Hyperoptic Broadband

Hyperoptic broadband – the UK’s largest exclusively full fibre internet service provider – is one of only a few who have strayed from BT’s Openreach network to build its own. Using this network, Hyperoptic offers customers lightning-fast broadband at affordable prices. The downside is that it’s not widely available across the UK just yet. But let’s take a look.

Overview

Average Download Speeds	50Mbps – 1Gigabit
Average Upload Speeds	5Mbps – 1Gigabit
Broadband Type	Full Fibre (FTTP)
Home Phone line-rental	Yes
TV/Entertainment Bundles	Yes
Cost	From £17.99 per month

Broadband speeds and packages

Most broadband in the UK is either ‘standard broadband’ (ADSL) or ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ (FTTC) broadband. Both services rely on copper telephone cables to deliver your broadband – either for the entire journey (ADSL), or from the cabinet to your home (FTTC), and means you are required to have an active phone line set-up. The longer the span of copper being used, the slower your broadband speed will be.

Hyperoptic on the other hand, uses a ‘full fibre’, or ‘Fibre to the Premises’ (FTTP) network, meaning not only do you not need an active phone line to access their services, the broadband you get as a consequence is incredibly fast.

Download speeds with Hyperoptic starts at 50Mbps. This is optimal for a home with three-to-four devices using the internet for general browsing, streaming films and TV shows, and online gaming.

If you live in a household with more devices and require more capacity for activities such as 4K streaming, Hyperoptic has a 150Mbps ‘Superfast’ or 500Mbps ‘Ultrafast’ package to meet these demands and more besides.

Finally, the fastest package on offer from Hyperoptic, the ‘Hyperfast’ , offers users up to 1Gigabit in download speeds, with the average being 900Mbps.

Both Fast (50Mbps) and Superfast (150Mbps) tiers come attached with a one-off £29 activation fee. However, this fee is waived for new customers who choose either the Ultrafast (500Mbps) or Hyperfast (1Gbps) package.

Contract length

For those that prefer flexibility, Hyperoptic offers customers its broadband services on a monthly-rolling contract. But you’ll find significant savings if you instead opt for a package on either a 12 or 24-month contract.

Fair Fibre Plan

Aimed at helping individuals struggling to afford their broadband services, Hyperoptic is one of a handful of providers who has signed on to the government’s ‘social tariff’ scheme. Eligible customers will gain access to Hyperoptic’s plans at a reduced rate, with the base ‘Fast’ package on offer from as little as £15 per month with no contract and just 30-days cancellation notice.

To find out more about social tarrifs and whether you could be eligible, check out our guide here.

Home phone bundles

If you’re looking at bundling your broadband and home phone services, Hyperoptic can help. Priced at £2 a month and added to your broadband plan, it comes with free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines as standard. Options for add-on packs such as Anytime calls, calls to mobiles and International calls can be added for an additional fee.

Sky TV bundles

If you would like to take advantage of Hyperoptic’s superfast speeds for unlimited and uninterrupted streaming of the latest TV shows and films, Hyperoptic’s deal with Sky may interest you. Titled the ‘Ultimate Combo bundles’, it merges Hyperoptic’s lightning-quick broadband speeds with Sky Glass – a TV with Sky services built-in.

Also on offer is a bundle with Sky’s set-top box, the Sky Q. The Sky entertainment deals can be bundled with any of Hyperoptic’s broadband packages.

Upload speeds

For broadband plans that use either ADSL or FTTC connections, upload speeds are normally much less than that of download speeds. However, because Hyperoptic uses full fibre broadband, they can offer symmetrical upload speeds. This means that both upload and download rates are identical.

Hyperoptic’s base package at 50Mpbs offers 5Mbps in upload speed, while all remaining packages are symmetrical speeds.

Router

Hyperoptic supplies all new customers with a free router. Fast and Superfast customers will receive the ZTE hyperhub. Those who opt for either the 500Mbps or 1Gbps package will get the Nokia hyperhub.

Like most routers of this type, although the Nokia is equipped to handle gigabit speeds on a wired connection, it won’t quite be able to match that if you choose to go wireless.

The ZTE, while less powerful than the Nokia, is sufficient for the speeds offered on the Fast and Superfast packages.

Hyperoptic Total Wi-Fi Minihub

Ideal for larger properties or households with many devices connected to your broadband connection simultaneously, the Minihub syncs with your router to extend the distance and coverage of the Wi-Fi connection across your home.

The Minihub is available for an additional cost of £7 per month.

Installation

Hyperoptic’s network currently extends to over 750,000 homes and businesses across the UK and boasts more than 230,000 customers.

Hyperoptic’s services are, for now, limited to high-density urban areas, but have active connections in 57 towns and cities around the UK including London, Newcastle, Leeds, Edinburgh and Swansea. The good news, is that Hyperoptic plans to extend its services to over 2 million premises by year-end 2023. Additionally, Hyperoptic has established partnerships with more than 250 new-build developers across the UK. And, with 93% of new-build homes now built with access to full-fibre, Hyperoptic’s broadband may be available in your area sooner than you think.

If Hyperoptic’s services are already available to you and you decide to go with them, you’ll find the installation procedure differs slightly when compared with most others providers. This is because instead of using BT’s Openreach network, Hyperoptic has its own. Once Hyperoptic engineers have pre-checked and connected your property, they will install a ‘Hyperoptic Socket’ to get you fully online. The entire process takes around an hour.

Customer service

Hyperoptic’s customer support team is available 24-hours a day and is on hand to answer any general or technical queries or problems you have. You can reach the support team on 0333 332 1111. A live chat service is also available through Hyperoptic’s website, or you can contact the team via email at support@hyperoptic.com.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Speeds:-

Regardless of package, all Hyperoptic’s options are incredibly fast. Hyperoptic is one of the few providers currently on the market offering full-fibre, gigabit broadband.

Affordability:-

Compared to many providers, Hyperoptic is one of the few to offer its ‘Fibre to The Premises’ (FTTP) services at an affordable cost, with prices starting from £17.99 to get you connected.

Customer service:-

With a customer service team available 24 hours a day, getting in touch couldn’t be easier. At the time of writing, Hyperoptic also boasts an average of 4.6 stars out of 5 on customer review site, Trustpilot.

Cons

Availability:-

Unfortunately, Hyperoptic is currently only available in very limited areas. And, until this changes, it may be a while before Hyperoptic is considered a major Internet Service Provider.