Plusnet vs TalkTalk broadband

Plusnet offer a simple and straightforward range of broadband packages with competitive pricing and even a gigabit full fibre option.

TalkTalk, however, offer a dedicated TV service with exclusive discounts on Sky TV, they also provide more up to date routers to full fibre customers.

Overall, Plusnet is cheaper than TalkTalk broadband, but customers of TalkTalk get a better router, with an optional TV box.

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At a glance

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Price

Winner: Plusnet broadband is generally cheaper than TalkTalk broadband across all package options, although TalkTalk's Full Fibre 150 plan is currently less.

Plusnet is cheaper than TalkTalk across most equivalent broadband speed level options, except for the entry-level Full Fibre 150 plans, where TalkTalk is cheaper by 99p.

While TalkTalk used to be known as a budget broadband provider, they've now moved more towards the premium end, offering full fibre customers the latest WiFi 6 enabled eero router, as well as updating their TV service to an android-powered hub with access to the Google Play Store.

Plusnet's cheapest full fibre broadband plan costs just £27.99 for 74Mb average download speeds, while TalkTalk charges £28 per month for the equivalent speeds of 77Mb. Yet, TalkTalk also offer this price on their Full Fibre 150 plan with 152Mbps speeds.

While TalkTalk still offers a home phone line with their superfast part fibre connections, neither Plusnet nor TalkTalk full fibre broadband comes with a phone or the option to add one.

In terms of part fibre deals, where customers can't yet access full fibre, Plusnet is also cheaper than TalkTalk, this time by £2 per month:

Both providers offer free setup across all their plans and include a wireless router.

Lower prices with Plusnet will last for an additional six months with their minimum term running for 24 months compared to 18 with TalkTalk.

However, both providers also implement annual price rises, with both now having moved to a flat rate £3 per month policy effective in March or April of each year. That does make the two providers easier to compare as prices will rise by the same amount, meaning Plusnet will remain cheaper than TalkTalk.

Overall, actual price differences between Plusnet's and TalkTalk's equivalent packages ranges from 1p to £3, so TalkTalk isn't massively more expensive, but for those judging by price alone, Plusnet is the better option.

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Broadband packages

Winner: TalkTalk offer more extra services with their broadband packages than Plusnet, as a no-frills provider, does.

Plusnet offer very simple and straightforward broadband deals, no longer offering a home phone line or other optional extras such as WiFi boosters, TV boxes, or mobile discounts.

That does mean, while their prices are cheap, some households may find their service too simple, and so TalkTalk could be the better option.

TalkTalk full fibre broadband packages can be combined with their Total Home WiFi add-on, which bundles an additional Amazon eero router to help boost wireless speeds, or their branded TV plan which comes with exclusive discounts on NOW TV and wide support for many other on-demand apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, and Discovery+.

Here are their entry-level full fibre broadband packages side-by-side for comparison:

Both Plusnet and TalkTalk offer a superfast broadband plan for those still living in part fibre areas who've yet to be passed by full fibre. Pricing is similar to their entry-level Full Fibre 75 plans, yet, while Plusnet is £2 per month cheaper than TalkTalk, TalkTalk include a home phone line and optional call packages:

For households looking for faster broadband, here are Plusnet and TalkTalk's ultrafast and gigabit broadband packages, which are limited to full fibre enabled areas:

To see what's available in your area, use our free broadband postcode tool and filter by Plusnet and TalkTalk for a direct comparison.

It's worth noting that while TalkTalk does offer more services than Plusnet, certain add-ons are limited to particular areas and networks. For example, only TalkTalk part fibre deals come with a home phone line as standard, while, like of all Plusnet's deals, TalkTalk full fibre plans can't be bundled with a home phone.

TalkTalk TV and the Total Home WiFi add-on are also only available to customers living in Openreach areas, so those living in CityFibre network areas won't be able to add these.

Indeed, network area itself is one major difference between Plusnet and TalkTalk, with TalkTalk also offering full fibre broadband on the CityFibre network as well as Openreach, while Plusnet only work with Openreach. This adds around 3.8 million premises to TalkTalk's availability (not discounting areas where both are available).

Overall, while Plusnet and TalkTalk do share some similarities, customers may find TalkTalk's broadband deals more customisable than with Plusnet.

Read more in our reviews of TalkTalk broadband and Plusnet broadband.

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Broadband speed

Winner: TalkTalk offer faster average download speeds than Plusnet broadband, they also offer much faster minimum speed guarantees.

