TalkTalk

TalkTalk offers some of the cheapest broadband packages in the UK – including full fibre deals. They also have a range of TV and phone bundles available with their broadband services. But they don’t have the best reputation when it comes to customer service. Let’s take a look.

Overview

Average Download Speeds	30Mbps – 900Mbps
Average Upload Speeds	1Mbps – 91Mbps
Broadband Type	ADSL & Fibre (FTTC/FTTP)
Home Phone-line Rental	Yes
TV/Entertainment Packages	Yes
Cost	from £23.50 per month

Broadband speeds and packages  

TalkTalk offers a wide range of broadband types and packages:-

Fast Broadband (ADSL)

TalkTalk’s base package, ‘Fast Broadband’, is a standard ADSL connection and offers average download speeds of 11Mbps.

Because ADSL relies solely on copper telephone wires to deliver your broadband, an active phone line will be required. Thankfully, the package already includes line rental in the price.

ADSL – although the slowest type of broadband available – would still be suitable for an individual or small household who only really use the internet for basic activities such as checking emails, online banking, and streaming the occasional TV show on Netflix.

However, it’s worth noting that TalkTalk charge more for an ADSL connection than they do for a partial-fibre (FTTC) one, so unless you live in an area that can only get ADSL, you’d be better off opting for one of their faster packages.

Fibre 35 & Fibre 65 (FTTC)

Next up are TalkTalk’s ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ (FTTC) options, with average download speeds of 35Mbps and 65Mbps, respectively.

‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ (FTTC) – also known as ‘Superfast Broadband’ – means fibre optic cables are routed from the telephone exchange to the cabinet. Copper telephone wires are then used to connect your broadband from the cabinet to your home. So like ADSL, you’ll still need a phone line, but again, TalkTalk have included this in the cost.

And because superfast broadband uses less copper wiring than ADSL, you can expect a faster and more reliable connection.

To work out whether either of these packages would be suitable for you, it’s a good idea to allocate 10Mbps for each person in the household who will be connecting to your broadband at the same time.

It’s worth noting that there is only a £1.00 price difference between the Fibre 35 and Fibre 65 packages, so if you think you or anyone you live with is going to be using the internet a lot and at the same time as each other, it’s likely best to opt for the higher-tier package.

To find out more about broadband speeds and finding the right package for you, check out our guide.

Fibre 150, Fibre 500, Fibre 900 (FTTP)

Similar to other providers who offer ‘Fibre to the Premises’ (FTTP) broadband, TalkTalk’s Full Fibre broadband is only available in select areas of the UK at the moment.

Compared to ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ (FTTC) broadband, full fibre uses only fibre optic cables to deliver your broadband connection, so a phone line isn’t required. It is also the fastest and most reliable type of broadband available in the UK.

The three options available on this tier – ‘Fibre 150’, ‘Fibre 500’, and ‘Fibre 900’ – offer average download speeds of 150Mbps, 500Mbps, and 900Mbps, respectively. These packages are designed for any individual or family that takes their internet needs seriously – where numerous devices are being connected simultaneously and used for bandwidth-heavy activities such as online gamine, streaming content in UHD 4K, or working from home and downloading large files.

If you’re interested in ultrafast broadband speeds, use our postcode checker to see if it’s available in your area.

Upload Speeds

Upload speeds determine how fast you’re able to copy or send content – such as photos or videos – from your device to apps like YouTube or Instagram, other devices (e.g., sending memes over Whatsapp) or cloud storage.

TalkTalk’s average upload speeds for its broadband packages are listed below:-

Package	Average Upload Speeds
Fast Broadband (ADSL)	1Mbps
Fibre 35 (FTTC)	9Mbps
Fibre 65 (FTTC)	18Mbps
Fibre 150 (FTTP)	25Mbps
Fibre 500 (FTTP)	70Mbps
Fibre 900 (FTTP)	91Mbps

Home phone packages

TalkTalk includes basic phone line rental as standard on all of its broadband packages.

