All about Gigaclear broadband
Gigaclear uses its own full fibre network (FTTP) to offer ultrafast speeds that leave many other broadband services in the dust.
With a Gigaclear deal, you can get broadband at speeds up to an average of 830Mb — fast enough to cope with even the most demanding households.
No matter how big your home is, or how many people you have downloading, streaming, or gaming simultaneously, Gigaclear will be able to provide broadband that can cope.
Best of all, this doesn’t come at a high cost, with prices starting from less than £20 per month!
Let's take a look at what else Gigaclear has to offer.
Can I get Gigaclear?
As an alternative provider (altnet) that runs its own network, availability for Gigaclear is more limited than other internet service providers (ISPs).
-
What’s FTTP?
Full Fibre broadband is also known as ‘Fibre To The Premises’, ‘Fibre To The Home’. This is often shortened to FTTP or FTTH. They’re all the same thing!
Instead of copper telephone wire making up the final part of the journey from that green cabinet on the street, fibre optic cables are installed right up to your home.
It’s amazing the difference in speed this small data journey can have. With full-fibre broadband you can expect to receive speeds of 1Gb+.
The downside is full-fibre is only available to a small percentage of homes in the UK, and it’s taking a good while to get everyone up to speed.
It is also committed to upgrading rural communities that may have been passed over by other providers, so it is found in villages and towns in counties such as Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Northamptonshire.
What Gigaclear packages are available, and how fast is it?
Gigaclear has its own high-speed fibre network. It currently offers a choice of four packages, all of which include unlimited data, a Linksys Wi-Fi router. All deals apart from 'Superfast 200' include a free Wi-Fi node for improved signal coverage around your home (worth £108).
- Gigaclear Superfast 200: average 200Mb download/upload speed
- Gigaclear Ultrafast 500: average 500Mb download/upload speed
- Gigaclear Ultrafast 600: average 600Mb download/upload speed
- Gigaclear Hyperfast 900: average 830Mb download/upload speed
It’s also worth noting, Gigaclear broadband is symmetrical. This means it has the same download and upload speed. Many popular broadband services are asymmetrical, with upload speeds that are much slower than the download rate.
Which broadband package is right for me?
Even the cheapest Gigaclear deal is significantly quicker than the 65Mb average top speed of a typical Openreach (BT phone line) fibre connection.
-
What's Openreach?
Openreach is the company that maintains the former British Telecom Network used for the majority of broadband and phone services. If a repair or installation is required, it’s Openreach who will send an engineer, not your provider.
More than 650 service providers using the Openreach network. That’s the majority of the UK’s broadband providers. This includes Sky, TalkTalk and BT. The exception to this is Virgin Media - it uses its own, separate cable network.
For many people, there will be no need to go beyond Gigaclear Ultrafast 500. This is more than enough to serve most households, with plenty of bandwidth left over.
The Ultrafast 600 and Hyperfast 900 packages are aimed at the most demanding homes. These products will be up to the job if you have a lot of people at home carrying out bandwidth-heavy tasks, like 4K streaming.
Gigaclear Linksys router
All Gigaclear deals include a free Linksys Wi-Fi router. The Hyperfast 900 package includes a Linksys Tri-band Router.
Why does this matter? It means your Gigaclear router can operate three separate Wi-Fi networks: one for older devices using a 2.4Ghz signal, alongside two 5Ghz signals for newer and faster Wi-Fi devices.
With this feature, you can dedicate a Wi-Fi link to devices that require very fast speeds without slowing down other devices on the network.
The router also has built-in Mesh Wi-Fi support, allowing you to easily extend the Wi-Fi signal around the home and eliminate weak coverage areas. Gigaclear includes a free Wi-Fi node with every package.
Does Gigaclear offer a phone package?
Gigaclear is a broadband-only provider and does not offer any kind of phone package. You may want to upgrade your mobile phone plan and use that for calls.
However, if you need a fixed-line telephone for an alarm or emergency system, then you'll have to budget for the additional cost of setting up and running a regular landline, alongside Gigaclear.
Gigaclear broadband: pros and cons
| We like | We don’t like |
|---|---|
|
|
To learn more about Gigaclear and how it compares to other services, read our full Gigaclear broadband review.
Frequently asked questions about Gigaclear broadband
-
How do I switch to Gigaclear?
Because Gigaclear operates its own network separate from other providers, you'll need to handle the switch yourself.
First, check that you can get Gigaclear and sign up. Once the order is confirmed, you'll then need to contact your existing provider and request a cancellation.
For more help, read our guide: 'how to switch broadband and get an amazing deal'.
-
What other providers are like Gigaclear?
Gigaclear isn't the only provider offering full fibre broadband with this kind of speed. Other alternative network providers with similar deals include Hyperoptic and Community Fibre. Bigger names such as BT, Sky, Vodafone, and Virgin Media can also offer high-speed FTTP broadband.
You can find out which of these offer high-speed, full fibre broadband to your home by using our handy deals checker.
However, not every FTTP provider offers symmetrical broadband (internet with the same upload and download speed) like Gigaclear. If you're interested in a service that is capable of handling large file uploads, this is something to check before buying.
Gigaclear is also fairly unique because it's focused its efforts on supplying broadband to rural communities, where other providers of a similar speed are unlikely to be available.
-
How do I contact Gigaclear customer service?
Call Gigaclear customer support on 01865 591 131. You can find more ways to get in touch using this guide to Gigaclear's customer service.
-
Can I keep my phone number with Gigaclear?
Gigaclear doesn't offer a phone line or any other phone service. To keep your landline phone number, you'd either need to have a separate landline in addition to the Gigaclear connection or port the number to a Voice over IP (VoIP) service such as Vonage for Home.
Expert Summary
Gigaclear is an established provider that has runs its own network since 2010. All of Gigaclear's broadband packages are full fibre and offer symmetrical download and upload speeds. This gives it a real advantage over big name providers who also offer full fibre, such as Virgin Media and BT.
The minimum contract term for a Gigaclear broadband package is 18-months. Prices are extremely reasonable, with with a 200Mb starting from well under £20 per month. However, there's a high chance that prices may rise during the contract.
Gigaclear serves some rural areas across the UK that other providers don't offer. However, you can also sign up to its service in some larger towns and cities.
To find out if Gigaclear is available at your home, type your address into our deals checker.