Broadband Awards 2024

Author: Alex Tofts

Last updated: 17 September 2024

Choosing a new broadband provider isn't always easy. Our Broadband Awards can help you make the best choice and find a service that's right for you.

For this year's Broadband Awards, we tested over 413,000 broadband connections. We also queried thousands of broadband customers across the country about the experience they've received with their provider.

With all this information in hand, we're sure you can make more confident decisions when switching your broadband supplier.

Best Provider

Voted by customers

Winner: YouFibre

Score: 93%

This year’s best broadband provider of the year is YouFibre. The altnet proved worthy winners, scoring exceptionally across all the customer poll, coming no lower than 2nd in any category. YouFibre is an alnet, which means they have built their own network. If you’re lucky enough to be in an area they cover, you’ll find fantastic value deals with speeds starting at 150Mb.

2nd place: Trooli

Score: 91%

3rd place: toob

Score: 88%

Best Provider full results

• Winner: YouFibre (93%)

  2. Trooli (91%)

  3.  toob (88%)

  4. Zen Internet (88%)

  5. Truespeed (86%)

  6. Community Fibre (86%)

  7. Plusnet (80%)

  8. Three (75%)

  9. Hyperoptic (74%)

  10. Utility Warehouse (73%)

  11. NOW Broadband (73%)

  12. Origin (72%)

  13. BT (70%)

  14. TalkTalk (69%)

  15. Sky (69%)

  16. EE (69%)

  17. Vodafone (69%)

  18. Onestream (68%)

  19. Gigaclear (68%)

  20. Shell Energy Broadband (66%)

  21. BRSK (65%)

  22. Virgin Media (65%)

  23. WeFibre (61%)

  24. Airband (59%)

  25. KCOM (56%)

  26. SSE (56%)

  27. Lit Fibre (52%)

Best Widely Available Provider

Voted by customers

Winner: Zen Internet

Score: 88%

Zen are frequent historic finalists in our Broadband Awards, and 2024 is no exception. Zen scored consistently well across all customer choice categories and offer a great customer experience. Zen use the Openreach network, is a certified BCorp company, and promise not to raise your price mid-contract.

2nd place: Plusnet

Score: 80%

3rd place: Three

Score: 75%

• Winner: Zen Internet (88%)

  2. Plusnet (80%)

  3. Three (75%)

  4. Utility Warehouse (73%)

  5. NOW Broadband (73%)

  6. Origin (72%)

  7. BT (70%)

  8. TalkTalk (69%)

  9. Sky (69%)

  10. EE (69%)

  11. Vodafone (69%)

  12. Onestream (68%)

  13. Shell Energy Broadband (66%)

  14. Virgin Media (65%)

  15. KCOM (56%)

  16. SSE (56%)

Best Altnet

Voted by customers

Winner: YouFibre

Score: 93%

No surprise YouFibre takes home our award for best altnet as it won Best Provider for 2024. It’s customers voted it best overall and is our first ever winner for the category.

What is an altnet you may ask? An altnet is an independent provider which builds and operates its own network outside infrastructures such as Openreach or City Fibre. Curious to know more about altnets? Check out our guide to altnets in the UK.

2nd place: Trooli

Score: 91%

3rd place: toob

Score: 88%

• Winner: YouFibre (93%)

  2. Trooli (91%)

  3.  toob (88%)

  4. Truespeed (86%)

  5. Community Fibre (86%)

  6. Hyperoptic (74%)

  7. Gigaclear (68%)

  8. BRSK (65%)

  9. WeFibre (61%)

  10. Airband (59%)

  11. Lit Fibre (52%)

Fastest Provider

Based on customer speed test data

Winner: Brillband

Speed: 523Mb (average download speed for customers)

The UK’s fastest provider award goes to Brillband. The Glaswegian-based internet provider blew away the competition, averaging a rapid 523Mb - more than 100Mb quicker than 2nd place. They keep things simple and only offer one product, their Ultra-fast 900Mb full-fibre broadband, which retails for £35 a month.

