The Genie guide to broadband in Cardiff
Cardiff residents have access to extremely good broadband, with superfast (30Mb+) available to the majority of premises in all areas.
All the exchanges in Cardiff offer the full range of broadband connectivity, with the options of ADSL up to an average 11Mb, BT network fibre up to approximately 65Mb, and Virgin Media up to 630Mb.
However you’re not guaranteed to be able to choose from all the deals in the comparison table, so we strongly advise you to do a postcode check here before starting to narrow down your search. This should still leave you with a great choice of packages and will help avoid the disappointment of choosing a particular special offer only to find it’s not available in your street.
Not sure where to begin on your hunt for the best broadband in Cardiff? If you’re completely new to broadband it might be best to start with our beginners’ guide. This explains all the basics while linking to more resources to fill in any more details you may want to learn. Or you can simply call us on the number at the top of the page if that suits you best.
If you have a rough idea of the kind of deal you’re after, we have several dedicated comparison tables for the likes of broadband and TV bundles, or unlimited broadband. Your first step should be entering your postcode to filter deals by location, after that, you can filter and sort the options by criteria such as speed, ISP, free installation and TV, among many others.
The future of broadband in Cardiff
Cardiff was the first city in Wales to get gigabit broadband, with FTTH specialist Hyperoptic installing ultrafast connectivity in Hayes Apartments above the St David's shopping centre way back in 2014. And in 2015 Spectrum Internet deployed gigabit internet to Cardiff Gate International Business Park.
While the availability of gigabit remains limited (as it is across the whole of the UK, sadly) it seems likely that given Cardiff's importance residents and businesses will not have to wait too long to gain access. And even if that's some way off there are still future Virgin Media upgrades and the deployment of fast fibre-to-the-premises connections (which are already available at some exchanges). These should become widely available across the country over the next few years.
Comparing mobile broadband in Cardiff
Just as it offers a comprehensive selection of home broadband, Cardiff is also well served by mobile broadband from all networks. 3G, 4G and 5G is available from EE, O2, Three, and Vodafone.
In common with the rest of the UK though you will find that the best reception is in central Cardiff and busier suburban locations. Once you venture out into the countryside the connection will become less reliable, particularly when it comes to 4G and 5G.
Before buying any mobile phone or mobile broadband package it's important to gauge coverage for yourself in the areas where you'll be using the service; click the logos below to access the network operator's own signal checking tools.
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Where we get our information
We strive to keep our local broadband information as up to date as possible. This means using trustworthy sources with regular checks. The information on this page comes from the following:
- Local exchange information: availability.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search
- Local broadband speed information: labs.thinkbroadband.com/local
- Mobile broadband coverage (1): nperf.com/en/map/GB
- Mobile broadband coverage (2): checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/mobile-coverage