Community Fibre broadband

London-based broadband provider Community Fibre offers full fibre broadband with download speeds of up to 3Gbps – the fastest in the UK.

The company’s core belief is that everyone across the capital should have access to cheap broadband regardless of their age, social, or economic status.

Overview

Average Download Speeds	10Mbps – 3Gbps (3,000Mbps)
Average Upload Speeds	10Mbps – 3Gbps (3,000Mbps)
Broadband Type	Full Fibre (FTTP)
Home Phone	Yes
TV/Entertainment Bundles	Yes
Cost	from £12.50 per month

Download speeds

All of Community Fibre’s broadband packages are full fibre, or ‘fibre-to-the-premises’ (FTTP). Full fibre broadband is the fastest type of broadband available, avoiding slower s meaning unlike ADSL and superfast (FTTC) broadband, an active phone line is not required for the connection. And, unlike most broadband providers who operate on BT Openreach’s network, Community Fibre builds and maintains its own fibre optic network.

Most providers, even in cases where they offer fast or extremely fast download speeds, have, by comparison, much slower upload speeds. For example, BT’s fastest package – the Full Fibre 900 – offers download speeds of up to 900Mbps but its upload speeds are only 110Mbps. Likewise, Virgin Media – the second biggest provider of full fibre broadband in the country – offers 1000Mbps on its Gig1 plan, but its upload speeds are only 52Mbps.

Upload speeds

Because Community Fibre only offers full fibre broadband, all download and upload speeds are symmetrical, meaning they are the same. This is particularly handy if you are someone who needs high-speed upload times for activities such as adding content to the internet (e.g., YouTube videos, Instagram videos and photos, or other large files), streaming video calls and conferences, or sharing content to the cloud.

With most other broadband providers, even in cases where they offer fast or extremely fast download speeds, have, by comparison, much slower upload speeds.

For example, BT’s fastest package – the Full Fibre 900 – offers download speeds of up to 900Mbps but its average upload speed is only 110Mbps. Likewise, Virgin Media – the second biggest provider of full fibre broadband in the country – offers 1000Mbps on its Gig1 plan, but its upload speeds are only 52Mbps.

Broadband packages

Community’s base package, Essential 35 mbps, offers an average download speed of 35Mbps, and is marketed as their ‘social tariff’ option. With social tariffs, most broadband providers will have some eligibility requirements – for example, you must be receiving at least one type of means-tested benefit – but Community Fibre’s social tariff does not have any eligibility requirements, other than you must be a new customer.

The Essential 35 mbps is priced at £12.50 per month and provides a great opportunity for a small household or individual on a budget wanting access to ultrafast and reliable broadband.

Next up is the 150Mbps package. This option is ideal for multi-user households or those who live in shared accommodation, where many devices will be connected at once and using the internet for online activities such as web browsing, online gaming and streaming content – either from a streaming box or an internet-ready smart TV.

Heading into truly ultrafast speeds, the 1Gbps package will mean a large family or small workplace can enjoy simultaneously heavy internet usage. The available bandwidth with this package means you could have 40 simultaneous streams in 4K, be taking part in video conference calls (Zoom, Skype, etc.), gaming online, or downloading large swathes of content.

The final – and fastest – broadband package from Community Fibre clocks in at a blisteringly fast 3000Mbps (3 gbps). Unfortunately, this option is currently extremely limited in its availability. To find out if this is available in your area, you’ll need to reach out to Community Fibre directly.

What is full fibre broadband?

Full fibre broadband is a type of broadband connection that uses fibre optic cables from the telephone exchange directly to your home.

By contrast, other types of broadband on the market – standard ADSL and superfast broadband – uses copper telephone wires for either all or some of the journey from the exchange to your home. And, depending on how far your home is located from the exchange, as well as the level of degradation on the copper cables delivering your connection, you can expect much slower speeds than full fibre.

Contract length

Community Fibre’s broadband packages are available on 12- or 24-month contracts. Its 3000Mbps option, however, is only available on a 24-month plan.

Home phone bundles

Although Community Fibre’s broadband is 100% full fibre – and therefore does not use nor require a telephone line – they still offer an optional home phone bundle.

