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Now Broadband has a reputation of being a budget yet reliable and quality option. Famous for its on-demand and flexible streaming service, Now is an astute choice for many customers.
They’re powered by Openreach, a broadband network managed by BT, meaning that most homes in the UK have access to Now Broadband.
With Now, you have a small choice of broadband packages, as they only offer three different deals. With that said, you can still bundle in landlines and their streaming services, which is where they become a valuable option.
Now Broadband has the potential to be an excellent option for millions of people, especially those who are looking for a budget deal. However, as there are many different providers you can choose from in the UK, it makes sense first to use Switch My Broadband to compare all the major UK providers in 2024. If Now Broadband still sounds like a good option, here’s a detailed guide on all that you need to know.
Now Broadband is a broadband and streaming provider currently owned by Sky. That’s why, when you get Now TV, you get access to exclusive Sky channels.
Now first launched exclusively as a streaming service and only started to offer broadband in 2016. Since then, it’s grown to become a well-respected and useful budget option for those that need slower speeds to get by.
Now stands out among other providers because they’re the only broadband provider from who you can get broadband without a contract. With Now, you can get the best Now Broadband packages on a rolling agreement that you can cancel anytime.
Now uses the Openreach network, meaning it can deliver both ADSL and fibre broadband to many customers. This availability allows Now Broadband to serve customers in remote and built-up areas, helping them to grow in popularity.
Now is an extremely well-respected brand in the broadband industry, and although it hasn’t even offered broadband for a decade, it’s still garnered a reputation where it can win awards and accolades.
Now Broadband can be a great option for many people, and although Sky owns it, it can ironically be a great alternative to this premium, expensive provider.
With Now Broadband, you can get three different broadband packages, their Brilliant Broadband, Fantastic Fibre, and Superfast Fibre deals. This means that there are not a lot of choices, which keeps getting broadband from Now pretty simple.
From these three packages, you can get speeds that range from 11Mbps up to 64Mbps. This means that Now Broadband only really provides slower speeds, meaning they’re not a suitable provider for those that require a quicker service. In fact, when compared to Sky, Virgin and even BT, which can supply speeds of 150Mbps and more, Now Broadband pails in comparison.
With these Now Broadband deals, you can also add TV and landline capabilities to them for extra. These bundles can be pretty good and make these packages more valuable.
Although Now likes to promote its streaming platform as part of a bundled deal, it is possible to get broadband from Now on its own. This package gives you broadband with unlimited speeds and nothing else.
In reality, this package isn’t an authentic broadband-only deal, as you still require a phone line to be connected to your house. This is because that phone line is used to provide broadband.
You won’t have the ability to use your phone line, though, which is why line rental is included in the price, and you won’t be charged more for it.
Getting a bundled broadband and landline deal is easy with Now and can be something that you add to your broadband package during checkout.
With Now, all of their packages include a pay-as-you-use feature. This means you’ll only be charged for the minutes you use each month. The tariffs for each call will differ depending on when you’re calling and to what location, but on average, it costs 22p a minute.
If you’re making many calls when on the pay-as-you-use option, you could be spending a lot of money each month. Instead, it may be better to have their evening and weekend calls package instead. This package allows you to make calls to UK mobiles and landlines for free after 7 pm on weekdays and all day during the weekend. This package costs an extra £4 a month.
If you want to make calls unrestricted, then Now Broadband’s anytime calls package costs £8 a month and allows you to call UK numbers without any restrictions.
However, remember that you will still be charged extra for every minute you chat with an overseas number.
One of Now Broadband’s most significant selling points is its streaming TV option. Unlike Sky and BT, you do not get a TV Box with Now that includes all your subscribed channels. Instead, you get access to the Now TV app, which has all the box sets and live TV channels you’re paying for.
Now’s unique feature is that you can opt-in and out of TV whenever you want. This means that you can get their entertainment membership for one month to watch a new show on Sky Atlantic, and then once you finish it, pause your subscription. The same can be done for sports, and you can also purchase passes for single matches and events.
You can get Now TV separately, which is how you can enjoy their flexible contracts or add it to your broadband package to bundle it together.
You can add three packages: Now’s Entertainment Membership, which gives you access to exclusive TV channels; Now’s cinema package, which provides you with access to Sky Cinema to watch the latest movies; and Now’s Sports Membership which allows you access to Sky Sports.
Each package comes in at a different price point, with the entertainment package costing an additional £9.99, the cinema package costing £4.99, and the sports package costing £33.99 a month. However, they do run regular promotions and offers on this package.
