NOW Super Fibre

NOW Super Fibre is the provider's fastest tier, but is priced the same as the next plan down, so offers very good value for money.

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Speed:

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Router:

NOW Super Fibre offers average download speeds of 63Mbps at peak times and provides a connection using part-fibre technology.

The biggest benefits of the plan lie in its value for money, coming in as one of the UK's cheapest broadband deals. Customers can also save more on NOW TV Memberships.

Availability for the plan is now declining however, as some full fibre enabled areas are ceasing the sale of part-fibre connections.

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 Super Fibre best for?

NOW Super Fibre is a broadband package that will best suit smaller homes, with only a few people sharing the connection.

The average download speed of 63Mbps at peak times will be adequate for a range of online activities including:

• Streaming HD and UHD content
• Online gaming
• Working from home
• Making video calls
• Content sharing on social media

NOW Super Fibre is also a good option for people who want to bundle a home phone call plan with their broadband, with a choice of off-peak or anytime calls.

Customers can also bundle NOW TV Memberships too, with exclusive savings on TV plans, including money-off NOW Sports or NOW Entertainment, making NOW Broadband a good choice for those who enjoy Sky TV content.

Anyone who has looked at NOW Fab Fibre will find Super Fibre a better choice, with the plans costing the same each month, but Super Fibre offering faster average download speeds.

However, for those living in a full fibre enabled area, they may be better off looking at Sky or Plusnet, as NOW Super Fibre is only a part-fibre deal. In addition, it's worth checking availability as some full fibre enabled areas are no longer providing part-fibre connections.

Check availability for NOW Broadband in your area.

What does NOW Super Fibre offer?

NOW Super Fibre offers a part-fibre broadband connection with average download speeds of 63Mbps at peak times.

It's the fastest plan available from NOW, and will offer the fastest speeds a part-fibre line is capable of, but could be affected by distance.

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

NOW Super Fibre currently costs the same each month as the slower Fab Fibre plan, so customers should take the faster package if they can.

The monthly price listed above includes broadband and line rental, with calls on a pay as you go basis. However, customers can choose to add either evening & weekend, or anytime calls for an extra fee.

The minimum term contract is 12 months, although it's possible to take NOW Super Fibre on a monthly rolling basis by paying a £60 upfront fee.

However, the monthly price paid by customers on 12-month and 1-month deals is exactly the same, something that sets the Now Super Fibre plan apart from many other no contract deals.

While the £60 upfront fee can be off-putting, it does offer those in short-term accommodation and student houses, along with those who simply don't want a long-term deal, more control over their broadband package.

At current pricing, it's around the cost of three months of NOW Super Fibre, so those in six-month uncertain tenancies, for example, could save money compared to cancelling their broadband contract early and incurring early termination fees.

NOW Super Fibre + TV

NOW Super Fibre can be bundled with various NOW TV Memberships, including NOW Sports and NOW Entertainment.

There are discounts available for bundling, although they can vary. These are the current offers available:

	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

At the time of writing it's possible to get NOW Sports for just £29.99 per month for 12 months, reduced from the standard price of £34.99. NOW Entertainment is also on offer at just £6.99 a month for 6 months, reduced from £9.99 a month.

Minimum contracts on NOW TV run separately even when bundled with NOW Broadband, although while most deals come on monthly rolling terms and can be cancelled at any time, the current NOW Entertainment discount has a 6-month minimum term.

NOW TV content is based on streaming access to both live and on-demand Sky channels, including Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, and entertainment channels such as Sky Max, Sky Showcase, and Sky Atlantic.

Customers get the channels in 720p HD, but can upgrade to full 1080p HD by adding the NOW Boost add-on, which also includes ad-skipping.

Overall, NOW TV is a cost-effective way to watch premium Sky content, especially with the various discounts for bundling NOW Broadband. Read more about NOW TV Memberships here.

How does NOW Super Fibre compare?

NOW Super Fibre is one of the cheapest broadband deals available, even when compared to packages offering slower speeds.

Here is NOW Super Fibre side-by-side with some equivalent plans from other providers:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Superfast	61Mb average	£22	Free	24 months
	Offer: Free setup
	Fibre	66Mb average	£25.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: Save over £4/mth + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers
	Fibre 2	65Mb average	£24	Free	24 months
	Offer: £2 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers
	Superfast Broadband	61Mb average	£26	£5	24 months
	Offer: WiFi Max just £4/mth + (£5 refundable setup fee for new customers if applicable)

Vodafone and Shell Energy Broadband both offer budget broadband packages, but neither offer a plan cheaper than NOW Super Fibre.

