Best broadband in London

The best internet in London will vary based on individual requirements, but one of the most affordable and fastest options is Community Fibre. They have excellent customer reviews and some of the UK's cheapest prices.

Community Fibre's availability varies across Greater London, but they're active in almost every borough and have passed over 1.3 million homes so far.

G.Network is another London-specific provider, while Openreach, Virgin Media and Hyperoptic also have good availability across the city.

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Most popular London broadband deals in December 2024

Here are five of the most popular broadband deals available to homes across London, including from city-specialists Community Fibre and G.Network.

While Community Fibre, G.Network, Virgin Media and Hyperoptic all operate their own independent networks, Sky resells access to Openreach, which is also resold by other providers including BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk, and NOW Broadband.

Compare all of the deals available to your London postcode with our free checker.

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The best internet providers in London

Our top choice for the best internet provider in London has to be Community Fibre.

Almost exclusively available in the capital city, Community Fibre offer full fibre to the home broadband at some of the UK's cheapest prices.

The provider also offers symmetrical upload speeds, which are great for people who work from home, as well as for better experiencing video calls, content creation, and online gaming. Community Fibre supply all customers with an up to date Linksys Intelligent Mesh router that supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol for the fastest speeds over WiFi.

Community Fibre say they can get customers up and running in just 48 hours and setup is often free. They also have a 60-day satisfaction guarantee, so customers can try them out without commitment. We also like their approach to out of contract pricing, increasing prices by just £4 at the end of a minimum term.

Read our review of Community Fibre broadband.

Londoners have plenty of options available to them however, with some of the best broadband availability in the UK. G.Network is another London-focused full fibre network with availability focused in the North and West of the city centre.

Virgin Media is also a great choice, with good coverage around London and the option to bundle either their standard TV service, or their newer Stream TV service, which offers access to premium channels for less.

Openreach is also expanding their full fibre network rapidly, with plenty of coverage across London. This means retail providers like BT, Sky, Plusnet, TalkTalk, and Vodafone are all available with new full fibre to the home deals.

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What broadband speed can I get in London?

Average download speeds in London, according to collated speed test research, is 173.7Mb per second as of Q3 2024. While average upload speeds are 69.7Mb per second.

Who is the fastest broadband provider in London?

However, what's possible is much faster, with deals available up to 3Gb with Community Fibre, although availability is limited.

More widely available deals, include Vodafone's 1.6Gb per second plan, with coverage across 38% of homes via the Openreach full fibre network.

Virgin Media's 1.13Gbps plan is also widely available in London with coverage of nearly 70% of homes, and some pockets of more newly connected properties can also get up to 2Gbps with the provider via their new full fibre connections.

Here are five of the fastest broadband packages available across London:

Independent full fibre networks such as Community Fibre and Hyperoptic offer symmetrical speeds, with uploads as fast as download speeds. Virgin Media's new full fibre network also offers symmetrical speeds for an extra fee.

London-based G.Network and Openreach full fibre still run on asymmetrical speeds, although G.Network do offer an 'Extra' plan on their 1Gb deal for symmetrical uploads.

As we look at below, most homes in Greater London can now access gigabit broadband whether that's via a full fibre network or Virgin Media's cable network, so choice for fast speeds should be good.

However, specific availability for some of these listed deals will vary across the capital, so, use our free postcode checker to see the broadband speeds available to your address in London.

Gigabit broadband in London

While gigabit broadband has now reached 83% of UK homes (Ofcom data), availability for 1Gb broadband speeds actually varies across the capital city more than you'd expect.

In the City of London for example, gigabit coverage is actually lower than across Greater London and the UK as a whole:

Residents of London have quite a broad choice of gigabit broadband provider, with a range of full fibre networks building in the city.

So, as we can see, the majority of households in London can access gigabit-capable broadband, with over 91% of the capital now covered.

Virgin Media has the greatest coverage in London, with their gigabit broadband available to 69% of Greater London.

London also benefits from dedicated full fibre providers, with smaller independent networks also providing around 53% of full fibre coverage in and around the city.

The largest independent broadband networks in London include:

While Virgin Media, Community Fibre, and Hyperoptic are all independent networks, Openreach is resold by providers including BT, TalkTalk, Sky, Plusnet, and Vodafone.

