Broadband in Birmingham

Birmingham residents are well catered for in the full fibre rollout, with access to options including Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre, Brsk, and Hyperoptic.

While the average speed in the city sits around 177Mbps, speeds are available up to 2Gbps with Brsk.

Those living in the more rural outskirts of Birmingham, in the West Midlands into Shropshire also have good coverage from Airband, as well as pockets built by Gigaclear.

Credit: Neil Mitchell/Shutterstock.com

Most popular broadband deals in Birmingham

People living in Birmingham have a wide choice of broadband deal, with varying availability from major networks including Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre, and smaller players such as Brsk, Netomnia, and Hyperoptic.

Openreach and CityFibre tend not to overbuild, which is also the case in Birmingham where one is available the other usually isn't. However, Virgin Media is often an additional option, and there is also some overlap with Brsk in some locations.

This means that most people will be able to sign up for full fibre broadband deals from BT, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and NOW Broadband, as well as lesser known retailers like Rebel Internet, Earth Broadband and Your Co-op.

Here are four of the best broadband deals available in Birmingham:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Rebel 115	115Mb average	£35	Free	24 months
	Offer: £60 Amazon Gift Card with code WIFIREBEL + Fixed Price Guarantee + Tri-band Wi-Fi extender £5/mth each
	Full Fibre 145	145Mb average	£27.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 Reward Card + Save over £12/mth + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers (Ends 01/01/2025)
	Superfast 80	80Mb average	£26.99	Free	18 months
	Offer: £40 Gift Card
	BetterNet150	150Mb average	£24	Free	24 months
	Offer: Save £1/mth + Free installation (worth £150)

We've listed 100Mb - 150Mb deals here, because research from Ofcom found most people (39%) who have access to full fibre broadband are signing up to deals with download speeds between 100 and 299Mb.

There are also some buildings in Birmingham with Hyperoptic coverage, so, exactly what's available can vary depending on your exact address.

Make sure to use our free postcode tool to check availability and find the best deals for you.

Cheapest broadband in Birmingham

We've used the postcode B12 9NW, or Cannon Hill Road, in Birmingham, which is a residential street in Balsall Heath in the suburbs of the city, to check broadband availability and prices in the area.

Here are four of the cheapest broadband deals available in Birmingham:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Full Fibre 75	75Mb average	£22	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free setup
	BetterNet150	150Mb average	£24	Free	24 months
	Offer: Save £1/mth + Free installation (worth £150)
	Full Fibre 150	150Mb average	£25	Free	24 months
	Offer: £2 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers
	Full Fibre 75	75Mb average	£25	£5	24 months
	Offer: WiFi Max just £4/mth + (£5 refundable setup fee for new customers if applicable)

58% of homes in Birmingham have been passed by Openreach full fibre broadband so far, which means the majority will be able to get NOW Broadband's Full Fibre 75 plan at just £22 per month.

Some homes, like those in B12 9NW, will also be able to access independent full fibre network Brsk, which currently offers an entry level deal BetterNet150 for £24 per month.

Those living in CityFibre enabled areas will also have access to Vodafone full fibre but at slightly cheaper prices, with their Full Fibre 80 plan costing just £22 per month, and their Full Fibre 150 plan costing just £23.

Even cheaper plans may be available at some addresses in Birmingham, with select pockets covered by 4th Utility whose prices start at just £15 per month, while Hyperoptic offer a deal from £17.99.

Availability at specific addresses could vary, so use our free postcode tool and order by 'Lowest price' to find the cheapest deals for your home in Birmingham.

How fast is broadband in Birmingham?

Based on crowd sourced data from speed tests (including from our own), the average download speed in Birmingham is 177.6Mb, while the average upload speed is 53.4Mb.

In the top 20% of results, residents of Birmingham are receiving download speeds of 268.1Mb on average, with uploads remaining steadier at 51.4Mb.

For those experiencing the slowest speeds in Birmingham, the bottom 20% of speed tests reported average download speeds of 27.6Mb, with average upload speeds of 6.5Mb.

When we look at broadband speeds in different areas of Birmingham we can see some areas are faster than others, with those living in the constituencies of Yardley, Erdington and Edgbaston faster than those further from the centre of the city, such as Sutton Coldfield and Selly Oak.

