault Repair where someone in the home is classed as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 or is housebound through long-term illness or disability, and Virgin Media prioritises repairs for registered customers with accessibility needs. If a problem still isn't sorted, see how to complain about a broadband provider. And if a long-held email address is what keeps someone from switching, read keeping your email address when you switch first.

• What are your phone support hours, including weekends?
• Can my needs be recorded so I don't have to repeat them?
• Can a family member be added, and what will they be able to do?
• Will an engineer set up the router and Wi-Fi?
• How will the home phone work, and what back-up is there in a power cut?
• I have a personal alarm: how will you check it works first?
• Do you have a social tariff that accepts Pension Credit?

If confidence is the barrier, Age UK's free Advice Line is 0800 678 1602, 8am to 7pm, 365 days a year. Local Age UKs run computer training courses, and Age UK says it has specialist advisers at over 120 local Age UKs. It also publishes free guides on getting started online, making your device easier to use, email essentials and making a video call. They're worth printing and leaving next to the tablet.