NOW Fab Fibre

Fab Fibre is NOW's first part-fibre plan, but prices are the same as for the faster Super Fibre deal.

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NOW Fab Fibre is one of the UK's cheapest broadband deals, but customers can actually upgrade to Super Fibre for the same price.

The package offers average download speeds of 36Mbps at peak times, and bundles a home phone line with pay as you go calls.

Customers can also choose to bundle NOW TV Memberships, with current offers on both NOW Sports and NOW Entertainment.

Now Broadband

At a glance

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Superfast	61Mb average	£22	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free setup

Who is NOW Fab Fibre best suited for?

NOW Fab Fibre is best suited to smaller households where only one or two people need to get online at the same time.

It's capable of supporting browsing and social media, as well as streaming in HD (but not Ultra HD), and light work from home.

Households who want to watch Sky TV content are also well catered for, with exclusive discounts for bundling NOW Fab Fibre with a NOW Sports or NOW Entertainment membership plan.

However, NOW Super Fibre offers faster download speeds than Fab Fibre, but is priced the same each month, making the upgrade a fairly straightforward decision. The only difference is the out of contract pricing is £3 more per month, but customers could recontract or switch at this point.

In addition, people living in some full fibre enabled areas, particularly where Openreach have passed the majority of homes, won't be able to sign up to this package anymore, and will instead need to look for a full fibre deal from low-cost providers like Sky or Plusnet.

Check availability for NOW Broadband in your area.

What does NOW Fab Fibre offer?

NOW Fab Fibre offers average download speeds of 36Mbps at peak times, and includes line rental with calls on a pay as you go basis.

It's possible to take Fab Fibre on either a 12-month or 1-month contract term:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Superfast	61Mb average	£22	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free setup

With monthly prices remaining the same, the only difference between the 12- and 1-month term deals is customers have to pay a £60 upfront fee to go contract free.

However, a rolling deal will be useful to households who can't sign up to a longer-term deal and it could be worth the extra costs compared to paying exit fees to leave a broadband contract early.

Call plans

NOW Fab Fibre comes with line rental included, and customers can make calls on a pay as you go basis.

There are two inclusive call plans that can be added; Evening & weekend calls, or Anytime calls. Both plans include calls to UK landlines and UK mobiles, and currently cost:

Out of allowance calls are currently charged at 25 pence per minute, with a 25 pence connection fee.

Read more about NOW Broadband in our full review.

NOW Fab Fibre + TV

NOW Broadband customers can save money by bundling the package with a NOW TV Membership.

Current deals include money-off NOW Sports and NOW Entertainment, although it's also possible to bundle NOW Cinema:

	Package	TV	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Superfast + Sky TV	150	61Mb average	£36	Free	24 months
	Offer: Save £9/mth on Sky TV + Free setup

NOW Sports can be taken with NOW Fab Fibre for just £29.99 per month for 12 months, which is reduced from the standard price of £34.99 per month.

NOW Entertainment is also on offer, with new broadband customers able to add the plan for £6.99 per month for 6 months, and then the standard price of £9.99 per month.

NOW TV Memberships provide access to premium Sky TV content, including both live channels and on-demand content. Typically, customers can access Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, or Sky Entertainment and Sky Kids, including channels like Sky Atlantic.

Discounts and offers change, so it's worth keeping an eye on our NOW TV & Broadband deals page to see what's currently available.

If customers are interested in getting these TV memberships, the deals can be good value over the lifetime of a 12-month contract. However, the minimum term runs separately with the majority of the NOW TV offers provided on a monthly basis with anytime cancellation.

Read more about the differences between NOW and Sky TV.

NOW Fab Fibre vs Super Fibre

As we've mentioned, NOW Fab Fibre is the same price each month as the faster Super Fibre plan.

This means it could be worth customers upgrading and signing up to Super Fibre to get the faster download speeds of 63Mbps on average.

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Superfast	61Mb average	£22	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free setup

The main differences between these two packages is download/upload speed, but also the out of contract price, with Super Fibre costing £3 more per month than Fab Fibre after the initial 12-month term.

