BT broadband review
BT is the largest and most well-known broadband provider in the UK, with around nine million customers nationwide. It has a huge reputation among customers, and the services it offers are premium and packed with high-quality features.
But how do its customers really feel about their experience with BT? Do its packages hold up against our ever-increasing demand for internet? Read on for our review of BT broadband.
BT broadband customer reviews 2025
In early 2025, we asked 4,015 BT broadband customers to rate various aspects of their broadband service, such as customer service, reliability, internet speed, and value for money.
Compared to the top eight UK broadband providers, BT performed very well in connection-related features, such as speed, reliability, and equipment quality. However, it was towards the bottom of the pack for value.
| Feature | Score | Avg 1-5 rating |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | Good | 3.97 |
| Customer service | Average | 3.73 |
| Value for money | Average | 3.68 |
| Internet speed | Very good | 4.02 |
| Reliability | Very good | 4.06 |
| Home equipment | Very good | 4.07 |
| Setup/Installation | Excellent | 4.11 |
| Communication | Good | 3.88 |
Note: these are weighted average scores from a 1-5 rating. To help determine which scores are considered positive or negative, we have designated all scores with the following:
- Excellent = 4.1+
- Very good = 4-4.1
- Good = 3.8-4
- Average = 3.6-3.8
- Below average = Less than 3.6
To view customer scores for all of the major UK providers, visit our Uswitch Broadband Customer Survey page.
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BT broadband pros and cons
Pros
Reliability
Great TV and mobile bundle options
Quick and easy set up
Cons
Speed in certain areas
Customer service call wait times
Expensive compared to smaller providers
About BT
BT, formerly known as British Telecom, is the UK’s biggest broadband and landline provider, and it also owns other UK telecom providers like Plusnet and EE.
It even owns Openreach, the most well-established broadband network in the country, which powers many of the biggest providers in the UK. However, the two companies have operated separately for quite some time to enhance market competition.
BT is usually a little more expensive than most other providers. However, it offers some of the highest-quality services in return, including exclusive TV access to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League through its popular add-on, TNT Sports, available via Discovery Plus.
BT Full Fibre 300 broadband review
I had BT's Full Fibre 300 broadband package for two years while I lived in North London. I was in a four-bed townhouse with three other working professionals, and we regularly streamed live TV and worked from home periodically throughout the week.
We chose Full Fibre 300 to ensure we had enough internet speed to avoid worrying about using our devices while others were at home. But we also wanted to avoid paying too much for one of the top-tier speeds, as BT tends to be quite pricey.
We only used a broadband connection and didn't bother to add a landline or TV package, as we mostly just streamed anything we wanted to watch.
UK coverage
BT boasts excellent UK-wide broadband coverage, but this is largely due to its network partner, Openreach, which also hosts connections for dozens of other providers.
Its coverage also depends on two main types of broadband - full fibre and part-fibre.
BT's full fibre connections are available on Openreach's fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which is rapidly expanding and currently reaches nearly three-quarters of UK homes.
Its part-fibre connections are much more well-established, as they still require the old copper phone lines to get to your home. So coverage of this type is 98%.
However, it's worth remembering that full fibre is the ideal standard of broadband these days, as it offers much more reliability and can handle speeds that meet our increasing demand for internet.
BT internet speed
Thanks to our full fibre connection, we rarely experienced any issues with our broadband speed. At 300Mbps, we selected a fast enough package to handle the internet usage of four people (plus occasionally some partners) without any significant capacity issues.
A 150Mbps speed may have been sufficient for general use, but since a couple of people at home often work with large video files, we wanted to ensure they could work as efficiently as possible without affecting the rest of us.
There were occasions when we had to deal with a noticeably lower speed for several minutes during the working day. However, I'd mostly attribute those issues to network or router glitches rather than anything related to our internet speed.
We often used the Uswitch broadband speed test to ensure we were getting the bandwidth we were paying for. Try it yourself for a clear view of the internet speed you’re currently getting.
BT speed options
Here’s a list of the different average download speed tiers on offer from the provider:
- BT Fibre Essential (part-fibre): 36Mbps
- BT Fibre 1 (part-fibre): 50Mbps
- BT Fibre 2 (part-fibre): 67Mbps
- BT Full Fibre 2: 74Mbps
- BT Full Fibre 150: 150Mbps
- BT Full Fibre 300: 300Mbps
- BT Full Fibre 500: 500Mbps
- BT Full Fibre 900: 900Mbps
BT broadband deals available on Uswitch
Here's our pick of BT deals you can choose from on our site.
