Best broadband in London

The best internet in London will vary based on individual requirements, but one of the most affordable and fastest options is Community Fibre. They have excellent customer reviews and some of the UK's cheapest prices.

Community Fibre's availability varies across Greater London, but they're active in almost every borough and have passed over 1.3 million homes so far.

Openreach, Virgin Media and Hyperoptic also have good availability in London, as well as competitive pricing and the option of ultrafast and gigabit broadband speeds. Overall, Londoners have a wide choice of broadband available to them.

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Best broadband deals in London:

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Verdict: The best internet in London

Our top choice for the best internet provider in London has to be Community Fibre.

Exclusively available in the capital city, Community Fibre offer full fibre to the home broadband at some of the UK's cheapest prices.

The provider also offers symmetrical upload speeds, which are great for people who work from home, as well as include a Linksys Intelligent Mesh router that supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol for the fastest speeds over WiFi.

Community Fibre say they can get customers up and running in just 48 hours and setup is often free. They also have a 60-day satisfaction guarantee, so customers can try them out without commitment. We also like their approach to out of contract pricing, increasing prices by just £4 at the end of a minimum term.

Read our review of Community Fibre broadband.

Londoners have plenty of options however, with some of the best broadband availability in the UK. Virgin Media is also a great choice, with good coverage around London and the option to bundle either their standard TV service, or their newer Stream TV service, which offers access to premium channels for less.

Openreach is also expanding their full fibre network rapidly, with plenty of coverage across London. This means retail providers like BT, Sky, Plusnet, TalkTalk, and Vodafone are all available with new full fibre to the home deals.

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What broadband is available in London?

People living in the City of London and Greater London have the widest selection of broadband providers to choose from. London has good coverage from full fibre specialists including BT's Openreach, Virgin Media, and Hyperoptic, as well as dedicated London-only providers like Community Fibre and G.Network.

Full fibre networks

The majority of households in London can now access gigabit-capable broadband, with over 91% of the capital now covered.

Virgin Media has the greatest coverage in London, with their gigabit broadband available to over 69% of Greater London, according to ThinkBroadband.

London also benefits from dedicated full fibre providers, with smaller independent networks also providing around 52% of full fibre coverage in and around the city.

The largest independent broadband networks in London include:

While Virgin Media, Community Fibre, and Hyperoptic are all independent networks, Openreach is resold by providers including BT, TalkTalk, Sky, Plusnet, and Vodafone.

Other smaller independent networks, such as GNetwork, also have availability in the capital.

Overall then, people living in London have a broad range of choice when it comes to which broadband provider is best.

Broadband deals

There is a range of broadband deals for people living in London to choose from, with full fibre packages offering download speeds from 100Mb to 1Gb per second, as well as options to bundle premium TV services.

Anyone looking for a new broadband provider should consider switching to full fibre if it's available to them, which is likely for the majority of homes in London.

The copper phone line network which provides superfast broadband is being closed down in the next couple of years, so migrating to full fibre is something every household will need to undertake eventually. As such, it's worth moving now if you're looking for a new provider.

Here are four top full fibre broadband deals available in and around London:

These packages offer average download speeds around 150Mb per second, which should be suitable for most households while also keeping costs low. However, faster speeds are available from each of these providers.

Community Fibre and Hyperoptic both offer symmetrical upload speeds, and customers also get a WiFi 6 router with mesh support for extended coverage.

Community Fibre offers symmetrical upload speeds, and customers who take their gigabit deals get a WiFi 6 router with mesh support for extended coverage.

Plusnet resell full fibre broadband on the Openreach network, and also offer budget friendly prices. Yet, as recent research has revealed they have the most satisfied customers with speed, reliability and service overall, according to regulator Ofcom.

To find out exactly what's available to you use our broadband postcode checker to see the latest prices for your specific area in London.

Which broadband deals are available in your area?

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For households who want even faster broadband, here are the top four gigabit broadband deals available in and around London:

Vodafone offers the fastest gigabit broadband speeds, with 1.6Gbps average download speeds at peak times on their Full Fibre 1.6 plan, with 105Mbps upload speeds.

Virgin Media also offers 1.13Gbps average download speeds on their Gig1 deal. While the upload speed on this package is also only 104Mbps.

Virgin Media customers can bundle TV services, including their new Stream service, for additional savings and access to premium TV packs like Sky Sports, Sky Cinema and Netflix.

While Community Fibre offers the cheapest prices for gigabit broadband in London, their coverage can be more limited than Virgin Media. You can check specific availability for your postcode on our full fibre broadband page.

Lastly, we've included TalkTalk's Full Fibre 900 deal here, which runs on both the Openreach FTTP and CityFibre networks. TalkTalk offer customers two Amazon eero Pro 6 routers, WiFi 6 and mesh compatible devices that can seamlessly extend wireless coverage around a home.

