Sky Broadband vs NOW Broadband

Sky offer ultrafast and gigabit-capable broadband speeds, along with some of the UK's best customer service.

NOW Broadband, now 'powered by Sky', is rather similar however, except with cheaper pricing and a slower top speed.

For those who want the best value for money NOW Broadband is hard to beat, but Sky wins for faster broadband speeds and bundled services.

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At a glance

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Which is best? Sky Broadband or NOW Broadband?

In June 2024, NOW Broadband relaunched as 'powered by Sky', with all their packages now sold via Sky.com and benefiting from the same optional add-ons and customer service as Sky broadband users get.

Both NOW Broadband and Sky broadband comes with the Sky Broadband Hub, a step up from the previous NOW Hub Two with more internal antennae which boosts the wireless signal. Customers of either provider can also opt for the WiFi Max add-on, which provides WiFi boosters with a speed guarantee and a WiFi 6 router, the Sky Max Hub.

NOW Broadband and Sky broadband both come with a home phone line as standard, with call plans now aligned in price, as well as matching parental and security tools from Sky.

What does still differ between the providers however is price. NOW Broadband is priced cheaper than Sky, with some of their deals some of the cheapest in the UK.

Although, when optional add-ons and TV bundles are taken into the mix, pricing can change, with Sky becoming cheaper than their budget-brand NOW.

While NOW Broadband have recently launched a Full Fibre 300 plan, Sky also remain the better choice for faster broadband, with 500Mb and 1Gb packages on offer as well.

Overall, Sky offer faster speed options than NOW, and may even work out cheaper depending on the additional extras a customer adds. However, NOW Broadband ultimately remain the cheapest option and are best for those who just need a straightforward broadband connection.

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Price

Winner: NOW Broadband is cheaper than Sky broadband, although some add-ons may work out cheaper with Sky.

NOW Broadband costs as little as £23 per month for superfast part-fibre or full fibre with average download speeds of 61Mbps to 75Mbps.

In comparison, Sky Superfast Broadband, which also offers average download speeds of 61Mbps, currently costs from £26 per month for 24 months.

Here are the provider's cheapest broadband plans:

Customers who want to upgrade the router or get the WiFi boosters will pay £6.50 per month with NOW Broadband, or £3 per month with Sky. Perversely, this makes Sky cheaper than NOW, with Sky Superfast + WiFi Max totalling £29, while NOW Broadband Superfast + WiFi Max totals £29.50.

NOW Broadband customers also don't benefit from the same discounts applied to Sky broadband when customers bundle Sky TV, which is now an option when signing up for NOW. So, again, Sky broadband becomes cheaper when bundled with TV.

Both providers include line rental and a home phone line with pay as you go calls in their packages, and customers can optionally add inclusive call plans. Anytime calls with NOW Broadband are the same price as with Sky, with customers paying £16 per month for anytime calls to UK landlines and UK mobiles.

Sky charges a small setup fee at the time of writing, but this is refunded against a customer's first bill, while NOW Broadband currently offer free setup on their cheapest plans. Both providers reserve the right to increase prices mid-contract, although each have a history of giving customer's notice to leave.

Sky last increased prices for broadband customers in April 2024, while NOW increased prices in June 2024. In both cases customers were given notice and the option to leave their contracts early without penalty.

Overall, NOW Broadband is cheaper than Sky, but this can change when optional extras are included.

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Broadband packages

Winner: Sky offer more speed choices than NOW Broadband, and also sometimes work out cheaper when add-ons are taken.

While NOW Broadband and Sky broadband are now remarkably similar, there are still some differences, and these can make Sky the better choice.

Sky broadband offers six different broadband packages for example, with speed choices including 500Mb and 1Gb. NOW Broadband, on the other hand, only offers four plans with their fastest speed just 300Mb.

NOW Broadband remains the cheapest option for part-fibre and entry-level full fibre broadband, and also benefits from many of Sky's features including a home phone line, the same router, WiFi add-on and customer service.

