TalkTalk Fibre 65 broadband plan

Fibre 65 is one of two superfast fibre broadband plans offered by TalkTalk, and costs the same per month as their entry-level Fibre 35 plan.

The package offers average download speeds of 67Mbps, a home phone line with pay as you go calls, and the option to add a 4K TV service for just £5 per month.

With availability at around 94% of UK homes, most people will be able to get Fibre 65 from TalkTalk. Overall, it's a solid choice for both small and larger households where multiple devices need a fast connection.

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At a glance

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Who is TalkTalk Fibre 65 best for?

TalkTalk Fibre 65 offers a broadband connection that will be suitable for most households. It costs the same per month as Fibre 35, which makes it an obvious upgrade for anyone considering TalkTalk's superfast part fibre broadband.

The 67Mbps download speeds will support multiple devices connected at the same time, and customers will have no problem using Fibre 65 for streaming, video calls, online gaming, and working from home.

Fibre 65 offers the fastest download speeds available on a fibre to the cabinet connection, and its major selling point is that it's available to most homes, covering 94% of the UK where full fibre isn't yet available.

TalkTalk Fibre 65 is best for:

• Most households whether small or large
• Supporting multiple devices connected at the same time
• People who have to work from home
• High quality streaming, video calls, and online gaming

Additionally, TalkTalk Fibre 65 is also well suited to people who use online streaming services for their home entertainment, as the broadband deal can be bundled with TalkTalk TV, which includes Freeview and support for over 10,000 apps including Netflix, NOW and Prime Video.

Customers living within an Openreach FTTP or CityFibre enabled area, will be able to get TalkTalk's Full Fibre 65 plan instead.

Full Fibre 65 offers faster download and upload speeds, and a more reliable connection. Unlike Fibre 65, it comes without a home phone line, but customers can add digital voice from just £2 per month extra.

Those who can get full fibre broadband however, will find the next plan up, Full Fibre 150, currently priced at the same £28 per month, so that's worth a look too.

Check availability for TalkTalk broadband in your area.

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What does TalkTalk Fibre 65 offer?

Fibre 65 is TalkTalk's fastest superfast broadband plan, offering average download speeds of 67Mbps at peak times, and 17Mbps upload speeds.

Customers living in a full fibre enabled area will get slightly faster speeds, with average downloads of 77Mbps, and uploads of 20Mbps.

Whether customers can get Fibre 65 or Full Fibre 65, the plans cost the same each month and have the same setup fee, although offers can vary.

There are some other minor differences too. While Fibre 65 offers a landline with pay as you go calls and the option to add a call plan, Full Fibre 65 comes as a data-only line and it costs an extra £2 per month to get the digital voice service.

Customers on either connection can add TalkTalk TV, with both packages now coming with the newer Android-powered TV Hub.

Both Fibre 65 and Full Fibre 65 are subject to annual price rises, with TalkTalk's current policy increasing prices by £3 per month in April of each year.

Ultimately however, TalkTalk's approach to full fibre means customers can't choose between these two deals. If Openreach or CityFibre full fibre is available in your area, you'll only be able to sign up to a full fibre deal. This is increasingly common among broadband providers.

Use the postcode search on our TalkTalk deals page to find out which packages are available to you.

Fibre 65 + TalkTalk TV

TalkTalk allow their broadband customers the option to add a low-cost TV service which bundles Freeview with access to subscription-based on-demand apps like Netflix, NOW, and Amazon Prime Video.

Here's how much TalkTalk TV costs with Fibre 65:

TalkTalk TV costs £5 per month on top of the broadband subscription, this includes provision of the set-top box but comes with little content as standard other than Freeview.

TalkTalk Fibre 65 and Full Fibre 65 customers now receive the new Android-powered TV hub. This box offers support for Google Assistant and Chromecast, and has access to the Google Play Store with over 10,000 apps to download.

That means, while live TV channels are limited to Freeview, the TalkTalk TV hub has unparalleled support for on-demand apps, with all the main names covered, including Netflix, NOW, Prime Video, Discovery+, Paramount+, Disney+, and Apple TV+, among others.

So, customers can customise their viewing by adding subscriptions to a range of on-demand content providers, but bear in mind, there will be additional fees for this.

Overall, as we look at in our full TalkTalk TV review, the service does well to rival pay TV giants Sky and Virgin Media at a more competitive price, although customers should bear in mind the TV 'service' is a smart TV box, with other content accessed through third-party apps.