For more information on gigabit broadband and whether it's worth it, read more in our guide to 1Gb broadband deals.

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Which is the best London broadband provider?

Most broadband providers have specific unique selling points and benefits over another provider, and usually, the best Internet provider for a specific customer will come down to what someone is individually looking for.

Best provider for London families

The best internet provider for families living in Greater London will depend on their exact requirements, for example for the cheapest or fastest see the next section.

Virgin Media is a good family choice however and has wide availability throughout London. The provider's new Stream TV service can be bundled with Virgin broadband and offers access to premium channel packs like Sky Sports and Sky Cinema, as well as on-demand apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and BBC iPlayer.

Overall, broadband and TV bundles from Virgin Media offer both value for money and all-round entertainment that's a great fit for families.

Of course, everyone knows families tend to all want to do different things at the same time. When we have someone wanting to download the latest PS5 game upstairs, while someone else watches Netflix in 4K downstairs, a broadband package with enough capacity to support multiple devices is needed to ensure no one gets slowed down.

Here's a selection of some faster broadband deals that can support multiple devices at the same time, without breaking the bank:

Best provider for London sharers

With living costs in the capital so high, many people choose to live in house shares in London, or buddy-up and split the cost of a flat.

In these instances, the best internet provider is likely to be one that offers both ultrafast broadband speeds with high capacity that can support multiple users at once, as well as one that offers competitive pricing to help keep costs down.

Both Community Fibre and Hyperoptic fit the bill here if they're available to your home due to their fast full fibre networks and cheaper overall prices. Hyperoptic are also more likely to be available in apartment blocks, for those living in flat shares.

Virgin Media might also tick the box for house sharers who enjoy watching Netflix or the latest House of the Dragon together, as their new broadband and Stream TV bundles offers great value for money for people who want fast broadband with the option to add premium TV content from providers like Netflix and Apple TV+.

We've also included a low-cost option here for people who want a simple but affordable broadband plan, and who may not have availability for Community Fibre's cheap deals. NOW Broadband offer competitively priced deals with the benefit of Sky's customer service and router upgrade options, perfect for low-cost coverage around larger shared homes.

Best provider for London students

While most students living in London will likely be in official campus accommodation with WiFi provided, or in house shares as above, many students may need mobile broadband so they can stay connected wherever they are, and take their Internet connection with them.

This can also be especially useful for students who don't want to get tied into lengthy contracts at a particular residence.

Mobile phone tethering to create a WiFi hotspot means smartphones can provide fast broadband access on the go for tablets and laptops.

Some of the best SIM only deals with large data allowances that can be used via tethering include:

Many of the cheapest SIM only deals are found on virtual networks like ID Mobile and Smarty, but they use the Three network, so coverage will be the same across these providers.

Voxi operates on Vodafone's network so may offer better coverage for some areas.

Read more on mobile phone tethering and mobile broadband for the home.

Cheapest broadband provider in London

To keep costs to a minimum there are a range of broadband providers and packages available in London with high competition to keep prices low.

The cheapest deals will usually be found with budget providers like Vodafone and NOW Broadband, which also have wide availability - covering 98% of London. However, independent providers like Community Fibre and Hyperoptic often have the cheapest prices overall, although their availability is much more limited.

Here are four of the cheapest broadband deals in London:

Overall, availability does vary even in a very urban area like London, so it's worth checking your postcode to see exactly what is available to you, and then ordering by price to see the cheapest deals and the latest special offers.

Fastest broadband provider in London

The fastest broadband speed in London is 3Gb with Community Fibre, although availability is limited. Vodafone are the next fastest however, with 35% coverage of London homes with their 1.6Gbps full fibre connection.

Virgin Media also offer a fast average download speed of 1.13Gbps at peak times, and is available across nearly 70% of London homes.

However, independent networks like Community Fibre and Hyperoptic offer symmetrical upload speeds up to 920Mb, while Virgin Media's fastest upload speed is just 104Mb where they've yet to roll out full fibre.

Community Fibre's 3Gb Fibre Broadband plan is available in certain areas in London, but it's costly at £50 per month and is likely to be unnecessary for most households, especially considering the price of their 920Mb gigabit deal is just £26 per month.

We've more on broadband speeds in London below, or you can read more on the fastest broadband deals in our dedicated guide.

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Broadband speeds in London

We've covered some of the fastest broadband deals in London in the section above, but let's look at what speeds people living in London are actually receiving.

Ofcom's latest update to their Connected Nations report, published in December 2023, shows while availability of gigabit-capable broadband is more widely available in London compared to the rest of the UK, take-up and actual broadband speeds are slightly behind.

Coverage of gigabit and full fibre broadband in London:

In comparison, we can see what percentage of households receive different broadband speeds, and therefore whether they've upgraded to a faster full fibre package:

While take-up of full fibre deals with speeds in excess of 100Mb is similar in London to the rest of the UK, there are more Londoners on broadband packages with speeds less than 30Mb, than across the UK.