If you can't get full fibre just yet, you can still switch to one of BT's part-fibre deals too:
Reliability
We had very few outages during our time with BT, so we could pretty much always trust it to provide a consistent connection for us.
As previously mentioned, BT uses the very well-established Openreach full fibre network. So it’s no wonder we appear to have fewer broadband outages than some of our friends who are on other providers.
We were also reassured by BT’s Stay Fast Guarantee, a minimum internet speed guarantee that BT will monitor to make sure we’re getting the speed we’re paying for. Thankfully, we never had to rely on it.
If your internet seems to be a lot slower than the promised speed you’re paying for, it’s important to check whether your home setup could be improved first.
Customer service
We had an okay experience with BT’s customer service overall, but I often found myself visiting the website instead of making a phone call. Calls have at times taken up to an hour, which is very time-consuming, especially when I’m trying to work from home simultaneously.
Thankfully, the Contact Us section of BT’s site is easy to use and clearly indicates where to go for different types of issues. But it can still be a hassle trying to get in touch with a real person to talk to.
One particular issue we needed a good customer service response for was when we moved home mid-contract. After waiting a long time to speak to someone on the phone, the representative was very helpful and efficient.
After moving home, we encountered another issue, where the previous owner’s Virgin Media connection had caused our line to become faulty.
It once again took about an hour to speak to someone at BT. But when we eventually reached them, our issue was resolved efficiently. They organised for an engineer to fix the line within a few days and supplied us with a dongle to get online in the meantime. The engineer then arrived on-time, and only took 30 minutes to get everything working again.
Learn which broadband providers are considered to have the best (and worst) customer service, according to complaints made to Ofcom.
Uswitch broadband provider reviews
Read our expert reviews of all of the UK's biggest broadband providers.
BT bundle options
While we only paid for a broadband connection, BT is typically one of the best providers to consider if you want to bundle your broadband with other services. It has a wide range of TV, landline and mobile phone options that could help you collate more of your telecom bills into one monthly payment.
TV
BT’s TV packages work through your existing internet connection. This means that, unlike other providers, you don’t have to install a satellite dish, aerial, or special cable to get it to work.
While BT doesn’t offer much in the way of entertainment itself, its packages include some of the best Sky TV channels, such as Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, and Sky Showcase, as well as other channels through its sister company NOW, and a basic Netflix subscription.
Those who want to pay a little extra also get a NOW Cinema Membership and exclusive access to US-based cable TV channel AMC. So, if you want to watch modern TV classics such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Better Call Saul, and The Walking Dead, then you can also opt for this.
But the biggest draw for BT TV is TNT Sports (formerly known as BT Sport). It’s a direct competitor to Sky Sports and has exclusive access to some of the biggest football competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the Premier League matches. Its Big Sport add-on also includes all eleven Sky Sports channels, so you can access all of the major sporting events you like.
In our case, we didn't need to fork out for pay-TV, given that we were happy to just stick to streaming services. But whenever we spoke to BT, they did try to upsell us to one of its TV packages, which got a little tedious.
Broadband and TV deals
Take a look at the latest TV and broadband packages on Uswitch.
Landline
While we didn't need a landline in our home, it goes without saying that as the original telephone service provider, BT offers a decent service for it.
It's usually available for just a few pounds extra per month these days, unless you make a lot of international calls, in which case there may be an additional charge of around £10 per month.
Please be aware that BT and Openreach are currently working on removing all copper cabling from the UK telecoms network as part of their transition to Digital Voice services.
This will provide more call reliability as they will eventually work over a more reliable fibre-optic connection. It may be necessary to plug your landline into your Wi-Fi router if you haven't already done so.
Read more about this switch-off with our full guide to Digital Voice.
Mobile
BT owns EE, one of the biggest mobile networks in the country. It's the only mobile network that operates under the BT Group, as other virtual operators, such as BT Mobile and Plusnet Mobile, have now been discontinued.
You can compare providers that use the EE mobile network right here with Uswitch.
