Hyperoptic vs BT Broadband

BT broadband offer a wide range of packages including a gigabit-capable deal and various entry-level options as well.

Hyperoptic are generally cheaper however, with prices starting as low as £17.99 and promising no mid-contract price hikes.

For those who have access to both providers, Hyperoptic will save the most money, but BT's additional premium services may be worth the extra cost.

At a glance

Best deals

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Superfast (24 months)	158Mb average	£29	£19	24 months
Go	Fibre 2	67Mb average	£36.99	£31.99	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Reduced price for 24 months (Ends 22/08/2024)

Price

Winner: Hyperoptic broadband deals are much cheaper than BT broadband, with prices starting as low as £17.99 per month.

Hyperoptic offer a Light broadband deal with 30Mbps average download speeds for just £17.99 per month. That makes it one of the UK's cheapest broadband deals.

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Light 30Mb (24 months)	33Mb average	£17.99	£10	24 months

Hyperoptic also promise no mid-contract price hikes, so the prices customers see when they sign up will remain the same for the length of the contract.

For those who want faster speeds however, Hyperoptic also remain cheaper than BT, with their 158Mbps Superfast plan priced at £29 per month, a couple of pounds less than BT's equivalent Full Fibre 100 deal:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Superfast (24 months)	158Mb average	£29	£19	24 months
Go	Full Fibre 100	150Mb average	£29.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Save £1/mth and free setup (was £31.99) + (Ends 22/08/2024)

BT broadband prices will rise by £3 per month each year in April, so this will also push the total cost over the length of the contract up for BT customers compared to those for opt for Hyperoptic broadband.

Customers of either provider can choose to add a digital phone line, although this again is cheaper with Hyperoptic costing between £2 to £3 for a home phone with evening & weekend calls included, while BT charge an extra £5 per month for a line with pay as you go calls.

Faster broadband speeds are also cheaper with Hyperoptic than BT, with their gigabit deal currently coming in £6 per month cheaper:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Hyperfast (24 months)	900Mb average	£39	£19	24 months
Go	Full Fibre 900	900Mb average	£44.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Save £15/mth and free setup (was £31.99) (Ends 08/08/2024)

Overall, Hyperoptic easily win against BT for broadband price, and their promise not to hike prices mid contract is also reassuring for those on a budget.

Broadband packages

Winner: It's a tie. Both Hyperoptic and BT offer various broadband package options, with Hyperoptic providing flexible contract lengths, and BT offering premium add-ons.

Choosing between Hyperoptic and BT in terms of broadband package will come down to personal preference, with both providers covering the main bases but targeting slightly different requirements.

BT and Hyperoptic both offer superfast, ultrafast and gigabit-capable broadband deals, with the option to add a digital home phone line, as well as WiFi boosters to extend coverage around the home.

Hyperoptic differ from BT in that customers can choose between a 24, 12 or even 30-day rolling contract, while BT customers will be tied in for 24 months.

On the other hand, BT offer some features that Hyperoptic doesn't, including parental controls, 4G broadband back-up, access to home tech experts, and a pay TV service. All of these services can be added to any of BT's broadband deals.

Here's how Hyperoptic and BT broadband packages look side-by-side:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Light 30Mb (24 months)	33Mb average	£17.99	£10	24 months
	Fibre 2	67Mb average	£36.99	£31.99	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Reduced price for 24 months (Ends 22/08/2024)
	Superfast (24 months)	158Mb average	£29	£19	24 months
	Full Fibre 100	150Mb average	£29.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Save £1/mth and free setup (was £31.99) + (Ends 22/08/2024)
	Ultrafast (24 months)	522Mb average	£35	£19	24 months
	Full Fibre 300	300Mb average	£34.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Save £10/mth and free setup (was £31.99) (Ends 08/08/2024)
	Hyperfast (24 months)	900Mb average	£39	£19	24 months
	Full Fibre 900	900Mb average	£44.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Save £15/mth and free setup (was £31.99) (Ends 08/08/2024)

As mentioned, Hyperoptic also offer 12 and 30-day terms, which have slightly higher monthly costs, but setup fees remain reasonable.

