NOW Broadband Review

NOW offers superfast part-fibre and full fibre broadband, with average download speeds available from 61Mbps to 300Mbps on their fastest plan.

While speeds are much more limited than most providers, NOW Broadband will be adequate for many households and their prices are some of the cheapest in the UK.

Customers also benefit from an included home phone line, as well as new options to upgrade to a WiFi 6 router and WiFi boosters.

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At a glance

Latest offers

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NOW Broadband customer reviews

Our independent survey of broadband customers found NOW Broadband was rated 4 out of 5 overall, with a good ratings for Speed, Reliability, Satisfaction, Value for Money, and likelihood for customers to recommend the provider to a friend.

NOW Broadband was also rated above average (3 out of 5) for Customer Service.

Very few of our survey respondents voted NOW Broadband Poor or Bad in any category, with the majority of NOW Broadband's customers rating them Good.

Here are the results of our survey of NOW Broadband's performance:

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Our review of NOW Broadband

Verdict: Is NOW Broadband any good?

NOW Broadband is one of the cheapest broadband providers in the UK, with their Superfast and Full Fibre 75 plans costing just £23 per month for 61Mb and 75Mb average download speeds.

The slightly faster Full Fibre 100 plan also costs just £25 per month, making it a good option for households who want faster full fibre broadband for a cheap price.

Since relaunching in June 2024, NOW Broadband is now tied more closely to parent company Sky's broadband service, which is mostly good news for customers.

NOW Broadband now comes with the better Sky Broadband Hub, and customers can even take Sky's WiFi Max add-on to get a WiFi 6 enabled router and up to three Plume WiFi pods.

Customers will now also be able to benefit from more developed services too, like Sky's parental control tools and the MySky app.

The one major downside however is the removal of NOW Broadband and NOW TV bundle discounts, with NOW Broadband customers only able to add Sky TV or NOW TV at standard prices.

Overall, NOW Broadband is a great budget option, although those who want ultrafast or gigabit broadband speeds will still need to look at parent-company Sky, or TalkTalk who still offers exclusive discounts on NOW TV.

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NOW Broadband packages

Summary: NOW Broadband offer four simple broadband packages, with availability covering both part-fibre and full fibre enabled areas.

NOW Broadband offer one superfast part-fibre package, and three full fibre options.

Depending upon availability, customers can choose 61Mbps, or between 75Mbps, 100Mbps and 300Mbps average download speeds, however the monthly price is very similar between these deals:

NOW Superfast and Full Fibre 75 both cost the same each month, so wherever a customer lives they can access a very low-cost broadband connection with superfast speeds.

These plans also have the same out of contract cost of £43 per month, while Full Fibre 100 increases to £44 after the minimum term. However, customers will receive end of contract notifications so they can re-contract or switch away for a better price.

The minimum term contract on NOW Broadband now lasts for 24 months, and while this does remove the previously flexibility of NOW Broadband deals, it also means the low introductory price will last for longer too.

NOW reserve the right to increase prices, with contracts stating "prices may rise", however they don't specify by how much. This means when they do increase prices they usually give customers notice as well as the opportunity to cancel their contract.

In 2024, NOW increased the price of their broadband plans by £3 per month for existing customers, and gave notice that they could exit their contract penalty-free.

Call plans

NOW used to offer free anytime calls for the first year with their broadband packages, but this was withdrawn in May 2022. It's a shame to see this offer removed as it provided unique value in a market where few providers still offer inclusive calls.

However, that doesn't mean NOW broadband customers can't still add a phone plan, they can choose from Evening & Weekend calls, Anytime calls, or stick with the pay as you go option.

These are the current prices for their call plans:

There is an access charge for 0845 and 0870 numbers of 15p per minute, and calls made outside the inclusive periods are charged at:

• 25p connection charge
• 27p per minute to UK landlines
• 27p per minute to UK mobiles

These costs have been streamlined with the separate daytime and evening/weekend rates scrapped in favour of a basic tariff that's slightly more expensive.

Everyone gets 141 (number withhold) and 1471 (last incoming call) free of charge (although note that 1471 return calls incur an extra charge), while features such as last caller barring and voicemail cost from £2 a month. Caller display is now included for all customers at no extra cost.

NOW Broadband Basics

NOW Broadband offer a social broadband tariff called Basics, which is available to existing customers only. Those who've signed up to new 'Powered by Sky' plans, will be able to access Sky Basics instead.

Launched in April 2022, NOW Broadband Basics offers a similar connection to the previous Fab Fibre package, with average download speeds of 36Mbps at peak times, along with a home phone line and pay as you go calls.