You’ll pay an extra £59 a month on top of your broadband if you get all these. That may seem expensive, but it’s a lot cheaper than Sky or Virgin, and you have the option to just select the packages that appeal to you.
Just be aware that if you decide to bundle in a TV package with your broadband, you will be locked into a 12-month contract and won’t be able to cancel it before that time.
One of the best things you can do to help you figure out if a broadband deal or provider is as good as they say is to look at reviews. There are many websites where you can look at comments and reviews left by current and past customers of Now Broadband to see what you can expect from them.
Reviews provide a clear insight into what may be going well for a business and illuminate some potential issues you could find. They can also be used as trust signals to help you decide which broadband provider you should opt for.
By looking at both the average review scores and some isolated comments, you’ll better understand how quality Now Broadband is.
The following is an in-depth look at Now Broadband’s performance on the leading review website, Trustpilot. This website gets a lot of reviews daily and aggregates all the reviews to give each company an average score out of 5 stars. Trustpilot is trustworthy and doesn’t have many fake reviews.
If you want to see how Now Broadband compares with some of the other major broadband providers in the UK, you can see each company’s rating on our switching guide found on Switch My Broadband.
Now Broadband has a pretty damning score of only 1.4 stars out of 5. This is low for any business; however, compared to other broadband providers, this is the worst score out of the ones we reviewed on Switch My Broadband.
It’s important to clarify that although this is a bad score and puts Now Broadband as the lowest provider, they may not be as bad as this score suggests. Most broadband providers struggle to get a score over two stars on Trustpilot. This doesn’t mean that all broadband companies are bad; instead, it indicates that they are rated harshly.
Many people view broadband as an essential service, requiring it to get through their day-to-day activities. This means that issues such as slowdowns and delays are more impacting to a customer’s life, thus making things more stressful for them. Other essential businesses like gas companies and water services also have poor scores.
That’s why it’s worthwhile only comparing the scores of broadband providers with other broadband providers. When you do this, you’ll see that Now Broadband is only slightly worse than Sky and BT.
You can learn more about Now’s performance by looking deeper into how reviewers rated the business. Of the over 11,000 reviews, 22% gave them 5-star reviews. Plus, they also received a percentage of 16% in 4-star reviews. This means that over a third of reviews have been positive about Now Broadband. This significantly outperforms many of the other broadband providers reviewed on Switch My Broadband.
Only 42% of reviewers gave a 1-star review, meaning that, despite a poor overall score, Now Broadband is an outstanding and helpful service that may deserve a better overall rating than it’s been given.
Despite having a good ratio of 5-star reviews, especially compared to other broadband providers, many reviews still have consistent complaints against Now Broadband that illustrate that there may be a few issues. It’s essential to be aware of these potential flaws in Now Broadband deals to decide whether you’ll switch to the provider.
One consistent complaint against Now Broadband is the quality of its streaming service. Although you can get Now Broadband without any extras, most will consider Now because you can get cheap access to exclusive channels and shows.
Many complaints against the streaming aspect of Now state that the quality of streams is poor compared to what’s on offer from Sky and Virgin. Many claims that you can’t get 4K streaming or ultra HD, which reduces the value of the service, as it costs similar to other platforms that give you this option.
More complaints continue to criticise the lack of content from Now Broadband and TV. Now indeed has the smallest library of shows and TV, which can be frustrating if you’re looking for more options.
It’s also worth highlighting comments that mention poor quality broadband service. When looking at the reviews, many customers regularly experience slowdowns and signal drops intermittently. This suggests that Now Broadband deals may not be the most secure you can get and that they do not guarantee as high minimum speeds as some leading broadband providers.
Finally, the most common complaint against Now Broadband is against their customer service team. Most broadband providers get a lot of negative reviews against their customer service team; however, Now Broadband does seem to have a lot more than usual.
Many say that the team is not helpful, refuse to pass requests to members of staff who are more experienced to help, and some even bring up instances of having calls disconnected without a solution being found. If you have issues with your broadband from Now, you could have a negative experience getting it sorted with their staff.
Over 20% of reviewers gave Now Broadband a 5-star review, far greater than what many other providers receive. From these reviews, it’s clear that there are many things Now does well and gets praised for constantly.
Many positive reviews talk about how issue-free Now Broadband has been for them, stating that they’ve been a customer for a long time and not experienced any issues. This suggests that Now could be a reliable brand, and problems only occur once you need support from someone. Many also compare Now to other broadband providers, stating that their speed and service are performing better than BT, EE, and Vodafone, which are all more expensive options.
