How We Rate Broadband
We take our reviews seriously. Here's a look under the hood at exactly how we assess, score, and rank the UK's top broadband providers.
Our Commitment to Accuracy
When you're locked into a 24-month contract, making the wrong choice can be incredibly frustrating. That's why our methodology goes beyond just looking at the headline price and the advertised speed.
Our editorial ratings are built on four key pillars: Speed & Reliability, Value for Money, Router Equipment, and Customer Service.
Speed & Reliability
We don't just look at download speeds. A fast download with a poor upload speed can bottleneck modern households. We analyze:
- Upload vs Download ratio (e.g., Virgin's DOCSIS vs pure FTTP)
- Technology type (Full Fibre vs Standard Fibre)
- Ofcom's official average speed delivery data
Pricing & Value
We look past the flashy promotional prices and examine the total cost of ownership over the contract term:
- Setup fees vs Reward Cards or cashback
- Mid-contract price rise policies (Inflation + % vs Fixed)
- Out-of-contract penalty pricing (what happens after month 18/24)
Router Equipment
A gigabit connection is useless if the router can't broadcast it across your home. We evaluate the hardware provided:
- Wi-Fi standard supported (Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E)
- Number of ethernet ports and gigabit capacities
- Availability and quality of "Wi-Fi Guarantee" mesh pods
Customer Service
Things go wrong. How a provider handles an outage or a billing issue is critical. We rate customer service using:
- Ofcom's annual customer satisfaction reports
- Trustpilot aggregates and recurring themes in reviews
- Call waiting times and fault resolution speed metrics
The Final Verdict
We synthesize these four pillars into a 5-star rating system. A 5-star review means a provider excels across all categories and represents the absolute pinnacle of current UK broadband. A 3-star review means they might offer a great price, but suffer from outdated hardware or poor customer service.
By maintaining these strict, objective criteria, we can compare a premium BT line against a budget TalkTalk package fairly, highlighting the specific trade-offs a consumer makes when choosing one over the other.