italk broadband review 2023
| Speed Satisfaction | 3.2/5 |
| Customer Service | 3.5/5 |
| Value for Money | 3.3/5 |
| Reliability | 3.2/5 |
| Router | 3.1/5 |
| Overall score | 3.3/5 |
italk customers benefit from excellent customer service, a fixed-price promise, and no hidden fees. But this isn’t a budget provider, and its Wi-Fi router could certainly be better.
| We like | We don't like |
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italk broadband: In summary
| Download Speeds (Average) | 10Mb / 35Mb / 40Mb / 63Mb / 80Mb / 220Mb |
| Upload Speeds (Average) | Dependent on postcode |
| Data Usage Limit | Unlimited |
| Type of Broadband | ADSL / Fibre / FTTP |
| Home Phone Line? | Yes (required) |
| Inclusive phone calls? | Call bundles available as an add-on |
| Bundled Wi-Fi Router? | Zyxel VMG1312-T20B |
italk Broadband Speed
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Speed Score: 3.2 out of 5 |
italk offers a choice of three different broadband speeds. These will be provided by either ADSL or fibre through a BT phone line.
italk Simple Broadband
- Download speed: 10Mb
- Upload speed: 1Mb
The cheapest italk package is a basic broadband service that is only suitable for people who don’t use the internet for much more than browsing.
We don’t recommend this type of broadband for most people. Unless you’re only interested in getting the cheapest broadband possible, fibre will be better value.
italk Fast Fibre
- Download speed: 35Mb
- Upload speed: 9Mb
This entry-level italk fibre service is fast enough for households with a couple of people sharing the broadband. Its speeds are the minimum we recommend for all homes.
italk Simply Fibre
- Download speed: 40Mb/ 80Mb
italk Superfast Fibre
- Download speed: 63Mb
- Upload speed: 19Mb
The fastest italk broadband package is suitable if you have a large home. If you’re looking for broadband suitable for lots of downloading, gaming or streaming HD video, this is what you’ll want.
italk Full Fibre (FTTP)
- Download speed: 40Mb / 80Mb / 220Mb
italk now offers several 'Fibre-To-The-Premises' (FTTP) packages, aimed at the most active of internet users. All of these full fibre packages are priced under £45 per month.
italk speed summary
italk has a typical choice of broadband services for the Openreach network. Since most broadband providers use the same structure, the speeds are all going to be pretty similar.
In the Broadband Genie 2023 Awards, italk came just below average for speed satisfaction, with a score of 3.2/5. To put things into perspective, the average score for all providers in this category was 3.3/5.
It’s worth noting that italk may implement traffic management during busy periods, and this may have had a play in its below-average score. It’s unlikely to affect the majority of subscribers, but it could have an impact if you regularly use file-sharing services.
If you’re concerned about this, there are plenty of providers that offer truly unlimited broadband without any restrictions.
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What is 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.
italk Customer Service
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Customer Service Score: 3.5 out of 5 |
italk has a UK-based support team, though it doesn't clearly specify its call centre opening hours. There are several ways to get in touch, including Live Chat, telephone, and email. For existing or new customers, italk's customer support team can be contacted by calling 0330 1915 249. For more information on how to get in touch with this ISP, head over to our italk customer service and complaints page.
Our 2023 Broadband Awards ranked italk within the top four best providers for customer care according to user reviews. It as has an excellent Trustpilot score.
italk Broadband Value for Money
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Speed Score: 3.3 out of 5 |
With prices starting at just over £25 per month, italk is at the cheaper end of the broadband market. However it’s not what we'd consider a budget provider. There are plenty of other deals that offer faster speeds for less money.
However, it does have a fixed-price promise that applies for the entire 24-month contract period.
Price guarantees are becoming harder to find, and few providers offer them for this length of time.
This could be valuable if you’re looking to fix costs and are worried about other providers raising prices in the middle of the contract term.
italk deals all include line rental in the price.
italk rewards
It's not uncommon to be able to snap up an italk deal with a reward, such as an Amazon gift card worth around £50-£70.
What you probably won't find with italk are big discounts on its monthly fees. It promises not to prioritise new customers with short-term special offers and to ensure that existing customers always have the best price.
italk Reliability
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Reliability Score: 3.2 out of 5 |
In our 2023 Broadband Awards, italk scored a middling 65.5% for reliability satisfaction.
italk Telecom has a good score and feedback on its Trustpilot page. However, if there are any problems raised, it's normally to do with slow responses to technical issues.
As italk is too small a provider to be included in Ofcom's reports for customer service or home broadband performance, this is all the data we can rely on.
italk Bundle Wi-Fi router
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Router Score: 3.1 out of 5 |
The italk router is very basic.
It only provides an 802.11b/g/n 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi signal and doesn’t offer support for newer and faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Something that is now a fairly standard feature found on most other provider-supplied routers.
It also only supports 100Mb wired network connections, while most other routers give you much faster gigabit (1000Mb) wired networking capability.
None of this is fatal, and for many people, it won’t make a difference. You’ll still be able to get online and connect all your devices over Wi-Fi or a wired connection.
However, if you want to use your home network to do anything even a little out of the ordinary — like regularly transferring large files or streaming HD videos or games — it won’t work as well.
In-depth: italk Zyxel VMG1312-T20B Wi-Fi router
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Router installation
Setting up your italk router shouldn't be difficult and, unless you need to have a line installed, you'll be able to do this yourself. italk doesn't advertise any call centre opening times. Instead, it prefers for you to request a callback, which could be frustrating if you're trying to set things up. Helpful advice online is also limited.
italk: Expert Summary
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italk Overall Score: 3.3 out of 5 |
When comparing broadband deals on price, italk doesn’t stack up too well against much of the competition. After all, there are other providers that offer fibre for less than italk charges for ADSL.
But dig a little deeper, and italk reveals itself to be better value than it first appears.
For one thing, its customer service record is extremely reassuring. The support team is UK-based, and it’s got some excellent customer reviews.
It also doesn’t mess you about when it comes to price increases and contracts. Its monthly fee is fixed for the full length of the contract. And it promises you’ll always have the best deal, with no penalties for loyalty or big discounts that are only available to new customers.
The free router is a little outdated by modern standards, but this isn’t something that most people will care about or notice. It provides the essentials, but if you need anything more, then you’ll need to buy your own hardware.
It should also be noted that italk does have a traffic management policy. Again, this will probably not impact most people, but many other providers offer completely unrestricted broadband.
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