All about Canterbury broadband
In 2011, Railway Hill in Canterbury, Kent was reported to have the slowest broadband in the UK, with an average download speed of 0.13Mb. Two years later, BT deployed fibre optic broadband, giving residents a much-needed speed boost.
Today, the central Canterbury and nearby Sturry, Chartham, Faversham, and Bridge exchanges are in a much better state and fibre broadband is available to many homes in the city and surrounding locations.
Who are the best broadband providers in Kent?
Your choice of broadband package you can sign up to at home will depend on your location. It’s quite normal for houses on the same street to have access to different broadband providers and packages.
You'll be able to sign up to most of the major internet service providers in Canterbury, including:
However, although Virgin Media is available in other areas of Kent (although less than 40% of the area), including Archers Court, Ashford and Cheriton, there’s little to no access to Virgin in Canterbury.
As of August 2024, just over 60% homes in Canterbury have access to full fibre broadband.
See also: 'What are altnets?'
Fast broadband in Kent - Openreach networks
Under half of residents living in Kent can sign up to a fast, full fibre deal through a provider on the Openreach network (this includes BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Plusnet and many others).
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What is full fibre broadband?
Full Fibre broadband is also known as ‘Fibre To The Premises’, ‘Fibre To The Home’. This is often shortened to FTTP or FTTH. They’re all the same thing!
Instead of copper telephone wire making up the final part of the journey from that green cabinet on the street, fibre optic cables are installed right up to your home.
It’s amazing the difference in speed this small data journey can have. With full-fibre broadband you can expect to receive speeds of 1Gb+.
The downside is full-fibre is only available to a small percentage of homes in the UK, and it’s taking a good while to get everyone up to speed.
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What is Openreach?
Openreach is the company that maintains the former British Telecom Network used for the majority of broadband and phone services. If a repair or installation is required, it’s Openreach who will send an engineer, not your provider.
More than 650 service providers using the Openreach network. That’s the majority of the UK’s broadband providers. This includes Sky, TalkTalk and BT. The exception to this is Virgin Media - it uses its own, separate cable network.
The best alternative providers in Kent (altnets)
You may have more choice for a faster internet connection if you look beyond the main players and sign up to a smaller internet provider that specialises in full fibre connections.
For example, YouFibre is available in many Canterbury-based postcodes. The speeds you can sign up to with YouFibre are the fastest you’ll get for a home broadband connection in the UK. Its ‘You 8000’ package offers average speeds up to 6.8Gb (although very few homes are likely to need such fast home broadband).
Meanwhile, its entry-level ‘You 150’ package offers average internet speeds up of 150Mb for under £24 per month, on an 18-month contract length.
There are a few other perks with signing up to YouFibre. All of its deals offer symmetrical download and upload speeds. This is something that larger providers struggle to offer.
Are you confused about how fast your internet connection needs to be? Visit our guide: ‘what broadband speed do I need? Do I need fast broadband?’
What type of broadband can I get in Kent?
ADSL Broadband
Basic ADSL broadband delivered over a telephone line used to be the cheapest and easiest way you'd get broadband in Kent. However, the copper phone lines across the UK will be switched off by the end of January 2027. As this is a staggered change across the UK, if you have access to fibre optic broadband in your area of any type, you might not be able to sign up to an ADSL broadband deal anymore.
You may also find that as providers try and steer new customers away from this older broadband technology, these actually end up more expensive than a basic superfast fibre package.
Part-Fibre (‘Fibre to the cabinet’ or ‘FTTC’)
Standard fibre broadband deals with a maximum speed of between 35Mb to 65Mb are offered in Kent by providers on the Openreach network. Here, fibre optic cables stop at the street cabinet. The final part of the journey to your home still uses older copper telephone wires.
As our home phone copper landlines are due to be switched off by the 31st January 2027, you may find there are increasingly good broadband deals in Kent on a much faster, full fibre network. We say, if you can afford it - opt for that instead!
For more information on changes to the UK’s copper telephone network, visit our guide: ‘PSTN Switch Off: Top Tips to get ready for Digital Voice’.
Full Fibre broadband in Kent
As we’ve already mentioned, if you’re looking for full fibre deals in Kent, you should find plenty of options to suit you.
Canterbury and its immediate surrounding areas has the best choice of FTTP providers, and you’ll find ultrafast and gigafast deals from big names such as Sky, Vodafone, Plusnet, BT and TalkTalk.
But for the monthly cost, we think the best deal comes from YouFibre 150, priced just £1 more per month than NOW Broadband’s 63Mb ‘Superfast Broadband’. It’s over ten times faster, with no set-up cost!
Mobile broadband in Canterbury and surrounding Kent
Canterbury residents have access to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile broadband from the EE, O2, Three, and Vodafone networks. EE offers the strongest 5G coverage in the area.
This information should be used as a rough guide only. It's important to check the coverage for yourself before buying any mobile broadband service. While Canterbury and the surrounding area do have good mobile broadband services, this doesn't guarantee access in any particular location. Make sure to check network coverage maps before you sign up to any mobile broadband deal:
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How to find the best broadband deals in Kent
Not everyone can sign up to the same broadband deals. You might even have different options from someone on the other end of your road!
For this reason, it’s important to check your address when you’re comparing broadband. We make this easy with our deals checker. This will stop you wasting too much time researching providers that aren’t available in your home.
Once you’ve been shown the list of broadband deals available to you, here are things to consider:
Broadband speed
Think about what you’ll be using your internet connection for and how many people are online at any one time at home. At the very least, we recommend signing up to superfast broadband with average speeds of 35Mb, but you should also find choices for reasonably priced full fibre deals in Kent that aren’t much more expensive.
Monthly cost
The cheapest broadband doesn’t always mean the best value.
When comparing new broadband deals, be sure to expand on the ‘offer details and pricing’ section. This will show you a more detailed breakdown of each deal’s pricing, including set-up fees, or savings you might make from gift cards, reward cards or bill credits.
A lot of the major providers do reserve the rights to raise prices mid-contract. If you click on the ‘offer details and pricing’ dropdown, you’ll see if this is the case in the ‘extras’ section.
Smaller altnets are more likely to pledge not to add price rises during a contract.
Remember, you can often upgrade your package with very little worry, but you might have issues downgrading if you find you’re not using the service. It’s best to be a little cautious and choose a contract price you feel comfortable paying.
For more help on rising broadband costs, you can read our guide: 'broadband price increases in 2024'.
Setup cost
All of the deals listed on Broadband Genie will include line rental (this will soon be a thing of the past, anyway). However, you may find you’re asked to pay an upfront cost to cover activation, or the postage of your Wi-Fi router.
Contract Length
Many broadband packages now ask for a minimum commitment of 18-months to two years. You’ll often need to pay an expensive early termination fee to get out of a contract ahead of time.
See also: 'how to cancel a broadband contract early'.
Frequently asked questions about broadband in Kent
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What's the fastest broadband in Kent?
The fastest home broadband available in Kent, if not the whole of the UK is YouFibre’s ‘You 8000’. This offers symmetrical download and upload speeds up to 6.8Gb. YouFibre isn’t available in wider Kent, but has a good presence in Canterbury.
Where we get our information
We strive to keep our local broadband information as up-to-date as possible. This means using trustworthy sources with regular checks. The information on this page comes from the following:
- Local broadband speed information: labs.thinkbroadband.com/local
- Mobile broadband coverage (1): nperf.com
- Mobile broadband coverage (2): checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/mobile-coverage
