Author: Mark Billen

Last updated: 14 November 2024

BT Broadband Deals

As one of the country’s oldest and most trusted providers, BT Broadband boasts the largest national coverage. Its wide variety of services and packages makes it an easy, accessible choice for households and families, with entertainment TV and call bundles readily available.

With ADSL broadband connections using copper landlines set for phase out in 2025, BT Broadband is steering users to a range of fibre and full fibre packages promising much higher average speeds. While not all are available in every location, it offers the best chance of bringing superfast and ultrafast connections to most areas of the UK.

BT Broadband is also currently encouraging customers to migrate over to its sister provider EE Broadband. This follows the BT TV rebrand to EE TV in 2023.

BT internet plans and speeds

BT Fibre Essential

• Download speed: 36Mb
• Upload speed: 9.5Mb

BT Broadband’s entry-level fibre service (FTTC) is a good starter option suitable for many homes. The relatively low download speed can still cater to individuals or a couple sharing, covering activities such as streaming and gaming. Higher usage households with more users may feel the slowdown at peak times, but upgrading is easy.

BT Fibre 1

• Download speed: 50Mb
• Upload speed: 9.5Mb

When Fibre Essential may not be quite fast enough, this is the next level up for larger households. The Fibre 1 package offers an average +14Mb speed boost for a small extra monthly fee.

BT Fibre 2

• Download speed: 67-74Mb
• Upload speed: 19Mb

This is the quickest standard fibre service offered by BT. Its speed is suitable for larger homes and families using multiple devices at the same time. Streaming or downloading will be faster, with the improved upload speed better for online gamers.

BT Full Fibre 100

• Download speed: 150Mb
• Upload speed: 30Mb

Moving to BT’s first full-fibre optic (FTTP) connection promises a big leap in speed and performance. Almost doubling Fibre 2’s rates for download and upload, the package is ideal for gamers and anyone who regularly needs to send larger files.

Full Fibre 100 is available in areas with G.fast connections (Openreach) close to an exchange.

BT Full Fibre 300

• Download speed: 300Mb
• Upload speed: 49Mb

Doubling the download speed of the previous package, BT Full Fibre 300 guarantees a minimum superfast fibre rate of 150 Mbps. Allowing up to 12 users to stream HD content at the same time makes this an excellent mid-range option for not much extra cost.

BT Full Fibre 500

• Download speed: 500Mb
• Upload speed: 73Mb

BT Broadband’s second-fastest home broadband service offers ultrafast download rates and higher upload speeds. This makes it a favourable option for larger, demanding family homes that often have many users and devices online at the same time.

BT Full Fibre 900

• Download speed: 900Mb
• Upload speed: 110Mb

The quickest BT broadband package offers a super speedy connection that will be more than fast enough for almost all homes and advanced users. Despite this, the upload speed is relatively low when compared to how well it handles downloads.

• 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.

How fast is BT home broadband?

To illustrate how fast the fibre BT broadband packages are, here are some examples of approximately how long it would take to download the 2024 feature film ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ in 1080p (HD).

How well does BT Broadband perform when it comes to speed?

Ofcom's home broadband performance report, published in September 2023, shows BT's performance slightly dropped over the course of 2023. However, if you consider in 2020, it was only achieving 72% and had the lowest average speed rating, things have improved.

That said, its download and upload speeds are still slightly uneven, with much slower upload rates even on the very fastest full fibre deals.

Clocking an average download speed of 104Mb, BT came 4th in the ‘Fastest Widely Available Provider’ category of our BBG 2024 awards. However, it faired lower (14th) in the speed satisfaction stakes, with 72% of customers pleased with advertised speed versus actual speed.

Can I get BT full fibre broadband?

BT claims an impressive 95% availability for fibre broadband throughout the UK. This mostly applies to standard Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) connections, but this will vary depending on your location.

BT Broadband runs off the Openreach network that connects 99% of homes and businesses, totalling 14.8 million properties as of July 2024. Full Fibre or Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) is still more limited and relies on new wire upgrade from the exchange. Openreach has a full fibre checker to get updates on coverage changes in your area.

• What does 'FTTC' and 'FTTP' mean?

  Fibre optic broadband is a service that provides fast internet speeds using fibre optic cables. It’s much faster and more reliable than ADSL broadband, which uses copper telephone wires.

  Fibre optic broadband is now available in every part of the country, and for a basic package, it never costs much more than slower ADSL per month.

  The majority of fibre broadband deals are also known as FTTC or ‘Fibre-To-The-Cabinet’ Broadband. This is available on the BT Openreach network. FTTC uses fibre optic cables that connect to your nearest telephone cabinet. Keep an eye out for the green boxes you see on the side of the road - those are the cabinets.

  From the cabinet to your home, data then carries on across the same copper telephone wire as a standard ADSL broadband service.

  Fibre broadband is also sometimes referred to as ‘Superfast’ broadband. With fibre you can expect to receive a minimum speed of 35Mb.