While TalkTalk and Plusnet both sell broadband on the Openreach network, TalkTalk also provides full fibre connections in CityFibre enabled areas.

TalkTalk have also been a Local Loop Unbundled (LLU) provider for some time now, which means they operate their own equipment in telephone exchanges and have more direct control over how traffic is managed on their network.

TalkTalk and Plusnet sell similar speed packages, yet TalkTalk achieves faster real-world speeds on average at peak times and also guarantees a faster service too.

TalkTalk offer the following average broadband speeds:

While Plusnet offer these average broadband speeds:

As you can see, while Plusnet and TalkTalk offer a similar range of broadband speed options, TalkTalk has faster download speeds on average at peak times, although Plusnet has faster upload speeds on average at peak times on their Full Fibre 74 and Full Fibre 500 plans compared to TalkTalk.

Another measure we can look at to judge broadband speed performance are minimum speed guarantees.

Not all providers offer this, but TalkTalk and Plusnet are two providers that have signed up to Ofcom's code of conduct on broadband speeds. This means they offer customers a personalised estimate speed as well as a minimum guaranteed download speed when they sign up.

Here's how they look side-by-side when we tested one location with access to only part fibre broadband and one location with full fibre broadband on the Openreach network:

These speeds will vary depending on location, but we can see TalkTalk offer a much faster minimum speed guarantee than Plusnet does across all full fibre deals.

This means if speeds drop, customers with TalkTalk will be able to leave their contract penalty free at a faster baseline than Plusnet customers, who would only be able to leave if their broadband experiences worse performance. So, this is worth bearing in mind for those who need a more reliable connection and don't want to be tied into a contract for an under-performing broadband service.

Overall, while Plusnet broadband and TalkTalk broadband offer similar broadband speeds, TalkTalk look to be faster on average than Plusnet.

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Router

Winner: TalkTalk offer a marginally better router to part fibre customers than Plusnet, they also offer a more advanced WiFi 6 mesh router for full fibre customers.

A major drawback to Plusnet full fibre broadband at least, is that Plusnet provide all of their customers with the Plusnet Hub Two router.

Plusnet's Hub Two is a rebranded version of the BT Smart Hub 2, which while BT also still supply this router, only supports up to WiFi 5, or the 802.11ac protocol. Plusnet Hub Two also lacks support for mesh, so extending the wireless network if coverage isn't great isn't as straightforward as it is with TalkTalk's eero devices.

In contrast, TalkTalk full fibre customers get the latest technology with an eero 6 mesh router. While standard fibre customers get the TalkTalk WiFi Hub, this still has slightly better specs than the Plusnet Hub Two, with an extra ethernet port.

Here's how these devices look side-by-side:

Customers looking at standard fibre from either Plusnet or TalkTalk will get a similar router with both providers and so there is little between them.

However, for people looking at taking full fibre broadband, TalkTalk is the clear winner over Plusnet, offering a much more advance router with an eero 6 device that supports both the latest WiFi protocol and mesh technology.

In addition, those who take TalkTalk Full Fibre 500 or Full Fibre 900, will get an Amazon eero Pro 6, which has tri-band technology, so an extra 5GHz wireless channel for increased bandwidth for connecting devices.

Overall, TalkTalk beats Plusnet as they offer a more advanced WiFi 6 enabled router, as well as built-in mesh support to add additional devices to boost wireless coverage.

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Broadband extras

Winner: TalkTalk offer more optional extra services than Plusnet does, including a WiFi guarantee, TV box-set, and home phone with some deals.

Plusnet used to offer extra services with their broadband including a home phone, YouView TV service with exclusive discounts on BT Sport, and even a mobile phone service with discounts for bundling alongside broadband.

However, parent company BT have chosen to simplify Plusnet and the brand is now running as very much a 'no-frills' broadband provider.

It's no longer possible to add a home phone line to any of Plusnet's broadband deals, and both Plusnet TV and Plusnet mobile have been withdrawn and closed down.

For customers who take broadband from TalkTalk however, there are still options for a home phone and pay TV service although this does vary depending on location and the network available to you.

WiFi guarantee

TalkTalk Total Home WiFi can be added to any of TalkTalk's full fibre broadband deals in areas with Openreach FTTP coverage, and comes free with TalkTalk Full Fibre 900.

Total Home WiFi costs £8 per month and includes one additional Amazon eero router to place in a second location in the home to boost wireless coverage and speeds.

While the add-on comes with an 18-month minimum term, those who don't achieve download speeds over wireless of at least 10Mbps in every room will be able to cancel the add-on after an engineer has come out and attempted to fix any issues.