2nd place: Fibrecast

403Mb average download speed

3rd place: Gigabit Networks

375Mb average download speed

• Winner: Brillband (523Mb)

  2. Fibrecast (403Mb)

  3. Gigabit Networks (375Mb)

  4. Connect Fibre (361Mb)

  5. Lightspeed Broadband (350Mb)

  6. toob (349Mb)

  7. Squirrel Internet (331Mb)

  8. Giganet (304Mb)

  9. YouFibre (298Mb)

  10. No One Internet (293Mb)

  11. Box Broadband (291Mb)

  12. Community Fibre (287Mb)

  13. MS3 Networks (280Mb)

  14. Digital Infrastructure (277Mb)

  15. Broadband for the Rural North (270Mb)

  16. BRSK (269Mb)

  17. Zzoomm (266Mb)

  18. Internetty (261Mb)

  19. Purefibre Internet (261Mb)

  20. Hey Broadband (260Mb)

  21. Upp (250Mb)

  22. Full Fibre (240Mb)

  23. WightFibre (237Mb)

  24. F & W Networks (233Mb)

  25. Grain (233Mb)

  26. Jurassic Fibre (232Mb)

  27. Octaplus Networks (231Mb)

  28. Lit Fibre (230Mb)

  29. Broadband for Surrey Hills (222Mb)

  30. Trooli (217Mb)

  31. Hyperoptic (207Mb)

  32. G.Network (206Mb)

  33. Lightning Fibre (204Mb)

  34. Virgin Media (201Mb)

  35. Voneus (189Mb)

  36. TrueSpeed (181Mb)

  37. GoFibre (180Mb)

  38. Wessex Internet (175Mb)

  39. Electronic Communities (172Mb)

  40. Gigaclear (172Mb)

  41. Gigaloch (172Mb)

  42. Wildanet (167Mb)

  43. Swish Fibre (166Mb)

  44. Lothian Broadband (123Mb)

  45. Zen Internet (144Mb)

  46. TxRx Communications (144Mb)

  47. County Broadband (142Mb)

  48. Link Broadbands (142Mb)

  49. Cambridge Fibre (136Mb)

  50. Rocket Fibre (131Mb)

  51. Fibrus Networks (121Mb)

  52. Caleycom (113Mb)

  53. Ogi (106Mb)

  54. Vodafone (105Mb)

  55. BT (104Mb)

  56. SSE (102Mb)

  57. Persimmon Homes (Fibre Nest) (100Mb)

  58. Country Connect (99Mb)

  59. 1310 (97Mb)

  60. Airband (96Mb)

  61. KCOM (94Mb)

  62. Alnwick Computerware (82Mb)

  63. Lumen (80Mb)

  64. Starlink (80Mb)

  65. Fastnet (81Mb)

  66. Connexin (73Mb)

  67. Andrews & Arnold (73Mb)

  68. Three (71Mb)

  69. Sky (69Mb)

  70. Internet Central (43Mb)

  71. Scotnet (60Mb)

  72. Internexus/Supanet (55Mb)

  73. Plusnet (53Mb)

  74. TalkTalk (52Mb)

  75. Quickline (51Mb)

  76. EE (46Mb)

  77. Internexus (41Mb)

  78. WiFi Scotland (35Mb)

  79. Vodafone (mobile) (34Mb)

  80. Comms West (33Mb)

  81. Lycamobile (28Mb)

  82. O2 (28Mb)

  83. WiSpire (19Mb)

  84. HUBBNET (15Mb)

  85. Loop Scorpio (7Mb)

  86. uno Communications (7Mb)

Fastest Widely Available Provider

Based on customer speed test data

Winner: Virgin Media

Speed: 201Mb (average download speed for customers)

The telecoms giant is notorious for being at the forefront of delivering high-speed broadband to our homes. The majority of the nation can enjoy fast broadband delivered through Virgin Media’s own cable. Advertised speeds start at 132Mb and if you have the need for speed, deals are available with speeds up to 1.1Gb.

Back in 2021, Virgin Media merged with O2. If you have Virgin Media as your home broadband provider and if anyone in your household is an O2 Pay Monthly customer, you can take advantage of exclusive benefits such as speed boosts or additional data.

2nd place: Zen Internet

144Mb average download speed

3rd place: Vodafone

105Mb average download speed

• Winner: Virgin Media (201Mb)

  2. Zen Internet (144Mb)

  3. Vodafone (105Mb)

  4. BT (104Mb)

  5. SSE (102Mb)

  6. Starlink (80Mb)

  7. Andrews & Arnold (73Mb)

  8. Three (71Mb)

  9. Sky (69Mb)

  10. Plusnet (53Mb)

  11. TalkTalk (52Mb)

  12. EE (46Mb)

  13. uno Communications (7Mb)

Fastest Wireless Provider

Winner: Starlink

Speed: 80Mb (average download speed for customers)

Elon Musk’s low-orbit satellite broadband takes home the Fastest Wireless Provider for the second year in a row. However, speeds have dropped by 7Mb, compared to 2023. A reason behind this is as more people subscribe to the network, the channel will become more congested and bring down the average speed.