Plenty of other reviews also praise the value for money that Now Broadband and TV are for them. Although you get less in terms of channels from the likes of Sky, you pay significantly less and still have access to the main channels. Reviewers also state that the quality of broadband and streaming is good for the price, but be aware that you can’t access extremely high-definition content.
In addition to customer reviews, another indication of how good a broadband provider is are the recent awards it may have won. Awards are given out by various bodies and companies and indicate that a provider is better in a particular category than others.
If the customer reviews are making you anxious about getting Now Broadband, perhaps looking at some of the awards they’ve won can help you decide if they’re right for you.
In 2022, Now has won many awards from prestigious organisations, indicating that it’s a quality brand. In the Uswitch awards, perhaps the most notable annual awards for the industry, Now Broadband won the Best Value Broadband Provider. This means that Now broadband offers the cheapest packages while also giving you great value for money. There are plenty of cheap Now Broadband deals that you can get, and with this award signalling their excellence, you can trust Now to deliver an excellent service.
Now Broadband also won a slew of awards from Choose. Now Broadband won awards from this award company for being the Best Value and Budget broadband provider, backing up the prize they won from Uswitch. In addition, Now Broadband also won the award for being the Best Overall broadband provider.
This recognition clearly indicates that Now Broadband is a provider you should consider when looking for broadband deals.
Compared to other broadband providers, Now doesn’t have as many choices regarding broadband packages. This means that you may not be able to find a package from Now Broadband that gives you the speeds that you want, and when compared to many other fibre broadband providers, you won’t get speeds that are considered ultrafast.
If you’re a light to average internet user, then the speeds you can get from Now will be fine, and fewer package choices can make things simpler. Here’s a deeper look at what’s included in the Now Broadband deals to help determine which ones are best for you and your circumstances.
Despite the lack of choice, because Now Broadband allows you to add various streaming and TV options to your package, it can make figuring out the value of each package a bit more confusing. To streamline things, all the Now Broadband deals mentioned below will be for their broadband-only packages.
There will be information on how each package looks when you add streaming to the mix, but for a more in-depth look at Now broadband and TV deals, you can click here to compare not only what Now offers but all the other providers as well on Switch My Broadband.
Do be aware that the prices quoted here may be different for you when you choose Now Broadband. The cost of a package and its average speed can be influenced a lot by factors such as where you live. Some rural areas, for example, will have to pay more than those in a city location for the same package.
To ensure consistency within the article, the prices quoted for all the packages are for a property in Essex. This location was selected because it’s near a major city while still being fairly rural, and it also has access to all the plans offered by Now Broadband.
Price: £18 a month
Average Speed: 11Mbps
The cheapest package you can get from Now Broadband is their Brilliant Broadband option. This is an ADSL type of broadband, meaning it’s sent to you via the copper wires in your landline. This is why Now Broadband requires you to have a phone line installed in your home.
When you get this broadband package, you can expect a maximum speed of 11Mbps. This speed is pretty low compared to modern standards, but it should still be fine for light internet users who want to browse the web, send videos, and check social media.
If you live in a household with two or more people, this broadband speed may be a little low for you, and it may struggle to handle people using the broadband on multiple devices.
With this broadband package, there is no activation fee, helping to keep the costs down and to ensure that this package is good value for money. With that said, there is a £5 delivery fee to cover the costs of getting the Wi-Fi router to your home. Plus, if you don’t currently have a landline connected to your property, you may have to pay to get that installed too.
You get unlimited downloads when getting this package, which is one of the many cheap Now Broadband deals. This means there is no limit to what you can download and stream as long as the broadband can handle it. You won’t be charged extra for going over a specific limit, which is great at keeping the costs down.
Costing only £18 per month, this is easily one of the cheapest broadband deals on the market across all the major providers. Despite being cheap, it may not be one of the best Now Broadband packages because you don’t get a good speed.
If you want to add Now TV to this package, it’ll cost you an additional £9.99 a month for their entertainment membership. This gives you access to a few Sky channels and other boxsets, although you’ll have to pay extra if you want to watch sport.
Thankfully, you can get sports bundles on a pay-as-you-go service, meaning that you pay for the games and events that matter to you.
Price: £22 a month
Average Speed: 36Mbps
Now Broadband’s middle-of-the-road package is their Fab Fibre deal. This hybrid FTTC fibre connection allows it to give you faster speeds than what’s available on Brilliant Broadband.
