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NOW Broadband Review 2024

Our NOW Broadband rating: 3.4/5

NOW Broadband offers internet and TV bundles on a budget, with flexible TV passes that give you access to popular Sky channels without a satellite dish or long contract. But is it worth the money? We check out the pros and cons in this in-depth review.

NOW Broadband review 2024

Speed Satisfaction 3.3/5
Customer Service  3.5/5
Value for Money  3.3/5
Reliability 3.5/5
Router 3.5/5
Overall score 3.4/5

If you're looking to keep your monthly spend low, NOW is a great value provider. It offers cheap, standard fibre broadband deals, as well as low-cost internet and TV bundles. But you’ll have to pay setup fees and ad-free TV costs extra. Its Wi-Fi router could be better, too.

We like We don't like
  • The flexible TV bundles.
  • The affordable price
  • There’s no credit check.
  • Optional no-contract deals.
  • Most packages have a setup fee.
  • You must pay extra to remove TV adverts and stream in HD.
  • The free router only has two network ports.

NOW Broadband: In summary

Download Speeds (Average) 11Mb / 36Mb / 63Mb
Upload Speeds (Average) 1Mb / 9.5Mb / 19Mb
Data Usage Limit Truly unlimited
Type of Broadband ADSL and Fibre
Home Phone Line? Yes (required)
Inclusive phone calls? Call bundles available as an add-on
Bundled Wi-Fi Router? NOW Hub 2

You can find our current favourite NOW broadband deals below:

Dynamic deal panel

NOW Broadband Speed

Speed Score: 3.3 out of 5

NOW offers three different speeds across its range. Each is available in a variety of packages, and that includes no-contract broadband and TV bundles.

NOW Broadband - Brilliant Broadband

  • Download speed: 11Mb
  • Upload speed: 1Mb

The cheapest NOW package is suitable for up to two people if it’s not used often. But this speed is kind of slow by modern standards.

Given that the fibre packages only cost a little more but are much faster, we don’t recommend this service unless you only need occasional internet access.

NOW Broadband - Fab Fibre

  • Download speed: 36Mb
  • Upload speed: 9.5Mb

This is our recommended minimum for most homes. It’s quick enough for several people sharing or an individual who needs more bandwidth than NOW Brilliant Broadband can deliver.

It’s a fibre service using a BT Openreach line.

NOW Broadband - Super Fibre

  • Download speed: 63Mb
  • Upload speed: 19Mb

The fastest broadband offered by NOW is a serious upgrade on Fab Fibre, but it doesn’t mean you have to pay a lot more for it. In fact, it’s sometimes available at the same price!

This is the best option for larger homes where several of you want to use the internet at once. It’s also the one to go for if you regularly need to quickly download large files. 

NOW Broadband - Full Fibre 100

  • Download speed: 100Mb
  • Upload speed: 18Mb

There's only one full fibre package available through NOW. Now Full Fibre 100 is powered by Sky, so don't be alarmed if you see the Sky logo when you click on the green 'get deal' button. 

It's worth nothing, although other NOW packages come in 12 and 1-month terms, NOW Full Fibre 100 is only available on an 18-month contract.

NOW Broadband speed summary

In our 2024 Home Broadband Survey, NOW scored a 69% satisfaction score for speed. This was just slightly below average.

NOW Broadband is an Openreach network provider. That means there’s a similar choice of broadband services and speeds as most other providers, all delivered over a regular telephone line.

Some Openreach providers do quote a slightly faster average speed than NOW, but it’s not by much. With them sharing the same core infrastructure, you're not usually going to get a drastically different experience from NOW to any other Openreach provider.

  • 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.

NOW Broadband Customer Service

Customer Service Score: 3.5 out of 5

In our 2024 home broadband survey, NOW ranked slightly higher than the average customer support (71%). We'd have no concerns about recommending NOW based on this.

NOW is one of the providers studied in the Ofcom customer service report. Although it didn't collect full results for this provider. One category which it did make a note for NOW on was "customers with a reason to complain". For this, only 10% of NOW users reported they'd had to raise an issue (the average for all ISPs was 20%). It also had an exceptionally quick call waiting time of just 51 seconds (the average for all ISPs was 2 mins 37 seconds).

If you need to contact NOW Broadband, it operates a customer support line between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.

See more:

NOW Broadband Value for Money

Value for Money Score: 3.3 out of 5

In Broadband Genie's 2023 Broadband Awards, NOW scored slightly above average.

NOW Broadband is competitively priced. Its entry-level Brilliant Broadband package starts at £20, with faster speeds costing just a little bit more.

However, NOW does charge a set-up fee. So, unfortunately, unless you get it on a special offer with free setup, you’ll have to pay for installation.

The best value products are its entry-level full fibre deals, although for these, you'll need to commit to an 18-month contract. NOW Broadband is also one of the few providers to offer “no-contract” or rolling monthly packages. These generally have the same monthly price as their longer-term equivalents but a much higher setup fee. No-contract broadband can be very useful if you want more flexibility.

Also noteworthy is the fact that NOW Broadband offers broadband without a credit check. The only financial commitment it requires is a 10p balance in your bank account, which will be debited and then credited back when signing up.

See also: "Broadband deals with no credit check".

NOW rewards

NOW doesn’t usually offer free gifts. Instead, it tends to provide a discounted monthly price or a free setup offer.

You can compare the latest NOW offers on our NOW cashback and rewards page. Or, for general help with rewards, visit our guide to claiming free gifts and vouchers.