The service doesn’t come cheap, to get the hardware is £460 (or £150 if you don’t mind refurbished kit) and £75 a month. However, unlike its competitors, Starlink is available everywhere in the UK, most of Europe and vast areas over the world.

2nd place: Three

71Mb (average download speed for customers)

3rd place: EE

46Mb (average download speed for customers)

• Winner: Starlink (80Mb)

  2. Three (71Mb)

  3. EE (46Mb)

  4. Internexus (41Mb)

  5. WiFi Scotland (35Mb)

  6. Vodafone (34Mb)

  7. Lycamobile (28Mb)

  8. O2 (28Mb)

  9. WiSpire (19Mb)

  10. HUBBNET (15Mb)

  11. Loop Scorpio (7Mb)

Speed Satisfaction Award

Voted by customers

Winner: Trooli

Score: 97%

Customers of Trooli voted the provider best for delivering on the speed they signed up for. The altnet is steadily expanding its network, covering towns and cities across the South and East Coast and to areas up in Lanarkshire. The provider has three reasonably price packages to choose from, speeds start at 150Mb and go upto 900Mb.

Trooliand is one of many other alt-nets taking the initiative of promising to never raise prices mid-contract.

2nd place: YouFibre

Score: 95%

3rd place: toob

Score: 88%

Full results

• Winner: Trooli (97%)

  2. YouFibre (95%)

  3. toob (88%)

  4. Community Fibre (88%)

  5. Zen (87%)

  6. Hyperoptic (81%)

  7. True Speed (80%)

  8. Plusnet (77%)

  9. Origin (75%)

  10. Three (75%)

  11. Gigaclear (75%)

  12. Airband (75%)

  13. KCOM (73%)

  14. BT (72%)

  15. Virgin Media (69%)

  16. NOW Broadband (69%)

  17. Vodafone (69%)

  18. Utility Warehouse (68%)

  19. TalkTalk (67%)

  20. Sky (66%)

  21. WeFibre (65%)

  22. EE (64%)

  23. Shell Energy Broadband (62%)

  24. Lit Fibre (61%)

  25. Other (please specify) (53%)

  26. BRSK (50%)

  27. SSE (37%)

Best Value for Money Award

Voted by customers

Winner: toob

Score: 91%

toobs 900Mb broadband offers fantastic bang for your buck, retailing for £25 a month with no setup costs. The provider also has comitted to no mid-contract price rises and the package has the benefit of offering a symmetrical service (meaning identical download and upload speeds) - perfect if you frequently have to upload hefty files.

2nd place: YouFibre

Score 91%

3rd place: Community Fibre

Score: 86%

Full results

• Winner: toob (91%)

  2. YouFibre (91%)

  3. Community Fibre (86%)

  4. Three (81%)

  5. Trooli (81%)

  6. Hyperoptic (79%)

  7. Zen (77%)

  8. Plusnet (74%)

  9. Gigaclear (74%)

  10. NOW Broadband (73%)

  11. Truespeed (73%)

  12. Airband (72%)

  13. Lit Fibre (71%)

  14. Onestream (70%)

  15. Utility Warehouse (70%)

  16. TalkTalk (68%)

  17. Shell Energy Broadband (65%)

  18. BRSK (64%)

  19. Vodafone (63%)

  20. WeFibre (62%)

  21. Sky (61%)

  22. BT (61%)

  23. Other (please specify) (60%)

  24. EE (59%)

  25. Virgin Media (57%)

  26. SSE (55%)

  27. KCOM (45%)

Best Customer Care

Voted by customers

Winner: YouFibre

Score: 95%

Customer care and service is a crucial aspect for any decent broadband provider. We’re proud to award YouFibre as this year’s provider for Best Customer Care.

