BT broadband review

Britain's biggest broadband provider hasn't always been Britain's best broadband provider. In previous Which? surveys, BT has often fallen below average. But with improving availability of faster speeds, including lightning-fast full fibre broadband, could BT have become one of the UK's best broadband providers? Our latest customer survey reveals how BT broadband customers rated their BT broadband service.

Each year we survey thousands of UK broadband customers to check how they rate each big provider's speed, reliability, customer service and value for money. Read on for our review, or use the free broadband comparison service from Which? to find the best BT broadband deal for you.

BT broadband review

Below you’ll find a range of key information about BT broadband. But Which? members can log in to read our full review, including: 

• A full breakdown of how its customers rated it for key factors, such as the speed and reliability of its broadband
• Quotes from real BT broadband customers on their experiences
• A round-up of all of BT's broadband deals
• Access to our BT broadband satisfaction survey results.
  
  

We'll tell you exactly what you need to know about all the UK's biggest broadband providers, and help you avoid signing up for a deal you'll come to regret.

If you're already a member, log in now, or join Which? today.

Discover which providers impressed their customers most in our latest survey - we reveal the best and worst broadband providers

BT broadband deals

BT offers broadband and home phone deals, or broadband, home phone and pay TV. Until recently, to have a broadband deal with BT meant having a phone line too. However, that's no longer the case - changes to landline phone services in the UK mean that it's now possible to get broadband-only services if you prefer. BT's broadband deals now have an 24-month contract as standard, which may be too long for some.

BT broadband users can enjoy access to TV sports content through the BT app or by streaming it online. This costs £10 a month if you have a BT broadband package, although there are sometimes free offers available. BT's deals also give free and unlimited access to the company's wi-fi network. This comprises five million hotspots in public places across the UK.

If you want a package that includes a pay-TV service, read our BT TV and broadband provider review

Our guide to the best broadband deals includes top picks from our experts on the best value broadband

How much is BT broadband?

BT offers a wide range of packages, with various combinations of TV and premium channels alongside its broadband service.

You can view the entire range of BT broadband packages, or check the latest prices for broadband-only deals below.

BT broadband speeds

BT has the best broadband availability in the country. The chances are that if any company can supply broadband to your house, it will be BT.

BT offers standard ADSL speeds (average speed 10Mbps) to those who can't access fibre, although it no longer advertises standard deals on its website. Instead, it focuses on fibre-optic connections with average speeds between 36Mbps and 67Mbps, depending on the package you take. 

Around two thirds of homes can also access ultrafast BT broadband via fibre-optic technology called 'G.fast' or 'fibre to the premises' (FTTP). BT's full fibre offerings have average speeds of 145Mbps, 300Mbps, 500Mbps and 910Mbps, depending on the package.

BT’s ultrafast packages also come with a speed guarantee, whereby you can claim £20 if your speed falls below a set rate.

To compare prices and see more details on each package, read our BT broadband package reviews

Does BT put up broadband prices every year?

Yes - so if you do decide to take up a broadband contract with BT, keep in mind that it will raise the price of your deal at the end of March each year. It will base that increase on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation as published in January and add on an additional 3.9%. This meant an increase of 14.4% in 2023.

What is the latest BT router?

BT supplies customers with its Smart Hub (launched in July 2016) for superfast fibre customers, or the Smart Hub 2 for Ultrafast Fibre Plus customers. These are free, apart from a £9.99 postage and packaging charge.

We've tested the BT Smart Hub and Smart Hub 2 and were impressed. They're some of the best ISP-supplied routers currently available. Find out more in our BT Smart Hub review and BT Smart Hub 2 review.

What is BT Complete Wi-Fi?

BT Complete Wi-Fi is an add-on service that includes a mesh wi-fi extender system. If you sign up, BT will send you a special 'disc' to place in your home to extend the signal of your BT Smart Hub 2. If you need more than one, if will give you up to three total.

It costs an extra £10-12 per month and comes with BT's 'Complete Wi-Fi Guarantee' - if you can't get signal everywhere in your home (excluding outbuildings and gardens) you'll get £100 back.

Find out more about the system - and what our experts make of it - in our BT Complete Wi-Fi review. 

It's also possible to buy the system separately, though you won't get the associated guarantee - it's worth weighing it up against other products using our wi-fi extender reviews.

What is BT Hybrid Connect?

This is a back-up system to allow you to stay online if there is a broadband outage. If you sign up to Hybrid Connect, you'll be sent a second router that can connect to mobile broadband. It uses 4G services via the EE mobile phone network to keep you connected if your usual broadband service isn't working for some reason. It costs £7 per month on a rolling contract.

Your back-up connection will be up to 30Mbps, depending on where you live and how busy the network is. Your Smart Hub 2 router will know how to connect to it automatically when there's an outage.

Keep in mind that the Hybrid Connect router still needs power to work, so you won't be able to connect if there's a power cut.

How to contact BT broadband

Bookmark our BT customer contact page which contains helpful links to service status updates, customer service phone numbers and social media accounts.