Direct Save Telecom

Promoted as the provider of choice for those on a budget, DST pride themselves on offering low-cost, no-frills broadband deals. Direct Save are also one of the few providers that does not require a credit check on sign-up – useful to those concerned about their credit rating.

In an increasingly competitive broadband market, where low prices and high speed is fiercely fought over, how does Direct Save Telecom stack up? Let’s take a look.

Overview

Average Download Speeds	11Mbps – 1,000Mbps				
Average Upload Speeds	1Mbps – 1,000Mbps				
Broadband Type	ADSL & Fibre				
Home Phone-line Rental	Yes				
TV/Entertainment Bundles	No				
Cost	from £18.95 per month				

Broadband speeds

Direct Save’s most basic package, the ‘Unlimited Broadband Deal’, offers an average download speed of 11Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps. Because this is a standard ADSL service – meaning it is connected by copper telephone cables and therefore requires an active phone line – actual speeds may vary depending on the time of day and quality of the network connection itself.

Speeds become a little more competitive on DST’s ‘Fibre to the Home’ packages: the ‘Superfast’ with average download and upload speeds of 35Mbps/9Mbps and the ‘Superfast Plus’ with 63Mbps/17Mbps respectively. Both packages deliver your broadband using BT Openreach’s ‘Fibre to The Cabinet’ (FTTC) network. On this network, copper cables are used for the journey from the green cabinet in the street to your premises. This means that because it still uses copper wires for at least part of the journey you won’t always get the headline speeds promised, but your vulnerability to network congestion will be less than that of an ADSL line.

The next step-up in DST’s offerings is the ‘Ultrafast’ service. It uses both Direct Save’s own ‘Fibre to The Premises’ (FTTP) network in conjunction with BT’s Openreach network. The Ultrafast offers extremely fast download speeds of 360Mbps. Because it’s FTTP, and therefore void of copper cables, it won’t experience lag like an ADSL or FTTC connection might, but, like any network, speeds may still be affected depending on your location.

Finally, Direct Save’s fastest and newest service comes in the form of their ‘Full Fibre Max Fibre to The Home’ (FTTH) network. Packages on this tier go all the way up to 1Gbps (1,000Mbps) in download speeds. ‘Full Fibre Max FTTH’ uses a fibre optic cable delivery method that, rather than using copper wires to link you with an internet connection, instead uses only fibre optic cables from Direct Save Telecom’s own network. These packages are unfortunately, severely dependent on location and typically only available to customers who have a private ‘Optical Network Terminal’ (ONT) connection.

Packages

If you consider yourself a low-end user and only use the internet for light browsing, DST’s base Broadband Deal (ADSL) is priced at £18.95 per month on a 12-month contract and offers 11Mbps/1Mbps download and upload speeds.

However, most households will benefit more from either the ‘Superfast’ or ‘Superfast Plus package on the ‘Fibre to The Cabinet’ (FTTC) tier. The former is priced at £24.95 per month (£29.95 after 12 months) and offers download and upload speeds of 35Mbps/9Mbps. The latter, although slightly pricier at £27.95 a month (£34.95 after 12 months) offers almost double the speed with 63Mbps in download and 17Mbps in upload speeds respectively.

Direct Save’s Fibre To the Premises (FTTP) packages offers faster download and upload speeds again, but is not yet widely available. Prices start at £31.95 per month for 50Mbps download/ 10Mbps upload speeds, and end at £52.95 for 360Mbps/72Mbps in download and upload speeds respectively. Like all previously mentioned packages, options in this tier are available for 12-months.

Finally, Direct Save’s ‘Full Fibre Max to the Home’ packages differ slightly in that it is only offered only on 18-month contracts and limited to those with their own private ONT connection. The lower tariff in this tier is priced at £44.95 per month for 550Mbps download /75Mbps upload. The fastest in this tier – and of all packages offered by DST – is £53.95 per month. This will net you symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 1,000Gbps.

Finally, Direct Save offers a no-contract option for those who would prefer to shy away from fixed monthly commitments. Priced at £27.95, it offers 11Mbps download/1Mbps upload speeds. A one-time set up fee of £24.95 applies.

Contract length

Shorter than most other providers on the market, the majority of Direct Save Telecom’s packages are contracted for only 12-months.

Direct Save’s ‘Full Fibre Max to the Home’ packages are slightly different in that they are only available for a minimum 18-month term.

For those wanting to avoid contractual commitments altogether, Direct Save offers three no-contract broadband options: Standard (11Mbps/1Mbps), Superfast Fibre (35Mbps/9Mbps) and Superfast Plus (63Mbps/17Mbps). As might be expected, prices are substantially higher than if you opt for a contract, and a one-time set-up fee of £24.95 applies.

Home phone bundles

All Direct Save’s broadband packages come with line rental as standard, with then 3 add-on options available:-

Call Plan	Includes	Price per month
Option 1	Pay per call	Free
Option 2	Free evening & weekend UK calls	£4.00
Option 3	Free anytime UK calls	£8.50

If you’d like to know more about how bundling your broadband with a home phone can save you money, check out our guide.

Discount loyalty club

In lieu of TV and entertainment bundles, Direct Save Telecom offers access to its Discount Loyalty Club. Access is free for the first 12-months for all new customers. It includes a range of discounts on brand name products, attractions, hotels and more.

Router

Customers who take out any broadband service will receive a free wireless router pre-configured to the Direct Save Network. It’s worth noting however that each router will differ depending on the broadband plan being taken out.

The base ADSL package comes bundled with a device capable of supporting up to 16 devices.

Those on either Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) package will receive a more advanced device capable of support for 32 devices and a one gigabyte ethernet cable allowing for a faster wired connection.

An even more powerful router is gifted to those on Fibre to The Premises (FTTP) plans, with a wide-reaching WIFI signal capable of handling super-fast speeds.

While all of Direct Save Telecom’s routers are included with your plan, an £8.95 postage and packing charge applies.

Installation

Direct Save Telecom offers fee-free line activation for all customers taking on their standard broadband or fibre packages. Those who opt for one of the rolling-contract options will be required to pay a one-off charge.

Customer service

Direct Save operates three UK-based customer service lines: Technical Support, Sales, and Billing. All lines are open Monday thru Friday 8am – 8pm, `and from 9am-5pm on weekends.

Questions can also be submitted to Direct Save directly via their site’s webform, found here

In terms of online reviews, at the time of writing Direct Save is averaging 4.1 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot.

Direct Save have also achieved industry recognition having been awarded both the ‘Best Customer Care’ and ‘Best Value Provider’ at the Broadband Genie Awards in 2020.

Pros and Cons

Pros

No credit check:-

As a provider that doesn’t perform credit checks, Direct Save may be an excellent option for those concerned about their credit rating and eligibility for a broadband contract.

Discount loyalty club:-

With discounts on places and products such as Apple, Legoland, Hilton Hotels and Marks and Spencer, the inclusion into the discount loyalty club for all new customers is a generous perk.

No-frills:-

If you’re wanting to save money by opting for a simple broadband package without any additional features (e.g., TV bundles), Direct Save is clear with what it offers.

Contract terms:-

Direct Save is one of the few providers that offers short, 12-month contracts. For those wanting to avoid a contract altogether, rolling 30-day options are available for the majority of Direct’ Save’s packages.

Cons

No TV bundles:-

While it’s great that Direct Save includes line rental and access to their discount loyalty club as standard, those wishing to bundle their broadband with TV services may be disappointed.