It's possible that London has higher contention in busy areas, pushing average speeds down for people on fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) broadband packages.

London also has a larger number of 'exchange-only lines' than other areas in the UK, which could also be affecting speeds for residents. Exchange-only lines are where houses are so close to the local exchange they skip out the street cabinet, which means customers can't upgrade to superfast FTTC deals. While full fibre is possible for these people, it still depends on availability where Openreach has rolled this out.

Overall then, with the rollout of full fibre and gigabit broadband across London, we should see speeds improve for people in London as they migrate to ultrafast full fibre packages.

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Full fibre rollout in London

Due to its high population, London has already benefited from full fibre installations from both Openreach and Virgin Media, as well as dedicated London providers like Community Fibre and Hyperoptic, as we've mentioned.

Both Openreach and Virgin Media aim to reach over 80% coverage of their gigabit-capable broadband networks by the end of 2026, which means the remaining areas in London yet to benefit are likely to get connected in the next few years.

Community Fibre

Community Fibre, a dedicated London ISP, extended their network from 300,000 premises in July 2021, to over 932,000 premises in early 2023. They now pass over 1.3 million homes in the capital.

Community Fibre also confirmed their plans to double their network target to 2.2 million homes and businesses across in London by the end of 2024. The provider is already active in every borough of London, except from Havering, which they've plans to expand into soon.

Here is Community Fibre's latest availability in London:

Compared to their coverage snapshot taken in August 2021, you can see how quickly they've expanded:

Hyperoptic coverage

Hyperoptic also have a large presence in London, covering Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Kensington, Poplar, Wapping, and Canary Wharf. As well as moving into areas such as Maida Vale, St John's Wood, North Kensington, Notting Hill, Shoreditch, Southwark, Bermondsey, and Brixton.

However, as Hyperoptic originally targeted buildings, it is predominantly people living in flats and apartments that will be able to access to their network.

More recently they've started connecting new build housing sites, as well as announcing a £200 million investment to connect smaller buildings including terrace houses to detached properties throughout 2022.

The full fibre provider has passed over 1.75 million homes and businesses across the UK as of mid-2024, and set out plans to connect areas in London including Fulham and Pimlico, Willesden Green, Holloway, Hackney, Balham, and Clapham.

This is a map of their latest coverage across London:

In comparison, you can see how much they've expanded since this snapshot was taken a little over a year ago:

Openreach FTTP

Openreach, which is resold by providers including BT, Sky, Plusnet, TalkTalk, and Vodafone, has currently rolled out its full fibre broadband to around 35% of London.

However, the company has ambitious plans to reach 25 million premises by December 2026, and their most recent financial results confirmed they're on target, passing 15 million so far.

Openreach's build list include areas such as Kilburn, Mayfair, Southwark, Brixton, Richmond, Wimbledon, Kingston upon Thames, Hounslow, Sutton, Hackney, Tottenham. These areas should all be connected by April 2025.

The latest availability for Openreach FTTP in London looks like this:

Previous coverage looked like this, taken in August 2021:

Virgin Media

Virgin Media have the widest availability in London where ultrafast and gigafast speeds are concerned.

They completed their network upgrade to gigafast speeds in December 2021, so all customers can now access their fastest Gig1 broadband package.

While Virgin Media's network has since little growth in the past, the provider announced a £45 billion investment to expand their footprint to an additional 7 million premises, taking their UK coverage from 55% to 80%.

Its highly likely expansion will continue in London, with Project Lightening already connecting 17,000 homes in Cricklewood, London, in February 2022. At the time, Virgin Media confirmed they had connected an additional 340,000 homes and businesses across London since 2015.

Currently, Virgin Media's coverage across London looks like this:

Read more about Virgin Media's availability and how to check your postcode.

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Summary: Best broadband in London

People living across London have plenty of options available to them from superfast broadband at the lowest prices, to gigabit-capable broadband from a range of providers.

London also gets the added benefit of a few dedicated providers including Community Fibre, G.Network and Hyperoptic also have a strong presence in the capital.

Larger households, whether that's sharers or large families, will want to consider broadband that can support multiple devices, such as ultrafast or even gigabit deals.

While smaller households can find very competitive pricing with smaller networks like Community Fibre or Hyperoptic if they're available, as well as through Openreach resellers like NOW Broadband, Vodafone, and Plusnet, who all offer a range of cheap broadband deals with great availability.

Overall, our top Internet provider for London is Community Fibre, with Virgin Media a close second due to their wide availability and all-round entertainment TV bundles.

Still unsure who to pick? Read more in our head-to-head guides to Hyperoptic vs Community Fibre, Hyperoptic vs Virgin Media, and Community Fibre vs Virgin Media.