TalkTalk Broadband Review

TalkTalk have moved away from their budget broadband roots, instead choosing to focus on providing the latest technology and fast download speeds.

Full fibre broadband deals come with an Amazon eero WiFi 6 router and operate on either the Openreach or CityFibre fibre-to-the-premises networks.

Customers can also choose to add TalkTalk TV, an Ultra HD set-top box with exclusive discounts on NOW Memberships for large screen viewing.

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At a glance

Latest offers

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TalkTalk broadband customer reviews

Our independent survey of broadband customers found TalkTalk was rated 4 out of 5 overall, with good ratings for Value for Money, Speed, Reliability, and Satisfaction.

TalkTalk was rated average (3 out of 5) for customer service, but good (4 out of 5) for likelihood for customers to recommend them to a friend.

Here are the full results of the TalkTalk survey:

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Our review of TalkTalk broadband

Verdict: Is TalkTalk broadband any good?

While TalkTalk is no longer the budget provider they were once well-known for, and prices are more towards the middle of the market, they remain a good choice for those looking for fast speeds and the latest router.

Their partnership with both Openreach and CityFibre to deliver full fibre to the premises broadband means they're available to more homes than rivals BT and Sky.

We also like the fact they offer a WiFi 6 enabled mesh router to all 100Mb+ full fibre customers, and those taking the fastest Full Fibre 900 plan get two WiFi 6 tri-band mesh routers included at no extra cost.

Households with a love for online streaming are also well catered for, with the TalkTalk TV service offering exclusive discounts on Sky content through NOW Memberships and bundling the NOW Boost add-on within the standard monthly fee.

However, questions remain over the provider's customer service, with high complaints figures despite recent assurance from TalkTalk themselves that internal data shows improvements.

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TalkTalk broadband packages

Summary: TalkTalk offer a full fibre first approach, with customers in full fibre enabled areas only able to sign up to full fibre packages.

TalkTalk offer competitively priced broadband with up to date technology, with all their full fibre customers being provided with WiFi 6 enabled routers.

Customers can choose from superfast fibre or ultrafast full fibre to the home connections depending on what's available in their area.

TalkTalk Fibre 35 and Fibre 65 are available to around 97% of homes across the UK. However, where customers live in a full fibre enabled area, they won't be able to choose these plans and will have to opt for a full fibre connection instead.

For households on a budget however, there is a Full Fibre 65 option available, which costs just £28 per month - the same as the superfast Fibre 65 package.

Those wanting faster broadband speeds who have full fibre available to them can choose from Fibre 150, Fibre 500, and Fibre 900 deals, with top speeds of 944Mbps on average.

Minimum contract terms are 24 months across all packages, and TalkTalk do implement annual price rises of Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 3.7% each year in April.

Full fibre first

As mentioned, TalkTalk operate on a 'full fibre first' basis, which means where customers live in a full fibre to the premises (FTTP) enabled area, they'll only be able to sign up for those deals.

The top tier gigabit broadband plan was first launched in November 2021, and offers average download speeds of 944Mbps at peak times. That makes it one of the UK's fastest widely available broadband plans. It also comes bundled with two routers and a free whole home WiFi guarantee.

For cheaper prices, customers can also opt for Full Fibre 150, Full Fibre 500, or the cheapest full fibre plan Full Fibre 65. Each of these packages, aside from Full Fibre 65, come with an Amazon eero router, which supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol.

So far around 15.1 million premises are covered by TalkTalk full fibre, but that figure is rapidly growing as the fibre networks continue to expand.

Customers who can't even access superfast fibre, which is now only around 3% of the UK, can still get broadband with TalkTalk, but average download speeds are just 11Mbps.

While TalkTalk still offer a copper broadband connection, only those who live outside a fibre to the cabinet, or full fibre, area will be able to sign up to it.

To find out exactly what's available to you, use our postcode search on the TalkTalk deals page.

Fixed price promise

TalkTalk moved from fixed prices to contractual annual price rises in March 2021, and implemented an increase of CPI + 3.7% to all plans.

While annual price rises on broadband has now become fairly commonplace, TalkTalk blamed unprecedented demand and investment in their network for the change. Although they've also recently blamed Ofcom for allowing wholesale broadband prices to increase by CPI each year too.

However, they've continued to occasionally offer a 'Fixed Price Plus' add-on, where customers can pay a little more each month to lock in fixed prices on their contract.

At the time of writing, Fixed Price Plus isn't currently available, although when it is offered it costs £4 per month, up from £2 per month last year, so value for money has declined despite inflation also decreasing.

Fixed Price Plus, when available, can be difficult to recommend due to the somewhat complex calculations to figure out whether it'll offer value for money, and the issues around predicting inflation at the next annual price rise.

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TalkTalk broadband and TV

Summary: TalkTalk broadband customers can bundle an Ultra HD TV service for just £5 extra a month.

