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.
Post Office broadband user review
The following ratings from Post Office customers are taken from our annual home broadband survey. Customers were asked to rate their provider in each category; the score is the percentage of positive answers and the overall rating is the combined average score.
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Customer care: 75% Value for money: 68% |
Trust: 75% Would recommend?: 65% |
Overall Post Office broadband customer rating: 71%
(average: 76%)
Following a strong performance in 2019 - when it was the winner of the Most Trusted Provider award, and in the top five for all other categories except speed - Post Office's ratings have plummeted. It was close to last in several categories, and fourth from the bottom overall, although it did win an award for having the fastest standard broadband upload speed. However, the user feedback we have received from our survey does still suggest the majority of Post Office Customers have a positive experience.
Post Office broadband - the Broadband Genie review
| We like | We don't like |
|---|---|
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Post Office broadband speed
Post Office average speeds vs BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media
| Post Office | BT | Sky | TalkTalk | Virgin Media | |
| ADSL download speed | 10Mb | 10Mb | 11Mb | 11Mb | N/A |
| ADSL upload speed | 1Mb | 1Mb | 1Mb | 1Mb | N/A |
| Fibre download speed | 35Mb / 67Mb | 36Mb / 50Mb / 67Mb | 59Mb | 38Mb / 67Mb | 54Mb / 108Mb / 213Mb / 362Mb / 516Mb |
| Fibre upload speed | 9.5Mb / 19Mb | 9.5Mb / 19.5Mb | 19Mb | 9.5Mb / 19Mb | 5Mb / 10Mb / 20Mb / 36Mb |
Post Office is an Openreach network provider which uses a regular BT telephone line, so its choice of speeds is on a par with most other broadband providers. Its average speed for the fastest fibre package is at the lower end of the scale as some others offer 67Mb, but that’s only a small difference.
Post Office does not operate its own infrastructure but instead resells the TalkTalk LLU network (all other parts of the service such as customer service and billing are separate), so if you’ve previously had TalkTalk you can expect similar speeds from Post Office.
Post Office broadband value for money
Post Office broadband cheapest package vs BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media
| Post Office Unlimited Broadband (11Mb) | BT Broadband (10Mb) | Sky Broadband Essential (11Mb) | TalkTalk Fast Broadband (11Mb) | Virgin Media M50 (54Mb) |
| - | £24.99 | £25 | £24.95 | £28 |
Post Office fast fibre broadband cheapest package vs BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media
| Post Office Fibre Broadband Plus (67Mb) | BT Fibre 2 (67Mb) | Sky Broadband Superfast (59Mb) | TalkTalk Fibre 65 (67Mb) | Virgin Media M500 (516Mb) |
| - | £29.99 | £28 | £25 | £52 |
Last checked April 2021. The prices displayed above are the initial contract cost for new customers; charges may increase after renewal. The cheapest price is the lowest monthly cost regardless of speed. The fastest price is the fastest service available on Broadband Genie for the lowest monthly cost.
Post Office’s ADSL broadband package is traditionally very cheap, with one of the lowest prices you’ll find anywhere. However, this does only apply for the first 12 months, after which it almost doubles.
Its fibre optic deals are less compelling as there are cheaper offers available from competitors.
Also worth noting is a fixed price promise which means Post Office won’t increase costs in the middle of your contract.
Post Office broadband features and extras
There’s little in the way of free extras to be found with Post Office deals. Aside from the bundled Wi-Fi router, the only notable bonus is free calls to Post Office home phone numbers.
Post Office do have regular reward offers though, including Broadband Genie exclusives, so it’s always worth checking to see whether you can get a free gift with your new broadband.
Post Office broadband Wi-Fi router
Post Office offers two different routers: the “Standard Wi-Fi Router” for ADSL home broadband, and “Fibre Wi-Fi Router” for its fibre optic deals.
The Standard Router is a fairly simple bit of kit by modern standards. It supports 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi standards but not the latest 802.11ac specification, and has four 100Mb wired network ports. This is all you need to get broadband and Wi-Fi running in your home, but you’ll miss out on the faster speeds offered by 802.11ac for newer Wi-Fi devices.
The Fibre router, while not cutting edge, is more advanced. It supports 802.11ac as well as 802.11b/g/n and as it’s dual-band you can operate both a 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz network so you can enjoy the greater range of 2.4Ghz and faster speeds (but shorter range) of a 5Ghz 802.11ac connection.
Post Office says that both routers are “plug and play” and don’t require an engineer to set up - just plug them in and you’re ready to go once your Post Office broadband service is live.
Post Office home phone
Calls are not included with the broadband packages as standard so you’re not paying for something that isn’t being used if you never make calls.
But if inclusive calling would be useful then Post Office has a wide selection of phone plans:
- Weekend Calls. £2. Inclusive weekend calls to UK landlines.
- Evening and Weekend Calls. £6. Inclusive evening and weekend calls to UK landlines.
- Anytime. £10. Free calls to UK landlines any time. 1000 minutes of calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers.
- Anytime Plus. £13. Same as Anytime, plus 1000 minutes to UK mobiles and 1000 minutes to 15 countries.
- Mobile Saver 100. £3. 100 minutes to UK mobiles.
- Mobile Saver 500. £8. 500 minutes to UK mobiles.
- International Saver. £5. Unlimited calling to 40 countries, plus 50% off to all other countries.
Post Office Broadband review conclusion
Our Post Office broadband rating: 3.5 / 5
If cost is your major concern then the Post Office’s very cheap introductory price for ADSL broadband is hard to beat (just keep in mind that it costs a lot more after the initial contract period). But it is a shame that the fibre optic deals aren’t quite as good value.
Post Office does have a good range of home phone call plans which offer plenty of flexibility and low monthly fees, something that feels like an afterthought for many other providers. It also has a fixed price promise, a feature we’re always happy to see as it means you’ll know exactly how much you’re paying throughout the year.
Post Office is a budget ISP and as such you’re getting broadband, phone, and not much else. If extra features or additional services like TV are important then you will need to look elsewhere. However, if it sounds right for you - then make sure to check out our Post Office Broadband page.
Broadband Genie: All reviews
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