Other smaller independent networks, such as G.Network, also have availability in the capital, although they're much more focused on central London boroughs to the North and West of the city.

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Which is the best London broadband provider?

Most broadband providers have specific unique selling points and benefits over another provider, and usually, the best Internet provider for a specific customer will come down to what someone is individually looking for.

Best provider for London families

The best internet provider for families living in Greater London will depend on their exact requirements, larger households will want to prioritise faster download speeds so bandwidth can be better shared between users, while others may need to prioritise costs.

Virgin Media is a good family choice however, and has wide availability throughout London.

The provider's new Flex TV service can be bundled with any Virgin broadband deal and offers access to premium channel packs like Sky Sports and Sky Cinema, as well as on-demand apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and BBC iPlayer.

Broadband and TV bundles from Virgin Media offer both value for money and all-round entertainment that's a great fit for families.

Of course, everyone knows families tend to all want to do different things at the same time. When we have someone wanting to download the latest PS5 game upstairs, while someone else watches Netflix in 4K downstairs, a broadband package with enough capacity to support multiple devices is needed to ensure no one gets slowed down.

Here's a selection of some faster broadband deals that can support multiple devices at the same time, without breaking the bank:

Best provider for London sharers

For those living in house shares in London, where we may have one or more housemates all contending for bandwidth, especially when working remotely, the best internet provider is likely to be one that offers both ultrafast broadband speeds with high capacity that can support multiple users at once, as well as one that offers competitive pricing to help keep costs down.

Making sure we pick a provider with a good router, as well as with options to access WiFi extenders may also pay dividends where a connection has to travel multiple floors in a building.

Both Community Fibre and Hyperoptic fit the bill here if they're available to your home due to their fast full fibre networks and cheaper overall prices. Hyperoptic are also more likely to be available in apartment blocks, for those living in flat shares.

Community Fibre and Hyperoptic both come with a WiFi 6 enabled router and option to upgrade to additional WiFi boosters for an extra £6 - £7 per month.

Virgin Media are also a good option here, with their Gig1 broadband plan coming with a WiFi 6 router as standard and bundling their WiFi guarantee with up to 3 Plume WiFi Pods at no extra cost.

We've also included a low-cost option here for people who want a simple but affordable broadband plan, and who may not have availability for Community Fibre's cheap deals.

NOW Broadband offer competitively priced deals with the benefit of Sky's customer service and router upgrade options, perfect for low-cost coverage around larger shared homes.

Best provider for London students

While most students living in London will likely be in official campus accommodation with WiFi provided, or in house shares as above, many students may need mobile broadband so they can stay connected wherever they are, and take their Internet connection with them.

This can also be especially useful for students who don't want to get tied into lengthy contracts at a particular residence.

Mobile phone tethering to create a WiFi hotspot means smartphones can provide fast broadband access on the go for tablets and laptops. Vodafone, O2, Three and EE all have good 4G and 5G coverage in London, and many of their network resellers offer competitive pricing, such as on Voxi for Vodafone, and Three's Smarty.

Some of the best SIM only deals with large data allowances that can be used via tethering include:

Many of the cheapest SIM only deals are found on virtual networks like ID Mobile and Smarty, which as mentioned use the Three network, so coverage will be the same across these providers.

Voxi operates on Vodafone's network so may offer better coverage for some areas, while Sky Mobile uses O2's network. For those who want to gain EE's coverage for less, operators including Spusu and Your Co-op use EE's network.

Read more on mobile phone tethering and mobile broadband for the home.

Cheapest broadband provider in London

For those who need to keep costs to a minimum, there are a range of broadband providers and packages available in London with highly competitive pricing.

The cheapest deals will usually be found with budget providers like Vodafone and NOW Broadband, which also have wide availability - covering 98% of London. However, independent providers like Community Fibre and Hyperoptic often have the cheapest prices overall, although their availability can be more limited.

Here are four of the cheapest broadband deals in London:

Where customers are really struggling to stay connected, many London providers also offer social broadband tariffs, including Community Fibre, who offer an Essential plan for just £12.50 per month, which is open to anyone who needs it.

Overall, availability does vary even in a very urban area like London, so it's worth checking your postcode to see exactly what is available to you, and then ordering by price to see the cheapest deals and the latest special offers.