TalkTalk TV is only available to customers who take a superfast fibre or full fibre broadband package in an Openreach enabled area.

It costs £5 per month, which includes the Ultra HD set-top box as well as a free subscription to NOW Boost. Customers also get access to some exclusive discounts on NOW and Netflix.

TalkTalk TV offers access to over 70 Freeview channels, the ability to pause and rewind live TV, and access to a range of on-demand apps, including Netflix, NOW, Amazon Prime Video, TNT Sports, BBC iPlayer, YouTube and more.

All customers are now provided with the new Android-powered TV Hub, which offers access to over 10,000 apps via the Google Play Store.

TalkTalk also used to offer a 4K Netgem box, but this now seems to have been replaced by the TV Hub, although older customers may still have this platform.

Read more about the TV Hub and the TalkTalk TV packages in our main guide.

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How does TalkTalk broadband compare?

Summary: TalkTalk isn't a budget provider anymore, with prices more around the middle of the market.

While TalkTalk is often thought of as a budget provider, they've since moved out of that space to focus on offering faster broadband deals with better quality routers.

As such, their prices are now around the middle of the market, and they're not one of the cheapest broadband providers anymore.

For superfast fibre, TalkTalk's Fibre 65 plan is cheaper than an equivalent package from BT, but it's more expensive than similar deals from Sky, Plusnet and Vodafone.

TalkTalk Fibre 65 is also marginally more expensive than the equivalent package from Shell Energy Broadband, who resell TalkTalk's network on a wholesale basis.

Looking at full fibre broadband deals, TalkTalk are again priced around the middle of the market.

TalkTalk's Full Fibre 150 is their entry-level full fibre deal, and it's currently priced around the same as Sky and BT, while Plusnet and Vodafone offer cheaper deals.

However, TalkTalk Full Fibre 150 comes with an Amazon eero 6 router, which supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol. BT, Sky, Plusnet and Vodafone all still provide WiFi 5 routers on their cheapest plans.

Overall, while TalkTalk have increased their price over recent years, they've also begun offering customers more advanced equipment, as well as faster average download speeds by partnering with more wholesale fibre networks.

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How fast is TalkTalk broadband?

Summary: TalkTalk offers broadband speed choices from superfast to gigabit-capable plans with the second fastest widely available download speed.

Broadband speeds available with TalkTalk vary depending on a customer's location. Superfast deals cover around 97% of UK homes, while ultrafast and gigabit options are available to over 15.1 million premises so far.

Superfast plans include download speeds of 38Mbps and 67Mbps on average at peak times, while full fibre options include speeds of 152Mbps, 525Mbps, and 944Mbps.

Advertised average speeds must be received by at least 50% of a provider's customer base during the peak hours of 8pm to 10pm at night when the network is busiest. So, we know the majority of customers actually get these speeds.

TalkTalk's average download speeds are faster than many of its rivals, with their Fibre 900 plan offering 944Mbps, which is one of the fastest widely available download speeds, after Virgin Media's Gig1 plan which offers 1130Mbps speeds.

Back in 2019, TalkTalk increase the average download speeds on its superfast fibre plans from 36Mbps to 38Mbps, and from 63Mbps to 67Mbps. So, even on older fibre to the cabinet deals, TalkTalk's average download speeds are often faster than equivalent packages from other providers.

TalkTalk's upload speeds are more in line with the competition, roughly sitting equal to competitors including Sky, Plusnet, and BT. And, as with other Openreach full fibre plans, uploads are faster with TalkTalk than with Virgin Media.

Minimum speed guarantee

As well as offering more actual headline speeds, TalkTalk also provide customers with estimated speeds for their individual property, and a guaranteed minimum speed which their connection shouldn't go below.

* Estimated and minimum speeds may vary depending on location.

These estimated speeds and minimum guaranteed speeds work in conjunction with Ofcom's code of practice on broadband speeds.

This code, which TalkTalk has signed up to, means if a customer's download speed drops below the minimum speed promised at the time of sign up for 3 consecutive days or more, and the provider doesn't resolve the issue within 30 days of being notified, the customer is free to leave their contract early and without penalty.

However, this is really just a guarantee, with the majority of customers receiving the faster average download speeds.

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Total Home WiFi

Summary: TalkTalk offer a whole home WiFi guarantee to full fibre broadband customers, with Full Fibre 900 including it for free.

Total Home WiFi is TalkTalk's whole home WiFi guarantee that full fibre broadband customers can add to their package as an add-on.

The add-on costs £6 per month and includes one extra Amazon eero router to boost coverage and wireless speeds around a home.

While Total Home WiFi is available with TalkTalk Full Fibre 150 and Full Fibre 500 packages, customers taking Full Fibre 900 will get it included as standard for free. However, only customers living in an Openreach enabled area can get the add-on, as it's not available in CityFibre areas.