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TalkTalk Fibre 65 vs Fibre 150

The next package up from TalkTalk's Fibre 65 is Fibre 150, although it's only available to those living in a full fibre enabled area.

At the time of writing, Full Fibre 65 costs the same per month as Full Fibre 150, and setup fees are also the same across both packages.

TalkTalk Fibre 150 also comes with an upgraded router, as the Amazon eero 6 supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol, while the Full Fibre 65 package only comes with the TalkTalk WiFi Hub, which supports devices up to WiFi 5.

Full Fibre 150 offers average download speeds of 152Mbps, nearly twice the speed of Full Fibre 65, which offers 77Mbps average download speeds at peak times, so it could be a good choice for slightly larger households who'll think they could benefit from the increased download speeds and better router.

Considering Full Fibre 150 costs the same each month as Full Fibre 65, it should be an easy upgrade decision.

Check availability of TalkTalk's packages in your area.

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How does Fibre 65 compare?

TalkTalk is no longer the budget provider they used to be, with a new focus on offering more premium features like a newer router and a pay TV option.

As a result, while they're rarely the most expensive, there are often cheaper options available with rival providers. So, the value for money with TalkTalk usually comes from their extra services.

TalkTalk Fibre 65 is cheaper than equivalent speed packages from BT, Direct Save Telecom, iTalk Telecom and Zen Internet. Yet, it's more expensive than similar plans from providers including Vodafone, Plusnet, NOW Broadband, and Sky.

Here's how Fibre 65 looks side-by-side with options from Plusnet, Sky, and BT.

TalkTalk offer 18-month minimum terms on their plans, while most providers have now moved to 24-month minimum terms, including BT, Sky, and Plusnet.

Which contract length is best depends on individual customer requirements. It's worth remembering a longer contract can mean lower introductory prices for longer, while a shorter contract provides more flexibility to move to a better deal sooner.

Fibre 65 + TalkTalk TV

In terms of Fibre 65 and TalkTalk TV it can be a little harder to compare on a like-for-like basis due to the variations in standard content, but we can look at basic packages from Sky and BT, as well as from Virgin Media.

Both Sky and Virgin Media offer streaming versions of their pay TV services, and on a like-for-like basis both costs around the same as TalkTalk TV with fibre broadband.

The prices in the table above for TalkTalk and Virgin Media don't include much TV, yet Sky includes Sky Atlantic, Netflix and Discovery+.

Virgin Flex comes with 150 channels as standard, although most of these are Freeview or F.A.S.T. channels from apps like Pluto TV, and customers need to upgrade to the Essential Entertainment add-on for £15 extra a month to gain access to more channels.

The biggest apps Netflix, NOW, Prime Video, and TNT Sports (BT Sport), are all available on TalkTalk TV, so customers don't miss out on any of the premium content like Sky Atlantic and Sky Cinema available with the bigger pay TV giants.

Overall, TalkTalk TV is a value for money add-on for Fibre 65 that's worth considering.

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How fast is Fibre 65

TalkTalk Fibre 65 offers average download speeds of 67Mbps, this means at least 50% of their customers are receiving 67Mbps or faster speeds during the busiest times of 8pm to 10pm in the evening. Fibre 65 also offers average upload speeds of 18Mbps.

Both of these speeds are in line with equivalent packages from BT, Sky, Plusnet, and Vodafone, yet we can also look at independent research into real world speeds by Ofcom.

This research found customers on TalkTalk's Fibre 65 package were receiving 62.56Mbps download speeds at peak times, and 62.64Mbps over 24 hours. This was actually slower than similar packages from Plusnet, Sky and BT, with BT performing the best and delivering 67.15Mbps download speeds for their customers at peak times.

Customers living in full fibre enabled areas will get faster speeds even by choosing the same Fibre 65 package. BT's equivalent full fibre 74Mb plan delivers peak time average speeds of 74.60Mbps according to Ofcom.

Upload speeds

Upload speeds won't affect the majority of broadband customers, however activities such as high definition video calling, online gaming, and sometimes working from home on shared cloud projects, may be affected to some degree by upload speeds.

TalkTalk's Fibre 65 package offers average upload speeds of 17Mbps. Real world research by Ofcom confirms that customers experience 17.70Mbps upload speeds on average over 24 hours.

In comparison to equivalent packages from BT, Plusnet, Vodafone, and Sky, TalkTalk Fibre 65 is among average for upload speeds, with BT delivering a slightly faster 18.46Mbps on average over 24 hours.

TalkTalk's Full Fibre 65 package is listed as offering 20Mbps upload speeds, so customers who can get full fibre will also get slightly faster upload speeds.