Calls made on the home phone package will be VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), meaning calls will be routed through your broadband, and so, no line rental is required.

For £10 a month, the package includes unlimited calls to UK landlines and mobiles. You’ll also get access to a dedicated app which allows free Wi-FI calls to all UK landlines and mobiles from home and abroad.

Finally, if you have an existing landline number you’d like to keep, just let Community Fibre know prior to switching and they’ll port it over from your existing provider for free.

TV bundles

In addition to a home phone, Community Fibre also offers the option of a TV package.

The package comes bundled with an Alexa-compatible, 4K Netgem TV box capable of pausing and recording live TV. While it doesn’t offer as comprehensive a list of channels available from competitors like BT, Sky and Virgin, it does provide 100 extra Freeview channels as well as apps such as BBC iPlayer, YouTube, BT Sports Ultimate and Amazon Prime Video.

You can add TV to your broadband package for an additional £10 per month.

Router

Community Fibre provides a free Linksys Velop router to all new customers. Those on either the 10Mbps or 50Mbps plan will receive the dual-band model, and those on any of the faster tiers will receive the tri-band. Either router will broadcast multiple Wi-Fi signals: two for dual-band and three for the tri-band, respectively. This helps ensure you have access to reliable coverage and speeds across all devices.

Both of these free routers also use mesh technology as standard. This technology uses ‘nodes’ to extend the Wi-Fi signal throughout your home, with each node possessing a dedicated link to the main router. As you move around your house, your devices will automatically latch onto the strongest signal from one of these nodes.

Wi-Fi in Every Room

Community Fibre’s WiFi In Every Room service uses mesh technology to provide guaranteed wifi coverage in up to five bedrooms and 12 rooms in total across three floors.

Used in conjunction with your main router, Community Fibre will supply you with additional mesh routers that will be used to create consistent wifi coverage throughout your home. WiFi in Every Room guarantees a minimum speed of 10Mbps in every room, and if you cannot get at least this speed, you can claim three month’s free broadband in compensation.

Community Fibre installation

Because Community Fibre uses its own network, this does mean your home will require a visit from one of their engineers. After carrying out a Wi-Fi test to determine the best place for your router, the engineer will drill a hole in the outer wall of your property in order to run the cable into your home. They will then install the fibre socket, modem and router – all of which will be wall-mounted.

Once installation is complete, the engineer will perform a speed test through the fixed connection to your router, as well as over Wi-Fi to ensure everything is running smoothly. The entire process takes around two hours.

If you have opted for the Wi-Fi in Every Room option, additional routers will be placed throughout your home

Installation is priced at £14.95.

Where is Community Fibre available?

As of October 2023, Community Fibre is available in the following London boroughs: Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, and Westminster.

Customer service

Community Fibre’s customer service team is available 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They can be reached on 0800 082 0770, with lines accessible between 8am – 10pm Monday thru Friday, and 9am-7pm on weekends.

They also have a Live Chat service through their website, and can be contacted through Direct Message on Twitter @CommunityFibre.

At the time of writing, Community Fibre has accrued over 20,000 customer reviews on Trustpilot with an average rating of 4.9/5 stars.

Does Community Fibre have annual price rises?

Yes. Like most major providers in the UK, Community Fibre has annual broadband price rises baked into the terms and conditions (t&cs) of its contracts.

This price will change each year, but is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure, plus 2.9%.

Does Community Fibre use Openreach?

No. Community Fibre owns and operates its own network entirely separate from BT Openreach.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Full fibre network:-

Community Fibre’s entire network is ‘Fibre to the Premises’ (FTTP), providing the fastest and most reliable speeds in the country.

Symmetrical speeds across all packages:-

Community Fibre is one of the only providers in the UK that offers symmetrical download and upload speeds across all its packages.

This is great for anyone consistently uploading content or working from home and needing to access large work files.

Customer service:-

Community Fibre is currently the top rated internet service provider in the UK on Trustpilot. Their team is also on-hand to help its customers 365 days of the year.

Cons

Limited availability:-

Unfortunately, Community Fibre is currently only available in certain boroughs of London.