The WiFi guarantee promises that a Total Home Coverage with minimum wireless download speeds of 10Mbps is achieved. If customers don't achieve that, TalkTalk will send out an engineer, and if that doesn't help, customers can cancel the add-on without paying any early termination charges.

It's not the best whole home WiFi guarantee on the market, but the Amazon eero is an up to date router, supporting the latest WiFi 6 protocol.

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Router

Summary: TalkTalk fibre customers get the older WiFi Hub Black, while full fibre customers get the latest Amazon eero 6.

Customers who sign up to TalkTalk Fibre 35, Fibre 65, or Full Fibre 65 will be sent the TalkTalk WiFi Hub.

This router offers WiFi 5 support, with dual-band wireless channels. It's a decent router that was released only in early 2020, so is more than adequate for superfast connections.

The one downside to the WiFi Hub is that it doesn't support mesh, and so there is no WiFi guarantee or extenders available to increase coverage.

TalkTalk customers who take one of the full fibre broadband packages; Full Fibre 150, Full Fibre 500 and Full Fibre 900 will be sent an Amazon eero.

Full Fibre 150 customers get the Amazon eero 6 which supports WiFi 6, the latest protocol, and offers dual-band wireless channels with support for mesh.

Full Fibre 500 and Full Fibre 900 customers get a slightly more powerful eero Pro 6, which offers WiFi 6 with tri-band wireless channels. Full Fibre 900 customers get two of these routers, while Full Fibre 500 customers would have to sign up to Total Home WiFi to get an additional device to boost coverage even further.

The specifications of the routers from TalkTalk are:

While the Amazon eero's have less wired ethernet LAN ports, the wireless signal itself should be better, which means less devices really need a wired connection.

However, that said, customers on fast gigabit packages should aware the fastest speeds are only achieved through a wired connection. So, the lack of ethernet ports may be frustrating for some users.

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Home phone

Summary: A home phone is still an option for superfast customers, but TalkTalk full fibre plans are now data-only lines.

Only TalkTalk broadband customers who sign up to a basic copper, superfast fibre, or G.Fast fibre plan will get a home phone line and have the option of adding a call package.

TalkTalk customers who sign up to full fibre broadband will get a data-only line, with no option to add a home phone or calls package.

This approach is in line with other providers such as Plusnet, however customers living in full fibre enabled areas who want a home phone will have to look at providers like Sky or BT instead.

Those who get a home phone line included in their package can also choose to add one of two call plans, as well as an optional international calls plan.

While prices have recently increased for home phone call plans, at the time of writing they're on offer for up to £7 off per month.

Destinations included in the International Max plan are:

Home phone services are no longer a major selling factor for broadband providers these days, and TalkTalk has taken the decision to sell full fibre as data-only lines.

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Customer service

Summary: Customer service isn't one of TalkTalk's strongest points, with recent complaints figures still higher than average.

TalkTalk usually have higher than average levels of complaints in Ofcom's quarterly reports, and they had the second most complaints of any major provider in the most recent Q2 2023 figures.

However, their figures tend to fluctuate to some degree, and they've recently said their internal data shows improvements over the Q1 2023 report when they had the most complaints of any provider.

In further research by Ofcom into customer satisfaction and complaints handling, TalkTalk also tend to fair badly, with less satisfied customers than average.

On the flip side however, TalkTalk do tend to answer calls quickly, and they had less customers with a reason to complain than Virgin Media in Ofcom's most recent research.

One area where TalkTalk do perform better is for pay TV, where they have the second fewest complaints for their TalkTalk TV service, beaten only by customer service superheroes Sky.

Read more about broadband customer service.

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Summary: Should you choose TalkTalk broadband?

TalkTalk are one of the UK's biggest broadband providers, although their market position has changed in recent years.

Once well-known as one of the cheapest budget providers, TalkTalk have moved towards offering a more premium service, utilising their wholesale network and partnerships to offer faster broadband speeds and more up to date equipment.

TalkTalk is generally cheaper than BT, however their prices are now often higher than with rival providers like Sky and Plusnet.

However, TalkTalk include a WiFi 6 router with their full fibre deals, which beats Sky and Plusnet who only offer an older WiFi 5 router. Sky customers can upgrade, but this costs more per month, making TalkTalk cheaper overall.

Average download speeds on TalkTalk superfast fibre and full fibre plans are also towards the higher end of the scale compared to equivalent plans offered on the Openreach network.

Customers looking to add a TV service are also catered for with the TalkTalk TV add-on costing just £5 per month and including NOW Boost, which is worth £6. TalkTalk TV also currently offers exclusive discounts on some NOW Memberships and Netflix on some plans.

Overall, TalkTalk offers a strong proposition these days, combining a good router with an optional streaming TV service and fast average download speeds.

Offers change regularly so keep an eye on TalkTalk's latest offers here.