NOW Broadband is also cheaper than deals from TalkTalk, Plusnet, Sky, and BT.

It's worth noting however that NOW Broadband only offer copper or part-fibre connections, so anyone looking for a full fibre deal will need to look elsewhere.

It's also the case that as the full fibre rollout expands, wholesale provider Openreach is ceasing the sale of part-fibre products in areas where full fibre has over 75% coverage. In these areas customers won't be able to sign up for NOW, and are instead being redirected to parent-company Sky, who do offer full fibre plans.

Plusnet and TalkTalk are also alternative options for low-cost full fibre broadband, and TalkTalk even offer a TV service with similar discounts on NOW TV Memberships.

No contract broadband

In terms of Super Fibre on a monthly rolling plan, there are only a handful of other providers we can compare it to.

Direct Save Telecom is one option for a no contract broadband deal, but as you can see, prices are much higher, despite the lower upfront cost.

Overall, NOW Broadband is likely a better choice, with savings made after two months in comparison to Direct Save Telecom's equivalent package.

How fast is NOW Super Fibre?

NOW Super Fibre offers average download speeds of 63Mbps at peak times, and average upload speeds of 19Mbps.

These speeds are received by at least 50% of NOW Broadband customers during the busiest hours of 8pm to 10pm, when the network can experience slower speeds due to congestion.

The connection is delivered using part-fibre technology, so the fibre cable is only installed to the green street cabinet, and then the copper telephone line is used to a home.

Because of this it's worth being aware speeds can vary more than with full fibre (FTTP), especially where a property is further from its local telephone exchange.

Minimum guaranteed speed

NOW Broadband have signed up to Ofcom's code of conduct on broadband speeds however, so they will provide customers with personalised estimates and a minimum guaranteed download speed during the checkout process.

The minimum guaranteed download speed effectively provides a service guarantee and if customers don't receive at least this speed or faster, and NOW can't resolve any issues within 30 days of being notified of problems, the customer should be free to leave their contract early and without any penalty.

We tested the minimum speed on NOW Super Fibre at a location in Brighton and were given the below speed estimates and service guarantee:

Remember however speeds vary between locations and a different address could be given a different minimum guaranteed speed.

NOW Hub Two

NOW Super Fibre customers will be provided with the NOW Hub Two, which is free but has a delivery charge of £10.

The NOW Hub Two is basically a rebranded version of the previous Sky Q Hub, which has now been replaced by Sky with the Sky Broadband Hub.

So, while this means NOW customers get a repackaged Sky hub, it's the older version and doesn't offer the same wireless signal strength as Sky's newer router.

The NOW Hub Two offers:

• Dual-band wireless channels (2.4GHz and 5GHz), with smart channel selection
• Support up to WiFi 5 or 802.11ac
• 2 x Ethernet LAN ports for wired connections
• 5 internal antennae
• WPA2 security

It's a reasonable router, but will be best suited for smaller homes where the wireless signal doesn't have too far, or too many walls, to navigate.

NOW Broadband offers parental controls in the form of NOW Broadband Buddy, which offers router-level control of age-appropriate content.

However, the NOW Hub Two doesn't support mesh, and it's also not possible to add a whole home WiFi guarantee to the plan.

Verdict: Is Now Super Fibre any good?

NOW Super Fibre is the provider's fastest package and worth opting for as it costs the same as the slower entry-level Fab Fibre deal.

It's also one of the cheapest broadband packages in the UK with wide availability, and so offers homes a value for money choice at a low cost.

Customers get a home phone line included as standard, with the ability to add optional call plans, as well as save on NOW TV Memberships, which makes NOW Super Fibre a good all-round package for multiple services.

The choice of contract length is also going to be useful for some households, although it's worth remembering the introductory price on the 12-month plan will end sooner in comparison to an 18 or 24-month deal. This means customers would have to recontract or switch away sooner than with other broadband deals.

Ultimately, NOW Super Fibre is a very good budget broadband choice, especially for homes who need a home phone line and want to watch Sky content cheaply. However, larger households may struggle with the router and may be better suited upgrading to a deal from Sky, Plusnet or TalkTalk, who all offer better routers as well as full fibre options.