2nd place: Trooli

Score 94%

3rd place: Zen

Score: 89%

Full results

• Winner: YouFibre (95%)

  2. Trooli (94%)

  3. Zen (89%)

  4. toob (84%)

  5. Plusnet (82%)

  6. Truespeed (81%)

  7. Three (79%)

  8. Community Fibre (76%)

  9. NOW Broadband (71%)

  10. Utility Warehouse (70%)

  11. BT (70%)

  12. Sky (70%)

  13. Lit Fibre (69%)

  14. Gigaclear (69%)

  15. EE (68%)

  16. TalkTalk (66%)

  17. KCOM (65%)

  18. Vodafone (64%)

  19. BRSK (64%)

  20. Hyperoptic (62%)

  21. SSE (62%)

  22. Other (please specify) (59%)

  23. Virgin Media (59%)

  24. WeFibre (58%)

  25. Shell Energy Broadband (58%)

  26. Airband (55%)

  27. Onestream (48%)

Most Reliable Provider

Voted by customers

Winner: Trooli

Score: 95%

There's nothing more frustrating than being hit by broadband or Wi-Fi issues. So many of us now rely on our home broadband connection for work, on top of our growing digital demands. Trooli takes home our award as the Most Reliable Broadband Provider.

2nd place: YouFibre

Score: 95%

3rd place: Community Fibre

Score: 92%

Full results

• Winner: Trooli (95%)

  2. YouFibre (95%)

  3. Community Fibre (92%)

  4. Zen (90%)

  5. toob (87%)

  6. Plusnet (85%)

  7. Truespeed (83%)

  8. Hyperoptic (82%)

  9. BT (77%)

  10. Lit Fibre (77%)

  11. Three (76%)

  12. Vodafone (75%)

  13. Utility Warehouse (75%)

  14. NOW Broadband (75%)

  15. Sky (72%)

  16. KCOM (72%)

  17. TalkTalk (72%)

  18. EE (71%)

  19. Gigaclear (71%)

  20. Virgin Media (71%)

  21. Shell Energy Broadband (66%)

  22. Onestream (65%)

  23. SSE (62%)

  24. Airband (61%)

  25. WeFibre (60%)

  26. Other (please specify) (57%)

  27. BRSK (48%)

Best Social Tariff

Judges Choice (Alex Tofts, broadband expert and Emma Davenport, editor at Broadband Genie)

Winner: Vodafone

Score: 96%

Our very first Best Social Tariff award goes to Vodafone. We were impressed with the price point, speed, availability, criteria to sign up, promotion and the contract terms and conditions. Ofcom reported only 5% of eligible customers are subscribed to a broadband social tariff, we know how important it is households get the support they need in the current climate.

What is a social tariff? Social tariffs are broadband contracts at a discounted rate for people on benefits and Universal Credit. Want to know more? Head over to our broadband social tariff guide.

2nd place: 4th Utility

Score: 93%

3rd place: Hyperoptic

Score: 93%

Full results

• Winner: Vodafone (96%)

  2. 4th Utility (93%)

  3. Hyperoptic (93%)

  4. Lightning Fibre (92%)

  5. Quickline (92%)

  6. Community Fibre (91%)

  7. YouFibre (91%)

  8. Hey! Broadband (91%)

  9. WightFibre (90%)

  10. Connect Fibre (90%)

  11. Country Connect (89%)

  12. Lothian Broadband (89%)

  13. Grayshott (89%)

  14. Virgin Media (89%)

  15. BT (89%)

  16. G.Network (87%)

  17. KCOM (86%)

  18. County Broadband (83%)

  19. Shell Broadband (83%)

  20. NOW Broadband (83%)

  21. Run Fibre (82%)

  22. Sky (80%)

  23. Wildanet (77%)

  24. Truespeed (76%)

Methodology

• Broadband Genie surveyed 2,662 broadband bill payers between 28th September 2023 - 8th February 2024 for the following award categories:

  • Best Provider
  • Best Altnet
  • Best Widely Available Provider
  • Best for Speed Satisfaction
  • Best Value Provider
  • Best Customer Care
  • Most Reliable Provider

  Broadband Genie analysed 413,723 broadband speed tests ran between 1st January 2023 - 31st January 2024. Tests were run through the BroadbandUK speed test on the Broadband Genie website and other partners. Broadband Genie ranked providers on average download speed to determine the winners for the following award categories:

  • Fastest Provider
  • Fastest Wireless Provider
  • Fastest Widely Available Provider

  The Best Social Tariff award, Broadband Genie judges scored all social tariffs on the market available 5.2.24 to the following criteria:

  • Setup cost
  • Speed
  • Coverage and availability reach
  • Eligibility Criteria
  • Promotion on the provider website homepage
  • Contract terms and conditions