NOW Broadband Reliability

Reliability Score: 3.5 out of 5

In our 2024 Broadband Awards, NOW user reviews ranked this provider at 75% satisfaction for reliability, ahead of big competitor names such as TalkTalk, Virgin Media and EE.

Ofcom didn't provide full figures for NOW broadband in its latest customer service report. However, for the categories it was included in, it came out on top. As well as a very small percentage of complaints, it was by far the speediest provider to pick up the phone.

NOW Bundled Wi-Fi router

Router Score: 3.5 out of 5

All NOW deals include a free NOW Hub 2 Wi-Fi router. The sleek NOW Hub 2 Wi-Fi router is the same hardware as the Sky Q Hub, just rebranded for NOW Broadband. 

For more information on this device, read our NOW Broadband router round-up.

Router installation

Setting up your NOW Hub 2 router shouldn't be difficult and, unless you need to have a line installed, you'll be able to do this yourself without fuss. You'll find easy, practical instructions for setting up your Wi-Fi on the NOW website.

You can find more information on the best places to get help for NOW issues on its dedicated customer service page.

  • NOW broadband extras

    NOW TV

    NOW TV offers a flexible approach to premium TV. 

    Instead of signing up for a contract that includes hundreds of channels (many of which you may never watch) you buy a monthly pass for specific types of channels. You can then cancel these at any time.

    NOW TV offers Entertainment, Sky Sports, Kids and Sky Cinema passes, with channels such as Sky Atlantic, Cartoon Network, Sky Sports Main Event, and Sky Sci-Fi. 

    With your pass in hand, you can view NOW TV via any compatible device. That includes streaming boxes and sticks (Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV) smart TVs, games consoles, mobile devices, and Windows and Apple Mac computers.

    What it doesn’t offer is the same variety of channels as Sky TV or Virgin Media TV. Still, if you’re mainly interested in checking out the latest movies and boxsets, NOW TV is a straightforward way to do that. You just don’t have to worry about lengthy contracts or bolting a dish to your house.

    A word of caution! The cheapest NOW TV passes don’t support HD video streams and include adverts. If you want the best quality picture and uninterrupted viewing, you’ll have to pay an extra £6 per month for NOW Boost.

NOW Broadband: Expert Summary

NOW Broadband Overall Score: 3.3 out of 5

If you’re looking to cut costs or simply want a no-nonsense broadband service without tons of extras, NOW Broadband is a great choice.

Its basic ADSL service is super affordable, but the fibre services make the most sense. After all, it’s a rapid fibre broadband connection at a lower cost than much of the competition.

You even have the choice of no-contract deals. And no credit check means it’s suitable for anyone worried about being turned away by other providers due to a poor credit score.

NOW Broadband and TV deals are also good value, combining fast unlimited broadband and very flexible and affordable TV bundles. Its TV offering is especially attractive if you’re interested in premium Sky TV channels without the commitment, or satellite dish, of a full-blown Sky TV package.

The negatives

Outside of special offers, the chances are you'll have to pay a setup fee when you sign up to NOW Broadband. With the longer-term deals, the cost isn't bad, but no-contract broadband requires a big up-front payment. NOW isn’t alone here, though, as all no-contract deals include a large setup fee.

The free router may also be limiting for some homes, as it only has two network ports.

Switching broadband providers

Interesting in signing up to NOW Broadband? You can easily check which packages are available in your area by popping your address or postcode into this checker. Don't forget to use our filters, so you can sort by price, speed or contract length. Our tables will also show you if there are any great reward offers available, too. You'll be able to see how much money these can save you in the long-run with our clear 'Effective Monthly Price' summary.

NOW Broadband Deals Checker

If you’re out of contract, switching between providers is a simple process. If you're staying with a provider n the Openreach network, you shouldn’t even need to speak to your current provider - your new one should do all the admin for you.  Check out our guide on ‘how to switch broadband and get an amazing deal’ for more hints and tricks, learn how to save money and upgrade your home's internet connection with little fuss.

More broadband reviews

We review every provider we list on Broadband Genie. Read the following reviews for our thoughts on other ISPs:

  • Broadband Genie’s review policy

    When you’re looking to switch broadband, we know how important unbiased, balanced, expert reviews can be. As a dedicated broadband comparison and switching site, we are in a unique position to give you expert insight into whether or not we think a provider is worth your money. Read on to find out a little more about our broadband provider review process.

    User ratings

    We ask users to review providers on our site, as part of our ongoing Home Broadband Survey project. We gather these reviews by promoting our survey to a broad swathe of customers. In doing so, we aim to get the most accurate and balanced customer feedback as possible. We believe this is preferable to advertising ourselves as a review service, which tends to attract a higher number of frustrated customers, skewing the results.

    We use these scores, in combination with other factors such as Ofcom research to inform our overall ratings (more on this below).

    You can leave your own review on our broadband survey, which also includes a monthly £100 prize draw.

    Overall ratings

    Our overall provider rating is decided upon by our editors, informed by the user feedback we have received, we will also take into account wider market research such as Ofcom’s speed and customer service research, along with other trusted review platforms such as Trustpilot, where appropriate.

    This allows us to create an informed, well-balanced review of a provider that’s ultimately the most useful way to determine whether or not a provider is right for you.

Meet the author:

Contributor

Matt has been working with Broadband Genie since 2009. A lifelong tech enthusiast, he has 20 years of experience writing about technology for print and online.


Specialist subject: The technicalities of broadband

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