Post Office Broadband: Update February 2021
Post Office Broadband has been purchased by Shell and is no longer accepting new customers.
Existing Post Office Broadband customers will be transferred over to Shell Energy Broadband; there will be no immediate change to the current service but you will be contacted by Shell with further information.
In the meantime, if you're interested in a great new deal why not check out offers from some other providers:
These are just a few of the offers available; enter your postcode and compare deals to see what else is out there.
What did Post Office offer?
Broadband
Post Office is an Openreach network provider, so broadband services are delivered over a standard phone line. That means that the majority of homes can get a Post Office broadband deal.
Post Office uses the TalkTalk network for its internet services so if you’ve ever had a TalkTalk broadband service you can expect similar performance from the Post Office. But it manages its own billing and customer services entirely separate from TalkTalk.
Phone
Post Office broadband offers a variety of inclusive call packages. You’ll get free inclusive weekend and evening calls on some deals. Other packages provide free calls to Post Office numbers, with other numbers charged on a pay-as-you-use basis.
If you wish to add calls you’ll find an extensive list of options, starting at a few pounds per month extra for weekend calls to landlines. Also available are packages for anytime calling, international calls, and mobile calls.
Call packages can be added and removed at any time. The wide choice of deals and flexibility of the call plans means that there should be something for everybody. Of course, if you aren’t interested in using the landline phone you can opt to not add any call plan and just stick with broadband only.
Post Office broadband coverage and speed
The majority of homes have access to the Openreach telephone network used by Post Office so will be able to get a Post Office broadband deal, all you need is a phone line (which can be installed if required). The line is required for Post Office as it does not have the capability to provide broadband without a phone.
You can check if Post Office broadband is available to your home by entering a postcode here:
Post Office broadband speed
As an Openreach network provider, Post Office broadband speeds are broadly in line with most other ISPs. Post Office internet deals offer an average download speed of 11Mb for ADSL or 35Mb and 63Mb for fibre optic. These are the average speeds achieved by at least 50% of customers so it's not guaranteed that's what you'll get, but upon signing up you'll receive an accurate speed estimate for your home.
Post Office usage limits and traffic management
Post Office broadband is unlimited and has no data usage caps.
It does have a fair use policy, but it is vague and only talks about excessive usage without mentioning any specific figures.
Traffic management is used, however, it only appears to be applied to file sharing during peak hours of 4 pm to 12 am.
Post Office broadband - in summary
Price is where Post Office shines, with its ADSL Post Office Unlimited Broadband package offering especially good value at under £20 per month, making it among the cheapest deals available. However, it does have a vague fair use and traffic management policy which compares poorly to other providers which are truly unlimited. And its deals are barebones, with little in the way of extras and no option for TV.
To find out more read our full Post Office broadband review.