Minimum speed guarantee

As signatories of Ofcom's Voluntary Code on Broadband Speeds, TalkTalk provide all new customers with a minimum guaranteed speed when they sign up to Fibre 65 or any other package.

The voluntary code means if a customer receives below the minimum guaranteed speed when they signed up they can leave their contract early without penalty. Although the customer must give TalkTalk 30 working days in order to try and resolve any issues, and there is an initial 14-day stabilisation period for new customers to allow the line to settle.

Because Fibre 65 is a fibre to the cabinet connection, the last cabling to connect a customer's home uses the existing copper phone line network. This means as distances will vary between the street cabinet and a customer's home, as well as from the street cabinet to the local exchange, broadband speeds will vary more widely than with a full fibre connection, where the fibre cable goes directly inside a customer's property.

We tested the minimum speed guarantee on Fibre 65 with two separate postcodes. Postcode A was given a minimum download speed of 59.6Mbps, while postcode B had a minimum speed of 51.6Mbps.

That goes to show how broadband speeds can vary between customers due to location and distances from infrastructure. It's also interesting one location with fibre to the cabinet was actually faster than our test location for the full fibre plan.

Ultimately however, customers can be confident they'll receive the speed quoted when they sign up, and if they don't, they'll be able to leave penalty free to find a faster service elsewhere.

See which TalkTalk packages are available in your area with our free postcode tool on our TalkTalk deals page.

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Call plans

Fibre 65 comes with a home phone line included in the monthly price, and pay as you go calls.

Customers can choose to upgrade to an inclusive call plan, including:

Out of allowance call costs are 24 pence per minute to UK landlines and mobiles.

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Router

Fibre 65 from TalkTalk comes with a free wireless router. The WiFi Hub is a TalkTalk branded device, and supports the WiFi 5 protocol with dual-band coverage.

This router has seven internal antennae, which means wireless coverage should be strong.

TalkTalk's WiFi Hub specifications:

Overall, TalkTalk's WiFi Hub stands up well against some of the more basic routers provided with similar broadband packages from providers like NOW Broadband and Origin Broadband.

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Extras

TalkTalk Fibre 65 customers can choose to add the Supersafe Security extra when they sign up. It costs £6 per month, and includes security software along with a password manager.

The security software protects up to 10 devices, including mobiles, tablets and computers, and protects against viruses, malware, and adds an extra layer of security when carrying out higher risk activities like online banking and shopping.

Whether customers need this software or not will depend on whether they already have anti-virus software on their computer. However, it's useful in that it protects multiple devices including smartphones.

Fixed Price Plus

TalkTalk offer an add-on called 'Fixed Price Plus', however its only available to part fibre customers who take Fibre 65.

Fixed Price Plus promised to freeze prices for customers for the duration of their contract, and that any out of contract price rises wouldn't be above the rate of inflation.

Typically, TalkTalk customers should expect to see their prices rise by £3 per month each year in April. Effectively, this add-on allows customers to pay extra now to prevent large increases further down the line.

However, it can vary whether or not the add-on will provide good savings. For example, customers who take broadband out at the start of the year will see annual rises sooner, while those who sign up in May or June have longer at the listed price before costs go up.

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Summary: Is TalkTalk Fibre 65 any good?

TalkTalk Fibre 65 is a low-cost broadband plan that offers some of the fastest speeds to customers on the Openreach fibre to the cabinet network.

Due to its wide availability, around 94% of the UK, most people will be able to get Fibre 65, however people living in a full fibre enabled area will get the Full Fibre 65 package instead.

Overall though, either Fibre 65 or Full Fibre 65 will be adequate for most households, allowing simultaneous usage of fast broadband activities like streaming, gaming, video calls, and working from home.

What we like most about Fibre 65:

• Fastest superfast broadband plan that's adequate for most households
• Costs the same as Fibre 35, which is good value for money for the speed boost
• Comes with the latest WiFi Hub from TalkTalk
• Add TalkTalk TV for just £5 per month extra and gain access to Netflix, NOW, Prime Video, TNT Sports, and other streaming services

Ultimately there are cheaper broadband packages available from providers including Vodafone, Plusnet and even Sky. However, we like that TalkTalk offers a TV service add-on to their customers and they have an improved customer service record in comparison to Vodafone and Virgin Media.

To find out more about TalkTalk broadband in general, we've reviewed their service in full here. We also have more information on TalkTalk TV.

Compare TalkTalk's latest prices here.