Setup, installation and equipment
The process of setting up our BT Full Fibre 300 connection was nice and simple. Even when we needed an engineer visit, the process was seamless and convenient. They arrived on time on the day we wanted, and our internet downtime while they made the switch was less than an hour.
Moving home and keeping the same connection also went very smoothly, even with the slight hiccup caused by our new home’s previous connection. We were offline for 24 hours while it was being set up, but this was due to the installation date we had set. And it was on a Saturday, so we didn’t have to worry about working from home.
If you're concerned about the switching process or upgrading to full fibre, know that it's now never been easier to do so. With One Touch Switch now in place, you don't have to reach out to your old provider to cancel - your new provider will handle the process and tell your old one to cancel your contract.
BT Smart Hub 2 review
Our Smart Hub 2 router performed well for us during our time with BT, but there was one bedroom in our four-bed townhouse that the Wi-Fi signal initially didn't reach.
Thankfully, our housemate didn't work from home in their room, but since it sometimes posed a problem for using Wi-Fi outside of work hours, we all pitched in for a Wi-Fi booster that eventually sorted the problem.
Browse our range of fibre broadband deals
Choose between our wide range of fibre broadband deals on Uswitch.
Value for money
BT’s monthly prices are a little higher than those of some other providers, and it can be argued this is because many people are just content enough with their current connection and just go with who they know.
However, if you think you're paying too much or are not satisfied with your experience, you can typically find a broadband and landline service elsewhere with the same speed at a lower price.
In our 2025 broadband customer survey, BT performed lower than most of the other big broadband providers - especially compared to Plusnet and EE, its sister brands in broadband. So if you want the comfort of a BT "Group" provider but at a lower price point, you may be better off going with either of those.
BT mid-contract price rises
Tied in with its pretty expensive monthly prices, BT also has the joint-highest annual price increase each year.
If you joined from 1 April 2024, your annual price rise each March will be £3 a month. But if you joined from 31 July 2025, this has now been increased to £4 a month.
BT customer who haven't taken out a new contract recently will be on a different type of price increase based on the inflation rate, which is what we had.
The old price increase was based on the CPI rate announced each January, plus an additional 3.9%. So, if you've been on the same contract since before 1 April 2024, your monthly price would have increased by 6.4% in 2025, approximately £1.50 to £2 extra for the average package.
While they're more transparent, these fixed-price increases are much higher than what an inflation-based one would have been. And as is policy for many providers, you can't leave your contract as a result.
This is definitely lost points for BT, especially since its price rises are higher than most. But it's not the only provider to do this - the majority of them have the same policy in place.
BT broadband social tariffs
If you receive Universal Credit or another type of financial support from the government, you could be eligible for one of BT’s social broadband tariffs.
These are heavily discounted broadband packages that offer the same speed as BT’s usual connections at a more affordable monthly rate. They also don't come with mid-contract price increases or a fixed contract length.
BT’s 'Home Essentials' social tariffs are:
- Unlimited Broadband: 16Mbps | £15 per month
- No Income Plan: 36Mbps | £16 per month
- Fibre Essential Plan: 36Mbps | £21 per month
- Fibre 2 Plan: 67Mbps | £24 per month
If you don’t qualify for a social tariff but you’re still looking to cut down on your outgoings, find out how to save money on your broadband bill.
Our verdict: Should you choose BT?
With all the products and services BT offers, it can be very easy to stick with the provider and enjoy a high-quality, reliable experience for the foreseeable future. You’ll get access to some of the best customer care, reliable connections and great TV content.
However, that experience does come at a cost. And especially in the current economic climate, many people are rightly wondering whether these top-drawer services are really worth the top-drawer price they charge. You could just as easily get by with a cheaper broadband provider and a couple of streaming services instead.
Essentially, BT is great for people who...
- Value consistency over speed
- Enjoy watching the biggest TV shows and sports competitions
- Want a smooth, hassle-free experience
- Are willing to pay the extra few pounds a month for these things
If you could take or leave some of the above points and you’re just after a simple broadband connection that’s fast enough for what you need, there will likely be cheaper options from other providers.
However, if you want the security of a premium, comprehensive experience with your broadband, you likely won’t go wrong with BT.
Browse broadband deals from BT
Take a look at our latest and greatest BT broadband offers on Uswitch.