Should I get Now Broadband?

Now Broadband is simple and flexible. And with monthly TV memberships, it's great and cheaper way to get Sky TV without committing to a long-term contract.

What do you get with Now Broadband?

Now Broadband offers a choice of three, keenly priced broadband and home phone packages, as well as flexible TV memberships for Sky Sports, Sky Entertainment and Sky Cinema channels.

One of Now Broadband’s major selling points is that, alongside 12-month contracts, you can sign up for broadband on no-contract basis too.

Team that with its rolling-contract, one-month TV memberships and you've got a broadband provider that’s notably more flexible than usual.

What broadband deals can I get from Now?

First, let's take a look at the broadband and landline packages, which offer a choice of standard broadband or fibre.

  • Brilliant Broadband – a standard ADSL broadband service with average speeds of 11Mbps
  • Fab Fibre – fibre broadband with average speeds of 36Mbps
  • Super Fibre – fibre broadband with average speeds of 63Mbps

All packages come with no usage limit, as well as Now Broadband's Hub 2 router.

If you opt for a 12-month contract on any package, there's no set-up fee to pay – just a £5 delivery fee. However, if you choose a monthly rolling contract, expect to pay a steep one-off charge of £65 to cover set-up.

Now Broadband home phone call packages 

All Now Broadband packages come with line rental included. Unless you add a call package to your landline, you’ll be charged for calls on a pay as you go basis.

However, if you do make regular landline calls, you may want to add an inclusive calls package. You have a choice of two options:

  • Evening & weekend calls – inclusive UK landline and mobile calls between 7pm and 7am Monday to Friday, and all day on Saturday and Sunday
  • Anytime Calls – inclusive UK landline and mobile calls, 24/7

If you want to add TV to watch online and on demand, you can add a TV membership once you’ve selected your broadband and landline package.

What Now TV Memberships can I get?

When your broadband order is complete, you can add an Entertainment, Cinema or Sports Membership to your plan.

It’s the most flexible TV service on the market. Unlike pay-TV from the likes of Sky, BT and Virgin Media, you’re not tied to a long-term contract. Instead, Now TV memberships work on a monthly rolling basis, and can be added or subtracted from your bundle of Now Broadband services whenever you like.

The Sports Membership is more flexible still, allowing you to sign up for just one day – handy if you only want to watch a particular game.

It’s worth noting that you can get a discount when you add a TV membership at checkout. All TV memberships will be at a reduced rate for 12 months.

So, what do you get with each NOW TV membership? Let's take a look:

  • Entertainment Membership – 16 live and on-demand channels, including Sky One, Sky Atlantic, Sky Witness, Sky Arts, Sky Comedy, Sky Crime, Comedy Central, MTV, Peacock, Gold and SyFy. Also includes 300 box sets
  • Sky Cinema Pass – gives you more than 1,000 movies to watch on demand, Sky Cinema live channels, and one new premiere each week
  • Sports Pass – the full suite of Sky Sports channels, covering Premier League football, Formula One, golf majors, and more. See our Sky Sports guide for more information
  • Hayu – All the biggest reality US reality TV shows, including Keeping up with the Kardashians, Real Housewives of New Jersey and Project Runway

Once you've got a TV membership, you can add up to six devices to your account. You'll also be able to upgrade your package with Boost, which allows you to watch ad-free on three screens at the same time.

Overall, Now TV is an affordable and flexible way of getting Sky TV channels on a budget. And you don't even need to have Now Broadband  to get Now TV.

Now Broadband - should you go contract or no-contract?

One notable string to NOW Broadband's bow is that it’s one of the few widely available providers that offers contract-free broadband.

All three of its broadband packages are available on a rolling monthly basis, which gives you the flexibility to switch, cancel, or upgrade at any time. On the downside, you will have to pay a rather pricey one-off set-up fee of £65.

Conversely, if you sign up for 12-month contract, Now Broadband waives the set-up fee entirely.

Ultimately, the choice comes down to this: do you want to pay extra for flexibility, or commit to a year and pay less? Only you can answer that one.

Now Broadband review: is it any good?

From competitive pricing to flexible contracts, there's a lot to recommend Now Broadband. And it's a really good way to get Sky TV for a relatively small outlay, without having to commit to a longer-term contract or having a satellite dish outside your house.

But that's not to say that Now Broadband isn't without its faults. There’s not much choice in terms of broadband speeds, with the fastest topping out at 63Mbps. And its simple, straightforward packages mean that customers don’t get the same sort of extra perks and rewards as those offered by big-name providers.

Here we outline everything that's good about. And everything that's less good, too.