For a quick check, you can also type your home address into the box below.

Does BT offer a social tariff for broadband?

Yes, new or existing BT, EE and Plusnet customers can apply for BT’s discounted social tariff package. BT Home Essentials offers fibre broadband on a 12-month contract that will not increase in price each March. To apply, customers must be receiving any one of five state benefits, including Universal Credit and Income Support. 

Visit our guide on broadband social tariffs for more information and to find out who qualifies.

Does BT Broadband offer good value for money?

Placing lower than average, BT Broadband came 22nd (61%) for 'Best Value for Money' in our 2024 Broadband Awards. This fits the general market expectation that BT’s packages are typically pricier in comparison.

That said, you do get good, reliable speed and service for the monthly prices. Being so closely linked to the Openreach network is reassuring, plus the entertainment bundles are fair value for premium TV access.

Pricing in the 24-month contract length and annual rises, BT also charges setup fees for activation and equipment delivery charge. This can be off-set by freebies such as the router, TV box and BT Reward Card.

Interestingly, however, customers may also find that equivalent broadband packages available on sister provider EE are marginally cheaper.

Will BT Broadband add price rises this year?

Like most providers, BT Broadband has already confirmed price rises for next Spring. From 31st March 2025, customers can expect to see all broadband plans rise by £3 per month, with broadband and TV plans increasing by £5 per month.

The exception is BT Home Essentials social tariff package, which will remain same.

For more information, you can visit our 'guide to broadband increases'.

BT rewards

New customers typically get BT Reward Cards with certain broadband packages. These are claimed after account activation and can be worth up to £50 to spend anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Check our BT Broadband rewards page for more details.

How reliable is BT home broadband?

In our 2024 Broadband Awards, BT Broadband ranked 9th in the 'Most Reliable Provider' category with 77% satisfaction. In the latest Ofcom complaints data (published November 2024), BT was shown to have an average number of complaints compared to the industry average.

BT gives a ‘Stay Fast’ guarantee of a minimum speed for every home. Where this is failed, depending on the fault, a £20 reward card is offered if they can’t restore broadband speed to the promised level within 30 days.

BT broadband and phone deals

BT fibre broadband and home phone packages come with Digital Voice support for landline calls. With a basic calls bundle, this includes its £5 per month Pay As You Go plan where calls to UK landlines and UK mobiles cost the same, day or night.

Unlimited minutes can be added to make unlimited calls to any UK number at any time. Features like BT Call Protect and Caller Display are free with call bundles but can be removed if preferred.

International calling add-ons include:

• ‘Friends and Family International Calls’ (lower call rates to 236 destinations)
• ‘International Freedom’ (Inclusive international calls)

BT broadband and mobile deals

BT is pushing its mobile phone offers to EE and has exclusive offers here for BT customers looking for deals. SIM-only plans start from £10 per month for 20GB data on a 24-month contract.

These are available via EE.co.uk and aren't part of any BT Broadband bundle.

BT Broadband customers also get free and unlimited access to 5 million UK wide EE Wi-Fi Hotspots for fast, convenient mobile internet access. At additional cost, BT Halo’s backup service also connects to EE’s 4G network for unlimited mobile broadband access if ever your home fibre goes down.

Does BT offer broadband and TV bundles?

Formerly known as BT TV, the EE TV service is available as an optional extra with all BT Broadband packages. While it doesn’t have quite as many channels as a Sky TV or Virgin Media TV package, it does offer many of the most popular channels via flexible channel bundles. These bundles can be changed each month without penalty:

• Entertainment (Sky, NOW Entertainment, Netflix Standard)
• Sport (4 TNT Sports channels, Eurosport 1 & 2)
• Big Entertainment (Entertainment + Sky Cinema via NOW Cinema)
• Big Sport (Sport + 12 Sky Sports channels including Premier League, Champions League coverage)
• Full Works

TV and broadband bundles come with a TV box. Everything is neatly integrated into one new EE TV interface. You can switch between live Freeview broadcasts and streaming services without leaving the programme guide. TV boxes also include a hard drive for recording, and live pause and rewind features.

How good is the BT broadband router?

The BT Smart Hub 2 is supplied with all BT’s fibre packages at no additional cost.

Known for having good Wi-Fi signal strength and reliability, this dual-band router (2.4 & 5 GHz) has seven antennas for improved performance. The built-in ‘Smart Channel Selection’ and ‘Smart Scan’ features also optimise wireless coverage and filter any interference.

We have a closer look at the BT Smart Hub 2 in our BT broadband router round-up.

What does the BT app do?

The My BT mobile app helps customers manage their accounts online. BT Broadband, landline and BT Mobile usage can all be checked here with options for paying bills. Tools for checking current connection speed and optimising home setup are also notable features.

My BT is a free download for Apple and Android users.

BT Broadband: pros and cons

Which BT Home Broadband package should I choose?