However, NOW send all customers end of contract notifications, informing them when their minimum term is coming to an end and the offers available to them if they recontract with NOW.

At this point, if Fab Fibre becomes cheaper, a customer could simply downgrade for the cheaper price. But for the initial term, it seems worthwhile to at least experience the faster speeds on offer with Super Fibre without paying more to do so.

Properties that are quite far from a local exchange may find they can't get the faster speeds Super Fibre offers, however they can still sign up for the plan. We tested a location like this, and were given the following speed estimates and minimum speed guarantees:

As this example location shows, while the minimum speed guarantee is the same for this particular property due to distance from the exchange, the estimated speed ranges peak at faster speeds.

How does NOW Fab Fibre compare?

NOW Fab Fibre is an entry-level part-fibre deal, with one of the cheapest prices available on a wide scale across the UK.

Here's how Fab Fibre looks side-by-side with other low-cost broadband options:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Superfast	61Mb average	£22	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free setup
	Simply Fibre 50	40Mb average	£25.99	£18.95	24 months
	Offer: Save £10/mth (was £35.99)
	Fibre	66Mb average	£25.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: Save over £4/mth + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers
	Fibre 1	35Mb average	£24	Free	24 months
	Offer: £2 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers

NOW Fab Fibre is currently cheaper than equivalent packages from Vodafone and Shell Energy Broadband, as well as Plusnet, TalkTalk, and parent-company Sky.

One point that is worth paying attention to is that the minimum term on NOW Broadband tends to end much sooner than other deals, which are usually 18 or 24 months.

This could be beneficial to households who want more flexibility, but those looking simply for a long-term low price will find the introductory offer on NOW Broadband ends sooner than with other providers.

This means customers will need to recontract or switch sooner in comparison to a deal that runs for 24 months.

Home phone costs and calling costs may also factor for some customers, and we've got a guide to the cheapest home phone plans here.

How fast is NOW Fab Fibre?

NOW Fab Fibre offers average download speeds of 36Mbps at peak times, and average upload speeds of 10Mbps.

It's a part-fibre connection, which means a fibre cable is run to the nearest green street cabinet, and then the copper phone line cable takes the connection to a home.

At least 50% of NOW Broadband customers will receive these speeds or faster at peak times between 8pm and 10pm when most people are online.

Minimum broadband speeds

Customers will also be given estimated speeds based on their individual property when they sign up, as well as a minimum guaranteed download speed.

We tested a location we knew was fairly far from the local exchange, and were given the following estimated speed ranges:

Minimum guaranteed download speeds work like a promise, and if NOW don't deliver at least that speed and they can't resolve the issue within 30 days, the customer is allowed to leave their contract early without any termination charges.

This is in line with Ofcom's code of conduct on broadband speeds, which NOW is a voluntary signatory of.

NOW Hub Two

NOW Fab Fibre customers will be provided with the NOW Hub Two router, which is the same router given to those on the faster Super Fibre plan.

The NOW Hub Two supports dual-band wireless with smart channel selection and supports up to WiFi 5 (or 802.11ac) protocols.

It's a repackaged version of the Sky Q Hub, which is the predecessor to the current Sky Broadband Hub. It's a decent piece of kit, but it has fewer internal antennae than the newer routers so wireless signal isn't as strong over longer distances.

There are two Ethernet LAN ports for wired connections, but most households will find this router best suits smaller houses, or where connecting devices are in close range.

Ultimately, the 36Mb broadband offered by Fab Fibre is an entry-level plan and the quality of the router reflects that.

Verdict: Is NOW Fab Fibre any good?

NOW Fab Fibre is an entry-level superfast package that will suit the needs of many households, especially those making the transition from copper to fibre for the first time.

With average download speeds of 36Mbps and a decent router, the package is suitable for everyday browsing and entertainment for smaller households.

The option to combine NOW TV Memberships with NOW Fab Fibre will be appealing to some, but it's budget pricing and home phone line that will appeal to most customers.

For customers who want a budget broadband deal but would still like a landline with calls, NOW Fab Fibre is a difficult package to beat.

Customers who'd like a little more speed should check out NOW's faster package - NOW Super Fibre, especially because it's currently priced the same each month.