This deal sends fibre broadband from the source to your on-street connection box. A copper wired phone line from this box is still used to get the broadband to your home. This slows it down and stops the broadband from being super fast.
With that said, this package can give you speeds of up to 36Mbps. This speed is plenty fast enough for a single user and allows you to stream content and online game. It still may struggle when multiple users are using the broadband, especially if there are more than two, but it should still provide a good level of coverage for day-to-day usage.
This broadband package has no activation fee, helping to make it a good value option. It also gives you access to unlimited downloads, meaning that you won’t be charged extra for your broadband usage. This allows you to use your broadband freely.
This package has a minimum contract of 12 months, which is much shorter than many other contracts offered by other providers. You also can get this broadband package on a pay-monthly basis. You will have to pay a £60 one-off activation fee, but once you do that, you will be free to leave Now Broadband without any extra costs, which is great for customers who like switching to find the best deals.
TV can be added to this package for an additional £9.99 a month. This gives you access to Now’s entertainment membership, which gives you access to various channels and shows their app. Getting sports will cost a bit more, but it’s still much cheaper than getting sports coverage from Sky or BT.
Despite being well-priced at £22 a month, this isn’t one of the best Now Broadband packages available. This is because there’s a much better value option that gives you a lot more or the same price.
Price: £22 a month
Average Speed: 63Mbps
Now Broadband’s fastest deal is also its best value one. This is because, with Super Fibre, you can get almost double the speeds from their Fab Fibre package for the same amount.
Costing just £22 a month, which is significantly cheaper than other broadband providers offering similar speeds, you can get an average speed of 63Mbps. This can handle most households allowing you to stream and game on multiple devices without much risk of buffering. The combination of the price and what you get makes this one of the best Now Broadband packages available.
If you’re looking to get Now TV with your broadband package, this is the deal that’s best suited for it. This is because these speeds are best suited to watching content on multiple devices, meaning that you can get the most out of Now TV with this package.
Do be aware that 63Mbps still may not be enough for heavy internet users in a household of more than four. If you’re in a situation like this, looking at other providers offering greater speeds may be worthwhile.
With this broadband deal, you get unlimited downloads, meaning there are no extra fees and no activation charge.
You can add Now TV to this package starting from £9.99 a month for their entertainment package, and it’s also possible to get sports added to your service for an additional fee.
This is Now Broadband’s most popular package, and that’s because it gives you the best value for money. If 63Mbps is enough for you – which it will be for most households – then this is a broadband package that you should seriously consider.
There are plenty of good reasons why you should switch to Now Broadband. It is a multi-award-winning service and one of the cheapest broadband options you can get in the UK, making it great for those on a budget looking to save without compromising quality.
Now Broadband has the potential to be great value, as their cheap Now Broadband deals start at just £18 a month, which is considerably more affordable than many other competitors. With that, you can also add in quality streaming, which gives you access to multiple Sky channels for a fraction of the price.
Now Broadband is also easily one of the most flexible providers on the market. Their contracts are only 12 months, which is a lot less than many other options, and you can also be put on a rolling contract that you can leave at any time. This gives you options if you’re in a position where you’re moving home, and it can also be helpful for those that like to switch broadband providers regularly because you’re not locked into a contract.
Now Broadband uses the Openreach network, which is widely available in the UK, and most households can get it. By not having many restrictions, Now can serve a vast amount of customers, meaning that it’s likely that you’ll be able to get broadband from Now no matter where you live.
They’re one of the few broadband providers who are still offering ADSL connections, which is great for properties that do not have fibre lines installed in their area. Alternatively, you can also get fibre from Now, meaning that whatever type of broadband you need, Now has options that can cater to everyone.
Their bundling options are also straightforward, as you can include calls and TV memberships. Now requires a landline to supply your broadband, so regardless of if you’re getting a broadband-only or broadband and landline package, you’ll still be connected and have the option to use the landline on a pay-as-you-go deal at the very least.
The biggest thing going against Now Broadband is that it doesn’t cater to those looking for more premium options. Its broadband speeds only go as high as 63Mbps. This is good enough for most households; however, it may struggle to handle families with multiple streamers and gamers who want to download content simultaneously. It may also struggle when streaming in 4K or ultra high definition.
Plus, although having the option to have one-month rolling contracts is excellent for flexibility, this option is vastly more expensive than simply getting a contract. This means that you could be paying more than you have to enjoy this level of flexibility.