If you’d like to use your home phone to make calls, they also offer a couple of call plans outside of Pay As You Go (PAYG), which can be bolted-on to your broadband deal, and are offered as monthly-rolling contracts:-

Package	Includes	Price per month
Unlimited UK	Unlimited calls to UK landlines and mobiles.	£12.00
International Max	1500 minutes worth of calls to landlines and mobiles across 50 destinations.	£7.00

Contract length

All of TalkTalk’s broadband plans are contracted for 18 or 24-months.

Annual price increases

TalkTalk are one of a handful of providers that have annual price increases baked into their contract’s terms and conditions. This means that on or after the 31^st of March every year, the price of your broadband package will increase in-line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation. An additional fee of 3.7% also applies.

Fixed Price Plus Price Freeze

For an additional £3 extra per month, TalkTalk will “freeze” the price of your broadband bill – meaning the cost will stay the same throughout your contract. And, once your contract has ended, the price you pay won’t rise above the annual rate of inflation.

TV Bundles

TalkTalk offers a few options to add a TV service together with your broadband:-

Package	Includes	Price per month
TalkTalk TV 4K Box	Netgem-powered TV set-top box that offers access to 70+ live channels and 30 apps. Can also pause and rewind live TV.	£4.00
NOW Entertainment Pass	Unlimited access to Alibi, HBO, Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic, Sky Comedy, Sky Crime, Comedy Central Sky Documentaries, Gold, Sky History, MTV, Sky Max, NBC News NOW, Sky Nature, Sky Sci-Fi, Sky Showcase, Sky Witness	£9.99
NOW Cinema Pass	Unlimited access to all Sky Cinema channels	£9.99
NOW Sports Membership	Unlimited access to all 11 Sky Sports channel	£33.99
Hayu	Access to the latest reality TV shows, aired the same time as the US	£4.99
Netflix	Netflix standard plus subscription	£9.95

Router

Depending on which broadband deal you opt for, TalkTalk offers a few different routers: TalkTalk Fast Broadband, Fibre 35, and Fibre 65 customers will receive the Wi-Fi Hub Black. Fibre 150 and Fibre 300 customers will get the Amazon Eero 6, while those on the Fibre 500 and Fibre 900 packages will get the Eero Pro 6.

The Wi-Fi Hub Black is a dual-band router, meaning it will host two different Wi-Fi signals simultaneously. There are also four gigabit network ports for faster wired connectivity. Although a fairly basic router, it should be adequate for most individuals and households.

The next router, the Amazon Eero 6, is a mesh router, which means you can fix areas that are struggling to get a signal with additional Eero 6 nodes. It also has in-built support for Amazon Alexa, and a Zigbee Smart Home Hub.

Finally, the Eero 6 Pro offers the same features as the Eero 6, but is equipped with greater Wi-Fi coverage (enough to cover up to 560 square meters).

Installation

TalkTalk does not have any charges for installation and set-up, however, they will charge a £9.95 postage and packing fee for the router.

Timescales from sign-up to activation are estimated by TalkTalk to be around two weeks. From there, once your broadband service has been activated, you’ll be able to self-install your router.

If you require a new phone line, TalkTalk will arrange a date and time with you for an Openreach engineer to come out to install the line.

Customer service

TalkTalk’s customer service and technical support line (0345 172 0088) is available 7 days a week, from 8:00am – 10:00pm.

Their customer service team is also active on Twitter and can be reached via direct message @TalkTalk.

TalkTalk also features troubleshooting guides on its website, as well as an online forum where existing customers can sign-up as a member to post questions, with responses coming from other members as well as TalkTalk staff.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Competitively-priced packages with wide availability:-

TalkTalk is a provider that offers a full list of broadband packages at competitive prices. And because TalkTalk runs on BT’s Openreach network, the chances you’ll be able to access much of what they have to offer is quite high.

Cons

Reputation for poor customer service:-

TalkTalk has long been recognised as a provider with less-than-stellar customer service.

A customer service report released by Ofcom in May 2022, shows that only 78% of TalkTalk customers were satisfied with the overall service they received.

Many customers consider TalkTalk’s poor customer service a worthwhile trade-off for cheap and widely-available broadband. Something to consider.