We look at the additional features available with Hyperoptic and BT broadband packages in more detail throughout this guide, however, overall, we'd have to call a tie as some customers will benefit from Hyperoptic's flexibility, while others will want the resilience offered by BT's premium features, like BT Halo.

Read more in our dedicated reviews of BT broadband and Hyperoptic broadband.

Broadband speed

Winner: Hyperoptic offer symmetrical upload speeds on their faster plans, while BT offer much slower asymmetrical uploads.

While both Hyperoptic and BT offer gigabit broadband plans, the main difference between the providers on speed is their uploads.

Aside from Hyperoptic's entry-level Light and Fast plans, their Superfast, Ultrafast and Hyperfast packages all come with symmetrical uploads - where the upload speed is as fast as the headline download speed.

In contrast, even BT's fastest Full Fibre 900 plan only offers 110Mbps upload speeds on average, almost just a tenth of those available with Hyperoptic Hyperfast.

Hyperoptic and BT also use different networks to deliver their broadband connections, with BT reselling access to Openreach part and full fibre, and Hyperoptic running their own independent network of full fibre cables.

For an idea of how these providers perform, we can look at their advertised average speeds, which should be received by at least 50% of their customers during peak hours.

BT's average broadband speeds are:

While Hyperoptic's average broadband speeds are:

As you can see, while both BT and Hyperoptic offer similar average download speeds, upload speeds are much faster with Hyperoptic. That's something that's unlikely to change soon too, as Openreach full fibre broadband is being rolled out using GPON technology which doesn't support symmetrical speeds.

Minimum broadband speeds

Hyperoptic and BT broadband both offer customers something called a minimum guaranteed download speed. It comes from Ofcom's guidance on broadband speeds, but only BT is actually signed up to this voluntary code.

Despite this, Hyperoptic still promise customers a minimum download speed, and if they don't receive this speed for 3 consecutive days and Hyperoptic can't resolve the issue within 30 days of being notified, customers will be free to exit their contract without penalty.

BT offers the same guarantee, although as we'll see, minimum speeds are slower than with equivalent Hyperoptic deals.

We tested two locations, one with Openreach full fibre and one with Hyperoptic availability and received these minimum download speeds for their main packages:

It's not clear why Hyperoptic promise almost their advertised headline speed, but it certainly gives customers a lot of reassurance that they'll receive the speed they signed up for.

Overall, Hyperoptic beat BT broadband for speed both for offering symmetrical uploads and also for offering faster minimum guaranteed download speeds.

Router

Winner: Hyperoptic customers receive a WiFi 6 enabled router on their faster plans, while all BT broadband customers still get the WiFi 5 enabled BT Smart Hub 2.

All BT broadband customers receive the BT Smart Hub 2, it's a dual-band WiFi 5 enabled router that was released in 2018 along side their WiFi guarantee BT Complete WiFi.

While it's a reasonable device with support for intelligent mesh, 7 internal antennae and four 1Gb Ethernet LAN ports, it is starting to look a little dated next to newer WiFi 6 models.

Hyperoptic offer customers one of a number of different routers depending on the package speed they choose, with those taking their fastest plans provided with a Zyxel WiFi 6 enabled router, while others receive the Nokia Hyperhub or ZTE Hyperhub.

The Nokia and ZTE Hyperhubs are older models with dual-band wireless using the WiFi 5 protocol. They also have less internal antenna than BT's Smart Hub 2, with the Nokia encasing four antennae and the ZTE models encasing just two.

That means while some customers with Hyperoptic may get a newer WiFi 6 enabled device, others will get a device with less wireless power than the BT Smart Hub 2.

All Hyperoptic's Hyperhub routers support mesh though, and their Total WiFi add-on service includes one additional booster device to increase coverage around the home. It costs an extra £7 per month.