It can also be said that Now Broadband can be a little bit outdated when compared to other services. Its router can be a bit old-fashioned, and because of that, it is more prone to drops in broadband speed than others. It’s also a pretty simple broadband service, with not many other additional perks like Wi-Fi boosters or things like that.
Finally, despite having a well-priced TV service, it isn’t as robust or comprehensive as what you can get with Sky or Virgin. To start, the membership operates through an app, which is fine if you have a Smart TV or a Google Chromecast, but it can be a pain if you have no means to access that App on your TV.
Having an app does mean that you can watch Now TV on devices like your phone or tablet, but most other broadband providers that offer TV also come with this feature. Now TV also doesn’t give you access to Freeview channels, which is a significant disadvantage against other providers.
Now Broadband offers speeds from 11Mbps up to 64Mbps on their three packages. Depending on your situation, these speeds may or may not be fast enough to handle your usage.
If you’re a light internet user, which means you use the internet to browse emails, check websites, and shop online, then a speed of 11Mbps should be enough to handle that demand.
If you’re looking to stream video, which most Now Broadband customers are, or if you’re in a household with two or more people, you may need speeds of at least 34Mbps.
If you have a larger household and multiple devices streaming and gaming online, then you will need Now’s fastest speed of 64Mbps.
However, even that speed may not be enough to handle your demands without slowdowns and buffering, especially if you want to stream in 4K or Ultra HD. If you have higher demands, choosing a different broadband provider that can provide faster speeds in your area may be best.
You can see which providers are available by searching online, and you can also get an idea of the speeds you currently use by performing a speed test on Switch My Broadband.
Now Broadband delivers two types of broadband, one called ADSL, also known as standard, and one called fibre optic, which can be either FTTC or FTTP.
These two types of broadband differ in how they connect your home to the internet. With ADSL, a landline connects your home to your broadband source. This means that a copper wire uses electricity to send your data across. Copper wires aren’t the most efficient way to send data, so you can only get speeds of up to 11Mbps with an ADSL connection.
You need a phone line connected to your home to get ADSL, which is why Now requires you to have one installed when getting their broadband.
ADSL is widely available and is powered by the Openreach network, which was put in place by BT. Although most people can get it, ADSL connections are now getting phased out for more fibre options. This is because as the infrastructure improves, more and more homes can get quicker speeds, making ADSL obsolete.
Fibre is different because instead of copper wires, cables filled with glass fragments are used instead. These glass fragments transport light signals instead of electricity, which transports data much faster. There are two types of fibre, FTTC and FTTP, although Now only use FTTC.
FTTC is where these fibre optic cables are used to transport data from the source to your on-street connection box. From these boxes, copper wires are still used to get broadband to your home. This significantly slows down the download speeds, which is why FTTC fibre broadband can’t achieve more than 64Mbps.
FTTP is known as full-fibre and is where a fibre cable is connected directly to your property. This gives you incredible speeds, although it’s a technology that Now Broadband is yet to adopt.
The set-up process for Now Broadband is pretty straightforward, especially if you already have a landline connected to your home. For most, you’ll have to sign up for the service and then wait for your router to arrive in the post. It’ll usually fit through your letter box, meaning you don’t even have to be home to receive it.
Once the router has arrived, you need to follow the instructions to plug it in. Now makes it very obvious where to plug what, and they colour code the cables and ports.
Once plugged in, you’ll have to wait for your connection to go live. This may take a few hours, but you should have broadband within a day.
Be aware that when getting Now Broadband, your connection may be a little temperamental as it stabilises. It should sort itself out within a few days.
Although you can occasionally find deals that reduce the prices of some broadband packages, Now is well known for not offering much in terms of free add-ons and incentives.
For example, it’s unlikely that you’ll be offered a free period for your subscription or vouchers, which you can often get from other providers.
This may be frustrating, but it does mean that you don’t have to wait around for deals to get the most out of Now Broadband. It’s cheap, with or without sales, meaning that you don’t have to rely on discounts to get good value for money.
Now Broadband uses the Openreach network, which is widely available in the UK. This means that it’s very likely that you’ll be able to get Now Broadband in your area, regardless of if you live in a rural area or a city.
Be aware that depending on your location, the terms of your packages may change. For example, if you live in a rural area or one that isn’t well connected, you may only get a guaranteed speed of 36Mbps on the Superfast Fibre plan, while others might get a guarantee of 45Mbps in a more built-up area.
Although you can likely get Now Broadband anywhere, you may not have access to their quality speeds, so it’s worth checking first.