Getting home broadband for the first time

Home broadband comes in two pieces: the connection that comes into your home, and a router (BT and some others call it a hub), the box that turns that connection into Wi-Fi for your phone, tablet or laptop. Openreach says most providers send a compatible router when you sign up. Expect to hand it back one day: Sky says any kit it sends is loaned and must be returned when your subscription ends, and BT gives you 60 days to send its equipment back. Other providers set their own rules, so keep the box.

A wired connection is one of four types. Since 16 September 2024, Ofcom's guidance has said providers should name the type in plain words before you buy and again in your contract summary, rather than calling everything "fibre":

• Full fibre: fibre optic cable the whole way to your home. Where it comes indoors, Openreach fits a box called an ONT (optical network terminal). Openreach says the ONT isn't a router; an Ethernet cable links it to your router.
• Part fibre: fibre as far as a cabinet in the street, then the existing copper phone line into your home. If a provider tells you that cabinet is full, our guide to full street cabinets and part fibre explains your options.
• Cable: the network Virgin Media runs.
• Copper: the oldest kind, copper the whole way, usually called ADSL.

What's on offer depends on your exact address, so everything starts with your postcode. For what the boxes on your wall do, our guides to broadband, Wi-Fi, modems and routers and to the full-fibre ONT and your router go further.

Ordering takes minutes once these are sorted:

1. Your address, and what reaches it. Compare deals at your postcode to see what reaches your home, or start from broadband deals by area.
2. Something to get online with. A phone, tablet, laptop or computer with Wi-Fi. With no device at all, ask a local Digital Inclusion Hub: some give out donated devices through Good Things Foundation's National Device Bank, but the charity doesn't supply people directly and says demand is high, so a device isn't guaranteed.
3. An email address and phone number you actually check. BT, for example, asks for up-to-date contact details when you order and sends its updates by email. No email account yet? The free Learn My Way course below shows you how to create one.
4. A bank account in your name. Providers such as Virgin Media take payment by Direct Debit, an instruction that lets them collect what you owe from your bank account; Virgin Media says the account must be in the account holder's own name. Setting one up needs your name and address, your bank's name and address, the account number, the sort code and the name or names on the account.
5. Your landlord's permission, if you rent. Openreach's installation checklist tells tenants to get the landlord's agreement before any drilling, indoors or out. Renters will find more in broadband for renters.
6. A decision on whose name it goes in. See below.

For picking a package, see how to choose a broadband package and comparing deals: what the results do and don't show. Whichever you pick, you're protected by these rules:

• A free contract summary. Under Ofcom's rules you're entitled to a free contract summary before any contract is formed, and that the contract doesn't take effect until you agree to it having received that summary. The information you get beforehand must also state the price, activation charges included. Our guide to your broadband contract summary goes through it line by line.
• Price rises in pounds and pence. From 17 January 2025, providers have had to tell you before you sign exactly what any rise during the contract will be, in money rather than percentages, and when it will happen. New contracts can no longer link rises to inflation.
• The connection type, in plain words. One of the four labels above, never just "fibre".
• The minimum term. BT, for example, offers its broadband on 12-month or 24-month terms. Our guide to choosing a broadband contract length helps you decide.

Each provider runs its own process. The steps below use BT's help pages as a worked example, checked in October 2026; your own confirmation email is the version that counts.

1. You get a confirmation. BT says it agrees an activation or installation date with you, then confirms the details by email or letter. The activation date (often called go-live day) is when your broadband is switched on. You can track the order online or in the My BT app.
2. An engineer visits, or doesn't. See the next section.
3. The router arrives. BT says its hub comes by Royal Mail on a weekday between 7am and 6pm, either the day before go-live or on the day itself, with a text beforehand. If it won't fit the letterbox it may be left in a safe place or with a neighbour.
4. Your broadband goes live. BT says the service can switch on at any point until midnight on your activation date, so no connection by lunchtime doesn't yet mean something has gone wrong.
5. You connect your devices. See "Getting your first device online" below.
6. Billing starts. BT says billing begins the day after activation. A first bill above the agreed monthly price isn't necessarily a mistake: the first broadband bill explained shows what it can include.

Signed up online or over the phone? Then, according to Citizens Advice, you can usually cancel a phone or broadband contract within 14 days without a cancellation charge, although you're likely to be billed for whatever you've used by then. Signing up in person, in a shop for instance, doesn't give you that legal 14-day right. If you do cancel, send back any kit the way the provider tells you. Our guide to the broadband cooling-off period sets out how to cancel in time.

Check these before deciding home broadband isn't affordable:

• Social tariffs. Lower-priced packages for households on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and certain other benefits. Ofcom's list (page last updated 17 August 2026) shows home broadband social tariffs from £12 to £25 a month; its £10 entries are mobile SIM plans. Ofcom adds that the price won't rise mid-contract and there's no fee to leave early. Our guide to broadband social tariffs explains who can apply, and what happens to a social tariff when benefits change looks ahead.
• Your work coach. Citizens Advice says people with a Jobcentre Plus work coach may be able to get six months of free internet, so ask yours.
• Your council. See whether your council can help with broadband bills.

All the options are gathered in free or low-cost ways to get online, and cheap broadband deals shows lower-priced deals at your address.

For complete beginners:

• Learn My Way. A free online course from Good Things Foundation. Its topics include using a touchscreen, keyboard and mouse, creating an email account, staying safe online and spotting scams, searching for jobs, and the basics of video calling. You can work through it alone, or with help at a registered hub.
• Digital Inclusion Hubs. Good Things Foundation's online map finds local hubs that help people use the internet. Its National Digital Inclusion Network has over 8,000 member organisations, offering free digital skills help, free mobile data SIMs through the National Databank (for adults 18 or over in a low-income household without enough internet access) and, where stock allows, devices through the National Device Bank.
• Your local library. GOV.UK says libraries offer free internet access and free learning materials. Its library finder covers England and Wales only; elsewhere, search for your local library service.
• A free qualification (England). Adults aged 19 or over who are assessed as not having essential digital skills can study for an Essential Digital Skills or Digital Functional Skills qualification, at entry level or level 1, fully funded. You usually need to be living in England on the day the course starts. Responsibility for this guidance moved to the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 April 2026, and the page says to keep following it. The National Careers Service (0800 100 900) can point you to local providers.
• Help at home or by phone. AbilityNet's free volunteers, more than 450 of them and all DBS-checked, help older and disabled people with technology at home or by phone (0300 180 0028). Our guide to broadband for older people covers more support.

If one reason you're getting broadband is to study, sitting an online exam at home covers the connection checks worth doing before the day.

Once you're connected:

• Keep the confirmation email and contract summary somewhere safe.
• Write down when your minimum term ends. When it does, you can compare deals at your postcode again, or use our tips on how to haggle with your broadband provider.
• Check your first bill against the price you agreed, and your Direct Debit amount. The Direct Debit Guarantee says the organisation will normally tell you 10 working days before it collects a changed amount, or on a changed date or frequency, unless you've agreed otherwise.
• If you're struggling to pay, or something makes you vulnerable, such as a health condition, tell your provider. Citizens Advice says it should treat you fairly and help you stay connected.