Overall, neither Hyperoptic or BT really stand out for offering a superb router line-up, both offer adequate devices however with support for mesh WiFi boosters if coverage needs improving.

Call plans

Winner: Hyperoptic offer cheaper home phone packages than BT does, although inclusive call plans don't cover calls to mobiles.

Hyperoptic and BT broadband packages can both be customised with a home phone line as well as optional call plans, although Hyperoptic tends to be cheaper on both counts.

A digital home phone line can be added to many of Hyperoptic's broadband deals for around £2 to £3 per month. This includes inclusive calls to UK landlines in the evening and weekend, and customers can add one of the following plans too:

One major downside to Hyperoptic home phone is that mobile calls aren't included in their anytime call plan, and it's not actually possible to save more than 50% on these calls even with the dedicated mobile add-on.

BT offer one straightforward call plan, their Unlimited minutes plan, which includes all calls to both UK landlines and UK mobiles at any time, but does cost £16 per month:

Overall, while Hyperoptic's home phone service and call plans look to offer very good value for money, it's difficult to understand why they've not included mobile calls more affordably, which means heavy callers may be better off with BT.

TV

Winner: BT offer a pay TV platform with the branded BT TV Box Pro, whereas Hyperoptic don't offer a TV add-on at all.

TV is one area where BT excel over Hyperoptic, as Hyperoptic doesn't offer a TV service at all, despite other independent full fibre providers partnering with services like Netgem TV or Apple TV.

BT TV, now known as EE TV, is available to add to any of BT's broadband packages but must also be taken on a 24-month minimum term contract.

However, despite the lengthy commitment, customers can upgrade or downgrade their TV plan on a monthly basis, giving flexibility over what customers want to watch and helping to keep costs at a minimum.

Read more in our full review of BT TV packages.

Customer service

Winner: BT have reasonably low complaints and high levels of customer satisfaction according to Ofcom, while Hyperoptic also have a good reputation in this area.

BT have maintained low complaints records for the past few years according to Ofcom's independent data on customer complaints.

They also have high customer satisfaction ratings in Ofcom's Comparing Service Quality report that looks into satisfaction with the service as well as with complaints handling.

Hyperoptic aren't included in Ofcom's official customer service data because they only cover providers with a minimum market share of 1.5%. However, we can look at review sites like Trustpilot to understand what their customers think of them.

They currently have a Trustscore of 4.5 out of 5, rating them as Excellent from over 28,700 reviews. The majority of the reviews score them 5 out of 5, at 86%.

Hyperoptic are also known to win awards for customer service including from the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) and Connected Britain Awards.

Overall, while both providers have a good reputation for customer service, we'd let BT win this round as they have more independent data available to benchmark their performance.

Verdict: Hyperoptic or BT for the best broadband?

Overall winner: Hyperoptic beat BT on price hands down, but BT also fare well for customer service and additional premium features like BT Halo.

Hyperoptic offer some of the cheapest prices in the broadband market, especially for those on a budget with their Light 30Mb plan starting at just £17.99 per month. We also really like their no mid-contract price hikes promise, which means the price customers see when they sign up will be the price the pay every month for the entire length of their minimum term.

While BT also offer a strong proposition with their broadband deals, they implement annual price rises of £3 per month in April of each year and also have higher starting prices too.

For the extra money customers won't necessarily get more either, with a home phone line also costing an extra £5 per month, the WiFi guarantee costing an extra £10 per month, and all customers only able to access the now rather standard BT Smart Hub 2.

Where BT broadband does shine more brightly however is in their premium features such as Hybrid Connect, which offers an automatic 4G back-up device, as well as Home Tech Expects in their BT Halo plan.

Families are also better catered for by BT with built-in router level parental controls available to all customers, and the option to bundle a TV plan with access to premium Sky Entertainment, Sports and Cinema content.

Ultimately, for those whom price is king, Hyperoptic is likely to be the best bet, while other households, especially families and those who work from home, may be better served by BT.

Compare all BT and Hyperoptic deals side-by-side with our free broadband tool.