It's available to low income households in receipt of one of the following benefits; Universal Credit, Pensions Credit, Income Support, Income-based Employment Support Allowance, or Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.

The benefits of a social tariff include exemption from annual price rises, as well as the ability to exit the plan penalty free at any time.

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NOW TV & Broadband

Summary: NOW Broadband customers can no longer bundle NOW TV Membership plans, but they can sign up for Sky Stream instead.

It used to be possible to take NOW Broadband alongside various NOW TV Membership plans, which often came with exclusive discounts for bundling.

However, since NOW Broadband relaunched as 'powered by Sky', the sign-up processes have moved to Sky.com and there aren't any options to bundle NOW TV any more.

Instead though, customers are offered Sky TV when they sign up online, although it's worth noting the price for Sky Stream is the same as for any other customer, so there are sadly no exclusive discounts on offer.

Here's how much NOW Broadband costs when taken with Sky Entertainment & Netflix on the Stream box set:

We've written more about the differences between Sky TV and NOW TV here, and of course while there aren't discounts for bundling, NOW Broadband customers can still sign up to NOW TV separately, which incidentally has just received an upgrade to Ultra HD.

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How does NOW Broadband compare?

Summary: NOW Broadband offer cheaper broadband prices than most rivals, including Vodafone, TalkTalk, Sky and Virgin Media.

NOW Broadband offer some of the cheapest broadband deals in the UK, with prices lower than budget favourites like Plusnet, Vodafone, and TalkTalk, as well as parent company Sky.

Here's how NOW Broadband's entry level full fibre deal compares on price:

NOW Broadband's Full Fibre 75 plan offers 75Mbps average download speeds but currently costs just £23 per month. Setup is also free, and the introductory price lasts for the 24-month minimum term with potential annual price rises of around £3 per month.

Other similar deals include Vodafone's Full Fibre 74 plan for £26, Sky Superfast also for £26, and Plusnet Full Fibre 74 for £26.99 per month.

Virgin Media's cheapest broadband-only plan is also more expensive than NOW Broadband, with M125 Fibre Broadband currently costing £26 per month.

While NOW Broadband is cheaper, it's also worth comparing other aspects of the service on offer. For example, NOW Broadband includes a home phone line with all their broadband plans, which isn't offered with Plusnet or TalkTalk full fibre.

Customers get a reasonable WiFi 5 router, although it's possible to upgrade to the WiFi Max add-on for a WiFi 6 router, although this adds an extra £6.50 to the monthly price.

NOW Broadband contracts are also now 24 months, while this does mean those lower prices will last for longer before customers need to re-contract or switch, there is less flexibility than there used to be on NOW's older plans.

Sky is also an alternative worth looking at, as the plans are very similar, yet add-ons with Sky tend to be cheaper than with NOW. For example, the same WiFi Max add-on to upgrade the router costs just £3 extra with Sky, and there are also better discounts for bundling Sky TV.

So, when comparing NOW Broadband against other providers it is worth considering any other services or add-ons that are needed or would be taken, as this can vary the ultimate price.

Compare broadband deals side-by-side.

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How fast is NOW Broadband?

Summary: NOW Broadband only offer superfast or ultrafast broadband speeds with 300Mbps their fastest option, which, while adequate, is slower than most other providers.

NOW Broadband offers customers a choice of four broadband speeds, although one of these is part-fibre and the other three full fibre so they depend on location. Their fastest full fibre plan is only 300Mbps though, despite providers like Sky now offering 1Gbps speeds.

These average download speeds must be received by at least 50% of a provider's customer base during the peak hours of 8pm to 10pm at night. Also, since becoming 'powered by Sky', they're more identical to Sky's broadband speeds as well.

Customers living in areas now covered by Openreach full fibre broadband will only be able to choose from the NOW Full Fibre 75, Full Fibre 100 and Full Fibre 300 packages, while those who've yet to be passed by full fibre will be able to sign up for the Superfast plan instead.

It's clear that Sky want to keep NOW Broadband as their budget brand, so customers who want faster speeds than 300Mbps will need to look elsewhere, with Sky an unsurprisingly good alternative.

Minimum download speeds

NOW Broadband offer customers estimated speeds, as well as a minimum guaranteed download speed when they sign up.

Minimum guaranteed download speeds are effectively service guarantees, which promise a minimum speed or a customer is entitled to leave their contract penalty free.

NOW Broadband say if customers aren't getting their minimum guaranteed download speed and they don't resolve the issue within 30 days, customers can cancel their broadband contract without paying any early termination charges.

This is in line with Ofcom's code of conduct on broadband speeds, which NOW Broadband have voluntary agreed to.