It's also the case that as average speeds, we can see patterns between these speeds in Birmingham and Ofcom's recent figures on full fibre take-up, which revealed most households - 39% - sign up to packages with download speeds between 100 and 299Mb.

While full fibre broadband coverage in the UK now stands at just under 70% according to Ofcom, we can see in Birmingham full fibre broadband and gigabit broadband are both widely available.

This data comes from ThinkBroadband, which is typically a more up to date source than Ofcom, however, even so, we can see residents of Birmingham have almost universal gigabit broadband coverage, while many can also now access full fibre broadband.

The high availability of gigabit broadband in Birmingham is thanks to Virgin Media's existing cable network, which offers average download speeds of 1.13Gbps at peak times, and passes 83% of homes in the city.

Openreach full fibre broadband has also passed 58% of homes in Birmingham, as well as in many surrounding towns and villages, while other independent full fibre networks have passed 44% of homes in Birmingham.

Birmingham is home to a number of upcoming 'alt-nets', including CityFibre, Brsk, Hyperoptic, Netomnia, 4th Utility, while the surrounding, more rural, areas are served by Airband and BeFibre.

Fastest broadband deals in Birmingham

Using the postcode B12 9NW, or Cannon Hill Road, in Birmingham, which is a residential street in Balsall Heath in the suburbs of the city, we can find out the fastest broadband available in the area.

We picked this street in particular as it offers residents a choice of three gigabit-capable networks, covering Openreach FTTP, Virgin Media, and Brsk. Other areas in Birmingham will have different choices however, including CityFibre and Hyperoptic.

The overall fastest broadband deal in B12 9NW, Birmingham, is Brsk's BetterNet2000 plan, which offers symmetrical download and upload speeds of 2Gb per second.

Residents in the area could also take Vodafone's Pro II Full Fibre 1.6 plan, which offers average download speeds of 1.6Gbps on the Openreach network, or 1.8Gbps to homes passed by CityFibre instead.

Most Birmingham residents will also have access to Virgin Media's Gig1 Fibre Broadband, which offers average download speeds of 1.13Gbps.

Here are four of the fastest broadband deals available in Birmingham:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	BetterNet2000	2Gb average	£55	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free installation (worth £150)
	Pro II Full Fibre 1.6	1.6Gb average	£70	Free	24 months
	Offer: £4 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers
	Gig1 Fibre Broadband	1.13Gb average	£40.99	Free	18 months
	Offer: Reduced price: £40.99 per month + No setup fee (was £35)
	Rebel 1000	1Gb average	£55	Free	24 months
	Offer: £100 Amazon Gift Card with code WIFIREBEL + Fixed Price Guarantee + Tri-band Wi-Fi extender £5/mth each

Availability at specific addresses could vary, so use our free postcode tool and order by 'Broadband speed' to find the fastest deals for your home in Birmingham.

Summary: Who is the best broadband provider in Birmingham

Birmingham, as a city, unsurprisingly has really good coverage and choice of full fibre broadband, as well as additional gigabit-capable options from Virgin Media.

A number of independent full fibre networks have built in Birmingham, increasing choice further than the usual Openreach retailers, to include CityFibre (Vodafone, Lit Fibre and TalkTalk), Brsk, 4th Utility, YouFibre (Netomnia), Hyperoptic.

Those living in the rural West Midlands, into Shropshire, have also been served by Airband's fixed wireless service, with download speeds up to 400Mbps.

When we looked at a residential location in Birmingham, we found the following:

• The cheapest broadband in Birmingham will be NOW Broadband's Full Fibre 75 plan at £22 per month for most residents, however, 4th Utility and Hyperoptic offer cheaper prices where available
• The fastest broadband in Birmingham is offered by Brsk, with their BetterNet2000 deal offering 2Gbps symmetrical speeds
• The best broadband with TV in Birmingham is with Virgin Media, who pass over 80% of homes in the city

People that want to retain their home phone line in the upgrade to full fibre should look to providers including Sky, Vodafone and NOW Broadband who include this service at no extra cost, while BT and Virgin Media charge more for line rental.

Ultimately, residents should use our free postcode tool to see exactly what's available to them, and then order deals by price, special offer, broadband speed, or contract length, to find the deal that's right for them.