Openreach has announced a huge broadband boost – here’s how to check what internet speeds you can get in your area
Over 500 new locations will benefit from vastly improved broadband speeds – we explain what that means and which providers to pick
Fed up with your stuttering broadband connection? This will potentially be music to your ears: network operator Openreach has announced the next batch of over 500 locations that will soon benefit from gigantic internet speed boosts. That equates to roughly 2.7 million homes or businesses, some of which are in traditionally hard-to-reach rural areas.
In terms of speeds, that means the new areas will be able to take advantage of a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), or “full fibre”, connection of up to a blistering 1.8Gbits/sec. Without a hint of exaggeration, that’s a gigantic increase on the previous maximum 70Mbits/sec that the old, copper lines could deliver.
Openreach has made it very easy to check what’s available in your neck of the woods: simply enter your postcode into its handy online tool and it will let you know if you can get full-fibre speeds. Or, even simpler, you can use our tool below to find out what the various internet service providers (ISPs) are serving up to your home.
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Which internet service provider should you pick?
Whether you have an FTTP connection already or will be included in a future rollout, choosing the best broadband provider can be tricky. Luckily, we have years of experience, a team of in-house experts and lots of full-length reviews to help you make the best decision. We’ve rounded up our two favourite ISPs below.
1. Zen Internet
Not only was Zen Internet the out-and-out winner of the most recent Expert Reviews Best Broadband Awards, but our expert Barry Collins gave it five stars out of five and a Best Buy award in his review for its industry-leading customer service, strong speeds and rock-solid reliability.
Read our full Zen Internet review
2. Plusnet
A previous champion, Plusnet still performed well in our Best Broadband Awards, in which we surveyed thousands of customers to get the lowdown on speed, reliability, customer service and value for money. This was backed up by the four stars out of five and Expert Reviews Recommended award we gave it our in-depth review.