When we checked two postcode areas - one with part-fibre and one with full fibre, we were given the following estimated speeds and minimum speed guarantees (however, note that these speeds can and will vary between areas):

It's worth noting that where full fibre broadband is available, customers should consider the upgrade because as well as offering faster speeds, full fibre is more reliable and much less affected by distance as well as network congestion.

Plusnet as well as Sky offer competitive pricing on their faster full fibre plans, and TalkTalk broadband also offer customers discounts when bundling TalkTalk TV with NOW Memberships.

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Router

Summary: NOW Broadband comes with the Sky Broadband Hub, and there are options to upgrade to the WiFi 6 Sky Max Hub as well.

Now powered by Sky, all NOW Broadband customers are provided with the Sky Broadband Hub, which is a dual-band WiFi 5 router released in September 2019.

It's a definite upgrade on the previous NOW Hub Two, which was a rebranded version of Sky's older Sky Q Hub. The Sky Broadband Hub has 8 internal antennae for example, compared to just 5 with the NOW Hub Two which was noticeably poorer for coverage.

Overall the Sky Broadband Hub will be an adequate router for most homes, comparing well with devices like the current BT Smart Hub 2 or Virgin Media Hub 4.

However, NOW Broadband customers also now have the option of upgrading to the WiFi Max add-on, which for an extra £6.50 per month gives them the latest Sky Max Hub and up to three Plume WiFi pods.

The Sky Max Hub supports WiFi 6 as well as more up to date WPA3 security encryption, so newer devices that support WiFi 6, like the Sky Stream box for example, will benefit from faster connection speeds over wireless.

The additional Plume WiFi pods will also improve speeds and wireless coverage by enabling users to place additional devices around the home which will seamlessly boost coverage across floors and reach more rooms with a stronger signal.

Here are the two router options side-by-side for comparison:

Sky Broadband Shield

While NOW Broadband users used to get NOW Broadband Buddy, they'll also now be able to use Sky's Broadband Shield parental control software, which allows parents to block inappropriate content from their children's devices without needing to set blanket filters on the router.

It's a nice extra for customers that also protects against phishing websites, although it shouldn't be used as a replacement for other forms of security.

Read this guide for more information about keeping your home router safe and Sky Broadband Shield.

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Customer service

Summary: NOW Broadband have seen a recent spike in complaints in official reports, although they say they're making improvements.

NOW Broadband first appeared in Ofcom's quarterly complaints records at the start of 2022, when they received just 8 complaints per 100,000 customers.

Since then, NOW Broadband consistently had less than average levels of complaints, with just 13 in the Q2 2023 report a year later. However, more recently NOW Broadband have started acquiring more complaints, becoming the most complained about provider in the latest Q1 2024 report.

Ofcom has attributed the rise in NOW Broadband's complaints to poor complaints handling, while the provider has responded that they're "making improvements to ensure that our customers are fully supported throughout their journey with us."

In Ofcom's latest Comparing Customer Service report, published May 2023, NOW Broadband had the fewest number of customers with a reason complain, at just 10% compared to the industry average of 20%.

In addition, the provider also managed to answer the phone the quickest, with customers waiting just 51 seconds on average, compared to 2 minutes 37 seconds across the market as a whole.

In our own independent survey of NOW Broadband customers, we found the majority of customers rated the provider 3 out of 5 for customer service. Only 7% rated NOW 1 out of 5, and 26% rated them 5 out of 5. So, we expect their performance is somewhat average to good.

Like parent company Sky, NOW Broadband also use UK-based call centres, although it's possible these have now been outsourced abroad as there were reports Sky were moving call centre jobs overseas.

Read more about the best broadband customer service.

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Summary: Is NOW Broadband worth it?

NOW Broadband offer some of the cheapest prices in the UK, with the added benefit of being backed by Sky broadband.

While the top speeds are limited to just 300Mbps, this should still be adequate for most households moving to full fibre for the first time, and customers now have the option of upgrading their router and accessing WiFi pods to boost coverage at home.

One of the biggest downsides to NOW Broadband's recent relaunch under Sky is the removal of the exclusive discounts available for bundling NOW TV Memberships. And while it's possible to add Sky Stream at the checkout it's not cheaper like it is for those who take Sky broadband.

For those who want faster speeds, both Plusnet and Sky offer competitively priced full fibre broadband deals, and TalkTalk also offer a TV service with discounts on NOW Memberships.

Yet, NOW Broadband continues to offer excellent value for money for households who want a simple broadband deal, with the added benefits of being part of Sky, such as a home phone line, parental control tools, and router upgrades.

Ultimately, NOW Broadband is a great budget choice, but it could be worth more carefully comparing deals with Sky for those who also want to bundle Sky TV.