For those who want faster broadband however, Sky is the better choice, also offering these broadband plans:

As mentioned, customers who want extra services like an upgraded WiFi 6 router or Sky TV may also be better off with Sky as prices of bundles can work out cheaper compared to the same services with NOW.

Overall, Sky beat NOW Broadband for broadband packages, and while NOW Broadband remain the king of price, Sky remains a more comprehensive service with cheaper prices on optional extras.

Read more in our NOW broadband review and our Sky broadband review.

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Broadband speed

Winner: Sky offer faster broadband speeds than NOW, although both providers now offer full fibre to the home.

NOW Broadband now offers part-fibre or full fibre broadband deals, recently launching a Full Fibre 300 plan, with average download speeds of 300Mbps.

However, Sky still offer faster broadband deals, with customers also able to choose their Ultrafast Plus - 500Mbps - and Gigafast - 900Mbps - plans.

Here's a side-by-side look at the broadband speeds offered by Sky and NOW:

These average download speeds will be received by at least 50% of Sky and NOW Broadband's customer base between the peak hours of 8pm to 10pm in the evening.

This means headline broadband speeds are more reliable than they used to be, however both Sky and NOW Broadband are signatories of Ofcom's code of conduct on broadband speeds, which means they also give customers personalised estimates and a minimum speed guarantee when they sign up.

We tested one location with both providers, and were given the following estimated speeds and minimum speed guarantee on their equivalent plans:

Considering NOW Broadband is owned by Sky, it's interesting they provided us with a faster minimum speed guarantee, and this was the same on the provider's entry level part-fibre deal as well. Although faster full fibre plans were more consistent.

While the minimum speed guarantee works as a service level promise, whereby if a customer doesn't receive this speed for 3 consecutive days, and the provider doesn't resolve any issues within 30 days' notice, the customer can leave their contract penalty free.

However, the minimum speed is based on the line speed to the router, and not necessarily the speed a customer experiences when connecting to the router either through a wired or wireless connection.

Ultimately, for those who want the fastest broadband Sky beats NOW Broadband, although for equivalent speeds they're likely to be very much the same.

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Router

Winner: It's a tie. NOW Broadband customers now receive the same router as Sky broadband customers, and both can upgrade to a WiFi 6 device.

Sky provide all customers with the Sky Broadband Hub, a dual-band WiFi 5 router, with 8 internal antennae.

Since becoming 'powered by Sky', NOW Broadband also provide all their customers with the Sky Broadband Hub too, which has been a decent step up from the previous NOW Hub Two that was a repackaged version of Sky's older Sky Q Hub.

This puts the providers on a par in this category, and customers of both providers can also upgrade to Sky's Max Hub, a WiFi 6 enabled router that comes bundled with up to three Plume WiFi Pods to boost coverage around the home.

Here are the specifications of the two router options offered by both NOW and Sky side-by-side:

The cost of upgrading to the Sky Max Hub does vary between Sky and NOW Broadband however, with most Sky packages now only paying £3 per month for the add-on, while NOW Broadband customers will need to pay £6.50 per month.

This is perhaps the one oddity between these providers, with the WiFi Max add-on making Sky cheaper than their budget broadband brand NOW.

WiFi Max also includes a WiFi guarantee which promises customers on full fibre plans a minimum wireless speed in every room of 25Mbps, and provides customers with up to three WiFi pods to boost coverage around their home.

Overall, Sky and NOW Broadband tie in terms of equipment, with both providers offering the exact same router and router upgrade. Although Sky may work out cheaper than NOW Broadband when the WiFi Max add-on is included, so watch out for that.

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TV & broadband bundles

Winner: Sky offer better discounts for bundling Sky TV with Sky broadband, while NOW Broadband no longer comes with discounts for bundling NOW TV.

While NOW Broadband customers are offered the choice of taking a Sky TV subscription when they sign up online, they won't receive the same discounts for bundling that Sky broadband customers get.

In addition, since integrating more closely with Sky broadband, NOW Broadband can no longer be bundled with NOW TV Memberships for extra savings.

