iTalk Broadband

Operating for over a decade, Hove-based broadband provider, iTalk, prides itself on providing no-frills broadband with excellent, UK-based customer service. But what exactly do they offer? Let’s take a look.

Overview

Average Download Speeds	6Mbps – 63Mbps
Average Upload Speeds	1Mbps – 19Mbps
Broadband Type	ADSL & Fibre (FTTC)
Home Phone line-rental	Yes
TV/Entertainment Bundles	No
Prices from	£21.99 per month

Broadband speeds and packages

iTalk offers three different broadband deals.

Their entry-level package, ‘Simply Broadband’ is a standard ADSL connection and offers average download speeds of between 6 – 15Mbps, with a guaranteed speed of at least 3Mbps. Because this is an ADSL connection – which relies on copper telephone wires from the exchange to your home – it therefore requires an active phone line. This would be an adequate choice for one-to-two people who use the internet for light browsing and watching Netflix shows in standard definition.

Next up is iTalk’s ‘Fast Fibre’ option. This will give you average download speeds of 38Mbps, and is recommended for an average household of 3-4 people who, using a few devices simultaneously, enjoy gaming online and streaming TV shows and movies in standard definition. This is a ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ (FTTC) connection, meaning fibre optic cables are routed from the telephone exchange to the cabinet. Then, from the cabinet to your home, copper cables are used, and so, like the standard broadband option, requires an active phone line. Unlike ADSL however, FTTC broadband is considered generally faster and more reliable as it uses less copper telephone wires.

iTalk’s premium package, ‘Superfast Fibre’ offers average download speeds of 63Mbps. This option is more likely to suit you if you live in a large household and have lots of devices streaming and downloading content at once. Like the ‘Fast Fibre’ package, iTalk’s ‘Superfast Fibre’ is run on an FTTC connection.

Not sure what broadband speed you need? Check out our guide here.

Upload speeds

iTalk’s average upload speeds are offered as 1Mbps on the Simply Broadband, 9Mbps on the Fast Fibre, and 18Mbps on the Superfast Fibre packages respectively.

To understand these speeds, if you’re someone who regularly shares content to social media sites such as Instagram or Facebook, uploading 1GB (1 gigabyte) worth of photos or video would take around 2.5 hours to complete at 1Mbps, or about 14 minutes on 10Mbps.

Contract length

iTalk’s broadband packages are offered on 24 month contracts. All are on a fixed-price promise, meaning that for the life of your contract, the price will not increase.

Home phone packages

iTalk includes phone line rental as standard on all its broadband packages. If you’d like to make calls using a home phone, iTalk offers a few call plan options which can be bolted on to your broadband deal:-

Package	Includes	Price per month
Evening and Weekend	Free evening and weekend calls (6pm – 6am) to UK landlines	£2
International	3p per-minute landline calls to 21 countries (25p call connection fee applies)	£1.50
Anytime	Free calls to UK landlines for up to 60 minutes per call	£7.00

Router

All iTalk broadband deals include a free Zyxel Wi-Fi router worth £99.

The router itself, though quite basic, likely won’t make a difference for most who are simply connecting a few devices over Wi-Fi or a wired connection. However, if you are regularly transferring large files or streaming HD content, the router might not work as smoothly, and you may want to seek out your own hardware.

Although the router is free, a one-off charge of £12.95 is applied for postage and packaging.

Installation

Once you’ve signed up, iTalk estimates it will take two to three weeks to get your broadband connected. You’ll receive an SMS and email from iTalk letting you know the date your broadband will be activated.

iTalk operates on BT’s Openreach network. If you’re switching to iTalk from another provider who uses Openreach’s network and infrastructure (e.g., BT, EE, TalkTalk, Vodafone etc.), iTalk will let them know you’re leaving. Switching over from one of these providers also means that no extra work – like drilling holes into your walls – needs to be done.

Customer service

iTalk’s UK and Ireland-based customer service team is available on 0330 1915 247. You can also request a callback from their team by filling in their online web form. If you’d prefer to reach out to the team team via email, you can do so at info@italktelecom.co.uk.

At the time of writing, iTalk Telecom has over 15,000 reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4.7/5.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Excellent customer service:-

With an Ireland and UK-based support team, customers of iTalk can rest-assured that help is never too far away. iTalk’s stellar rating on customer ratings sites such as Trustpilot also cement its place as a provider that takes customer satisfaction seriously.

No price increase guarantee:-

iTalk guarantees its customers that the monthly cost of their broadband will remain fixed for the full length of their contract. At times where prices are constantly on the rise due to inflation, this is certainly a benefit.

Cons

Traffic management policy:-

Unlike an increasing number of providers, iTalk uses a traffic management policy. This means that it gives precedence to certain online activities during peak times. From approximately 4-8pm, iTalk gives priority to web browsing and emailing over other activities such as file sharing and streaming. As a consequence, you may experience buffering and loading issues on streaming service apps such as Netflix and Disney+ at these times of the day.