What’s good about Now Broadband?

  • Competitively priced broadband for those on a budget
  • Can bundle broadband, TV and phone together
  • No credit check required
  • Easy to build the package you want at checkout
  • Superfast fibre optic broadband available – perfect for families, shared households and heavy users
  • No-contract broadband gives you flexibility to switch at any time
  • 12-month contracts also available if you prefer to spend less upfront
  • Flexible TV memberships that are more affordable than BT, Sky and Virgin Media
  • The cheapest way to watch highly coveted Sky channels, including all 11 Sky Sports channels and Sky Atlantic, the home of Game of Thrones, Twin Peaks and other hit US shows
  • More than 1,000 films on demand with Sky Cinema membership – plus a new premiere every day
  • Can watch on-demand content on TV, computers, games consoles, smartphones, tablets and more

What’s bad about Now Broadband?

  • Limited range of speeds, with the fastest at 63Mbps – you can get much faster options with Virgin Media, BT, EE and Sky
  • Setup costs apply if you go no-contract
  • Now TV memberships get you fewer channels than Sky or Virgin Media TV
  • Although catch-up and live TV are available in full 1080p HD, some streamed content is only 720p
  • Need to pay extra to watch without ads
  • No broadband-only option – you need line rental as well
  • Not many call package options, particularly if you want international calls
  • Monthly bills can add up if you take multiple TV memberships together
  • No perks or rewards to enjoy – for example, unlike the likes of BT and Sky, Now Broadband doesn’t offer free access to public Wi-Fi networks
  • No option to add a mobile phone plan to your bundle and save money on your total bill

See our full NOW Broadband review for more info.

Our latest Now Broadband deals

Is Now Broadband available in my area?

Now Broadband uses BT's nationwide Openreach network. That means it's widely available and there's a very good chance you'll be able to get it. 

To find out for sure, just type in your postcode in our availability checker below. And we'll do the rest. 

How do I contact Now Broadband?

You can get in touch with Now Broadband by calling 03303 323 050. Call centre opening hours are 8am-11pm. 

How does Now Broadband compare against other providers?

The big draw of Now Broadband is its one-month deals, which aren’t offered by many other providers. Virgin Media also offers monthly rolling contracts for broadband too, but they’re a fair bit more expensive and not as widely available.

What’s more, Now TV is the only place where you can get one-month TV deals bundled in with broadband. They aren’t available from any other providers full stop – bar streaming services like Netflix.

Now Broadband offers good, competitive broadband. Download speeds are comparable to other Openreach-based providers such as Plusnet and Shell Energy, though it doesn’t offer the high-speed broadband available from providers like Virgin, BT, Sky, EE, and Vodafone.

But price-wise, it’s one of the best. Costs for similar packages are usually on par with TalkTalk, Plusnet, Vodafone, and EE.

Alternative broadband providers to Now Broadband

Compare all your options by taking a look at our guides to other broadband, phone, and TV services:

Frequently asked questions

What router does Now Broadband use?

All Now Broadband packages come with a Now Hub 2 Wi-Fi router, which allows you to connect up to 64 internet-enabled devices simultaneously and offers speeds of up to 1Gbps. 

Using the same technology as the Sky Q Hub, the Now Hub 2 is also equipped with smart power-consumption technology that means your router will go into low power mode when it's not in use.

Who owns Now Broadband?

Now Broadband is owned by parent company Sky and offers more flexible access to Sky's range of channels through Now TV memberships, as well as affordable fibre and ADSL broadband deals.

Is Now Broadband the same as Sky?

Now Broadband offers access to the best of Sky's sports, movies and entertainment programming. But it’s quite different to Sky.

Sky works like traditional pay TV. You get a state-of-the-art Sky Q set-top box, which can record multiple channels simultaneously and allows you to watch your recordings on the go. And unless you go for the Sky Glass smart TV, you’ll need a satellite dish installed outside your house to go with the Sky Q box.

With Sky TV, you have to sign up for an 18-month contract. In comparison, Now TV works like a subscription service – you don’t need any special equipment, and you’re not tied to a long-term contract. You can sign up to and cancel Now TV memberships whenever you like.

When it comes to broadband speeds and service quality, Now Broadband and Sky are pretty similar. Sky’s Essential Plus and Superfast packages are more expensive than Now Broadband’s comparable Brilliant Broadband, Fab Fibre and Super Fibre plans – but Sky customers get some extra perks, like its VIP benefit scheme.

Plus, Sky offers ultrafast and gigafast broadband with speeds ranging between 100Mbps-900Mbps, if you’re looking for something faster – though these speeds aren’t as widely available.

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