For example, here is the price of broadband and Sky TV bundles from both Sky and NOW side-by-side:

For NOW Broadband customers, Sky TV, and NOW TV Memberships for that matter, are the same price whether customers choose to bundle or take the services separately, so there are no longer any extra savings here.

Sky broadband customers, on the other hand, can save around £10 per month by taking TV and broadband together.

Sky TV offers over 150 live channels, as well as a range of on-demand content, and access to a number of additional apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, Discovery+, Apple TV+, and Hayu among others.

Ultimately, Sky is the better bet for TV and broadband, with customers benefitting from solid discounts for bundling, which have sadly been removed from NOW Broadband's offerings.

Read more in our guide to Sky TV versus NOW TV.

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Call plans

Winner: It's a tie. NOW Broadband and Sky broadband offer the same prices for call plan add-ons, and both come with a home phone line as standard.

All NOW and Sky broadband packages come with a home phone line as standard and included in the monthly price of the broadband package.

Neither provider offer any inclusive calls by default, but customers can choose to add either Evening & Weekend calls or Anytime calls for an extra price.

Here are the current prices of each call plan:

Both providers include calls to both UK landlines and UK mobiles in each call plan.

While NOW used to offer significant savings on home phone call plans, again, the integration with Sky broadband removes another of their benefits or unique selling points with calling charges now priced the same as Sky.

Read more on the cheapest way to get home phone service.

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Customer service

Winner: Sky broadband has a better track record for customer service compared to NOW Broadband, although new customers for NOW will now be served by Sky.

Somewhat confusingly, all new NOW Broadband subscribers, those who sign up to 'NOW powered by Sky', will see their customer service needs dealt with directly by Sky.

That's one benefit for NOW customers really, as Sky consistently comes in the highest rankings for broadband customer service, as well as for their TV service too.

Yet, despite this, NOW Broadband still appear separately in Ofcom's complaint reports and customer service research, and existing customers will be still served by NOW's separate customer service teams.

The chart below shows how many complaints each provider received over the last few years:

NOW Broadband first appeared in Ofcom's quarterly complaints records in early 2022, recording just 8 complaints per 100,000 customers. In comparison, Sky reported just 4 complaints in that quarter.

Sky has consistently the lowest complaints figures of all major broadband providers, holding first place for the last four quarters consecutively. While NOW Broadband initially continued to perform well, they have received more complaints as of late, becoming the most complained about provider in the latest Q1 2024 report, largely due to poor complaints handling.

Sky also perform well for customer satisfaction however, having the highest number of satisfied customers with their complaints handling process in Ofcom's latest comparing service quality report.

NOW Broadband had fewer customers with a reason to complain according to this report however, at just 10%, while Sky broadband had more customers with a reason to complain at 18%.

NOW Broadband are also quicker at answering the phone, picking up in just 51 seconds on average, compared to 2 minutes 14 seconds with Sky.

Overall, as Sky have such low complaint figures and good independent analysis of their customer service, they win in this category. However, that's a win for NOW Broadband too who now have their customer service handle by Sky directly.

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Verdict: Sky Broadband or NOW Broadband?

Overall Winner: NOW Broadband is ultimately cheapest, but Sky are a better choice with options for faster speeds and lower prices when WiFi add-ons and TV options are taken.

The choice between Sky broadband and NOW Broadband will likely come down to what a customer is looking for, with NOW Broadband holding a crown on cheapest prices.

However, many households may find Sky is simply the better option with faster broadband speeds and lower overall pricing for those who want to take the router upgrade, WiFi guarantee, or bundle Sky TV.

While NOW's integration with Sky broadband makes sense on many levels, and actually benefits NOW Broadband in terms of delivering customers with a better router and more streamlined customer services, it's also taken away the unique features that made NOW a worthwhile choice.

For example, there are no longer any discounts for bundling NOW Broadband with NOW TV, and calling costs are no longer cheaper either, with NOW basically being the same product as Sky just with a different name and price.

Overall, while NOW will remain an excellent option for those looking for low-priced but decent broadband, Sky is the better choice between the two.

Read more on Sky TV vs NOW TV, or read our Sky broadband review to see more on the packages and add-ons available.