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Full fibre rollout in London

Due to its high population, London has already benefited from full fibre installations from both Openreach and Virgin Media, as well as dedicated London providers like Community Fibre and Hyperoptic, as we've mentioned.

While the Government aims to reach 85% gigabit coverage across the UK in 2025, both Openreach and Virgin Media also aim to reach over 80% coverage of their gigabit-capable broadband networks by the end of 2026, which means the few remaining areas in London yet to benefit are likely to get connected in the next few years.

Community Fibre

Community Fibre, a dedicated London ISP, extended their network from 300,000 premises in July 2021, to over 932,000 premises in early 2023. They now pass over 1.3 million homes in the capital.

While Community Fibre have paused new build plans to focus on growing their customer base, they're already active in almost every borough of London, except Havering.

Here is Community Fibre's latest availability in London:

G.Network

Like Community Fibre, G.Network is another full fibre broadband network that's chosen to specifically roll out connections in London.

G.Network's availability is more limited and they're much more focused on central London, covering boroughs including Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Camden, Islington, Hackney, and Lambeth.

Here is G.Network's latest availability in London:

Hyperoptic

Hyperoptic also have a large presence in London, covering Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Kensington, Poplar, Wapping, and Canary Wharf. As well as moving into areas such as Maida Vale, St John's Wood, North Kensington, Notting Hill, Shoreditch, Southwark, Bermondsey, and Brixton.

However, as Hyperoptic originally targeted buildings, it is predominantly people living in flats and apartments that will be able to access to their network.

More recently they've started connecting new build housing sites, as well as announcing a £200 million investment to connect smaller buildings including terrace houses to detached properties throughout 2022.

The full fibre provider has passed over 1.5 million homes and businesses across the UK as of late-2024, and set out plans to connect areas in London including Fulham and Pimlico, Willesden Green, Holloway, Hackney, Balham, and Clapham.

This is a map of their latest coverage across London:

Openreach FTTP

Openreach, which is resold by providers including BT, Sky, Plusnet, TalkTalk, and Vodafone, has currently rolled out its full fibre broadband to around 38% of London.

However, the company has ambitious plans to reach 25 million premises by December 2026, and their most recent financial results confirmed they're on target, passing 16 million so far.

Openreach's build list include areas such as Kilburn, Mayfair, Southwark, Brixton, Richmond, Wimbledon, Kingston upon Thames, Hounslow, Sutton, Hackney, Tottenham. These areas should all be connected by April 2025.

The latest availability for Openreach FTTP in London looks like this:

Virgin Media

Virgin Media have the widest availability in London where ultrafast and gigafast speeds are concerned.

They completed their network upgrade to gigafast speeds in December 2021, so all customers can now access their fastest Gig1 broadband package.

While Virgin Media's network has since little growth in the past, the provider announced a £45 billion investment to expand their footprint to an additional 7 million premises, taking their UK coverage from 55% to 80%.

Its highly likely expansion will continue in London, with Project Lightening already connecting 17,000 homes in Cricklewood, London, in February 2022. At the time, Virgin Media confirmed they had connected an additional 340,000 homes and businesses across London since 2015.

Currently, Virgin Media's coverage across London looks like this:

Read more about Virgin Media's availability and how to check your postcode.

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Summary: Best broadband in London

People living across London have plenty of options available to them from superfast broadband at the lowest prices, to gigabit-capable broadband from a range of providers.

London also gets the added benefit of a few dedicated providers including Community Fibre, G.Network and Hyperoptic also have a strong presence in the capital.

Larger households, whether that's sharers or large families, will want to consider broadband that can support multiple devices, such as ultrafast or even gigabit deals.

While smaller households can find very competitive pricing with smaller networks like Community Fibre or Hyperoptic if they're available, as well as through Openreach resellers like NOW Broadband, Vodafone, and Plusnet, who all offer a range of cheap broadband deals with great availability.

Overall, our top Internet provider for London is Community Fibre, with Virgin Media a close second due to their wide availability and all-round entertainment TV bundles.

Still unsure who to pick? Read more in our head-to-head guides to Hyperoptic vs Community Fibre, Hyperoptic vs Virgin Media, and Community Fibre vs Virgin Media.