For Plusnet customers, there is no WiFi guarantee option and the Plusnet Hub Two doesn't support mesh. To extend coverage Plusnet customers would need to purchase a third-party device with a hub that connects to the router via the Ethernet LAN port.

Home phone

Both Plusnet and TalkTalk have reduced their home phone services, with neither provider offering a home phone option with their full fibre broadband deals.

For those who've yet to be passed by Openreach or CityFibre full fibre however, they can still access TalkTalk Fibre 35 or Fibre 65 which comes with a home phone line included as standard.

Call plans can be purchased including a UK anytime call package for £16 per month, or an Evening & Weekend plan for £10.

Pay TV

TalkTalk TV is available with any of TalkTalk's broadband deals as long as a customer is living in an Openreach area, so households with CityFibre won't be able to access it.

The TV add-on includes an Android-powered hub with access to the Google Play Store, as well as exclusive discounts on NOW TV Memberships, including NOW Boost for free, which boosts all Sky content to 1080p HD and removes ads.

TalkTalk now offer some pre-made broadband and TV bundles with exclusive discounts on Sky content through NOW Membership plans, including Sky Entertainment, Sky Sports and Sky Cinema:

For households on a budget who want a TV hub with wide support for a range of on-demand apps including NOW, Netflix, Prime Video, Discovery+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and many others, TalkTalk's TV add-on offers value for money.

Ultimately for those who want a little more than just broadband with their package, TalkTalk beats Plusnet for additional service options.

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Customer service

Winner: Plusnet are performing well in customer satisfaction and complaint reports from industry regulator Ofcom, while TalkTalk receive higher than average complaints.

Plusnet haven't always had the best customer service record, but they have been performing well since late 2021, showing a noticeable improvement in customer complaint figures and steadying out around the industry average.

They've also performed well in recent studies into customer service satisfaction carried out by Ofcom, scoring the highest for satisfaction with overall service and also satisfaction with the speed of service too.

Throughout 2023 Plusnet received 43 complaints to the regulator for every 100,000 customers, while TalkTalk received 71 complaints per 100,000 customers.

In the most recent quarter reported, Q1 2024, Plusnet received just 8 complaints per 100,000 customers, compared to 11 with TalkTalk. Although, this was still in line with the industry average of 11 for the quarter.

Looking at service trends over the past few years we can see Plusnet and TalkTalk were fairly evenly matched up until around late 2021 when Plusnet improved their complaint levels and have kept them low since.

Previous to 2021, Plusnet had higher complaint levels due to problems with a new billing system that was implemented in 2018. However, they recovered from this by 2019, when they had one of their best years with Ofcom reporting 93% of their customers were satisfied with their service overall, which was the highest amongst all major providers. They also reported high satisfaction amongst customers for both speed (82%) and reliability (85%).

In comparison, that year, only 78% of TalkTalk customers were satisfied with their service overall, with 75% satisfied with the reliability of their service and 76% satisfied with the speed.

Since then, Plusnet have continued to lead the market on customer satisfaction overall and for speed of service, while TalkTalk have remained largely below average on a number of metrics.

Overall, Plusnet perform better for customer satisfaction and complaint levels than TalkTalk, and are one of our top three best broadband providers for customer service, alongside Sky and Community Fibre.

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Verdict: Plusnet vs TalkTalk for broadband?

Overall winner: TalkTalk offer a more comprehensive broadband service than Plusnet, including faster routers, a WiFi guarantee and exclusive discounts on Sky TV content.

However, Plusnet are cheaper than TalkTalk across most packages and also have a better track record for customer service, as well as UK-based call centres.

For those who'd be happy with a no-frills straightforward broadband connection Plusnet can save a few pounds a month, and if any problems do arise they may be easier to get in touch with.

Households who want a more robust service however, may find themselves better off with TalkTalk, with still competitive pricing, customers get the latest WiFi 6 router, an option to upgrade to a second device without risk to boost wireless coverage, and a premium TV box-set add-on.

TalkTalk TV is useful for those who want access to a low-cost home entertainment system, with exclusive discounts on NOW TV including NOW Boost for free, as well as wide support for a variety of on-demand apps including Netflix, Prime Video, Discovery+, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and any other app available on the Google Play Store.

Ultimately, it's a close call between TalkTalk and Plusnet, with each provider catering for a slightly different audience. Find out more in our review of Plusnet broadband and TalkTalk broadband, or compare the latest prices with our free broadband comparison tool.