BT Fibre 1 is a great entry point for getting a fibre (FTTC) connection at a very respectable average download speed.

The 50Mb rate can support 2-4 people with maybe 5-7 devices, making it very capable for most households. Families with kids can run multiple video streams simultaneously, while the comparatively modest 9.5Mb upload speed still supports popular gaming.

BT Fibre 1 + Calls adds Digital Voice calls for a family landline phone with PAYG rates or anytime minutes.

BT Fibre 2 + Entertainment is another good choice for streaming TV. With up to 74Mb average download speed this package raises upload performance for avid gamers and excels for streaming video. With the entertainment pack added, viewers can enjoy Sky channels via NOW and a standard Netflix account with enough bandwidth to support UHD or 4K definition.

BT Full Fibre 100 takes the first step-up to a FTTP connection that doubles BT Fibre 2’s download rate. This type of bandwidth (150Mb) is really suited to big families with numerous kids who are potentially all gaming and streaming regularly. Many more users, many more devices with heavy demand at BT’s most affordable price.

BT Full Fibre 500 goes even further for ultrafast speed in abundance. If you’re a household who wants to add professional reliability for presentations and video conferencing or transfer huge files in a flash then the added investment could be worth it.

Points to consider before you choose BT

• How many people will be using your broadband connection, and will they be using it for streaming or downloading?
• Will the package upload speed be adequate for things like online gaming?
• Is signing a 24-month contract something you feel comfortable with?
• Do you really need a home landline phone any more and is a call package worth it?

What are the benefits of BT Broadband?

Network coverage - Good availability for part-fibre packages thanks to widespread Openreach network support.

Customer service - BT customer service is provided by UK-based call centres.

Router reliability - Smart Hub 2 features should deliver strong wireless signal.

Generous rewards - BT deals are rarely available without some kind of free gift that can bring the effective monthly cost down by quite a significant amount.

What are the drawbacks of BT Broadband?

Costly contracts - BT’s standard pricing makes it among the most expensive on the Openreach network, with mid-term hikes also guaranteed annually.

FTTP restrictions - Many UK addresses outside the bigger cities may find full fibre deals are not yet an option.

Upload lagging - Asymmetrical instead of symmetrical makes upload rates far slower than the average download speeds.

How to switch to BT Broadband

Simply click our green ‘Get Deal’ button on your chosen BT broadband deal. Register your email for the exclusive deal reward and complete the signup process on the BT website.

Assuming availability to your postcode and house address, BT will handle the process of starting your account. Thanks to the One-Touch Switch process, you needn’t even worry about cancelling with an existing provider, especially if both on Openreach.

This should ensure the most seamless switch with minimum downtime around activation. Just pick a preferred day and your new router will be safely delivered in time for switch on!

BT Full Fibre customers will likely need to arrange an engineer appointment for cable installation.

Expert Summary: is BT Broadband any good?

BT offers broadband deals with excellent speeds, plus some tempting and useful extras.

That said, BT isn't exactly cheap. It's likely you'll be able to get faster speeds for cheaper elsewhere, including EE. Mid-contract price rises are definitely coming too, so it's important to remember this.

We wish that download and upload speeds could be better matched, especially with many providers like Hyperoptic offering symmetrical speeds.

The availability of its 100Mb+ services is also more limited than we might expect and has some way to go to match Virgin Media, which brings gigabit broadband to around 53% of UK homes.

If you’re interested to learn how other BT Broadband customers feel about their service, then head to our BT reviews page.

Frequently Asked Questions about BT Broadband Deals

• What are BT full fibre packages?

  Full Fibre (FTTP) is full fibre optic broadband, including from the cabinet to your home. It replaces all old copper wiring to deliver the fastest fibre speeds, with BT offering four full fibre packages of 100-900Mb speeds.

• What is G.fast?

  G.fast is a broadband technology that uses copper cables to provide fast internet speeds and data transfer. This wiring only covers a short area, so G.fast tends to only be available to properties within close range of the exchange cabinet.

• What is BT Complete Wi-Fi?

  BT’s Complete Wi-Fi option guarantees wireless signal in every room, using a mesh Wi-Fi networking kit with three Wi-Fi boosters. It includes a £100 money-back guarantee if you can't get Wi-Fi throughout your home.

• Do I get a landline with BT Broadband?

  Fibre broadband can have call support added with Digital Voice. This is the new way to make and receive landline phone calls over broadband, through your Home Hub 2 router.

• Can I upgrade my BT broadband?

  You can upgrade any existing BT Broadband, TV and Calls packages at any time, but your contract will be extended.

• How do I get BT Sport on BT TV?

  BT TV has now become ‘EE TV’ and BT Sport is now known as ‘TNT Sports’. By adding the Sport, Big Sport or Full Works TV packages you can get TNT Sports.

• Can you cancel a BT broadband deal?

  Yes, with at least 30 days prior notice. Your service will cease after the notice period, but if you’re leaving before your minimum contract term, you must pay early termination fees.