NOW broadband review

NOW broadband review

In this review

• NOW broadband deals
• NOW broadband summary
• NOW broadband features
• NOW broadband types
• NOW broadband speeds
• NOW broadband router
• NOW membership
• NOW broadband FAQs
• NOW broadband positives
• NOW broadband negatives
• NOW broadband rating

NOW broadband summary

You may have heard of NOW TV before but may not be aware that NOW offer a popular selection of broadband contracts with the flexibility of short contracts, a high quality free broadband hub and the option to pair your broadband with excellent streamed content ranging from Sky Sports, Sky Movie Channels, Entertainment and Kids channels.

So you may be wondering is NOW broadband any good? Carry on reading our full review to find out.

NOW broadband features

NOW broadband offers three main broadband options across their ADSL and fibre broadband platforms from 11Mbps through to their fastest 63Mbps average download speed fibre option. Broadband from NOW includes a home landline included as part of the contract fees and the advanced NOW Broadband Hub Two (Wi-Fi router) is included free of charge.

NOW TV is a pioneer in streamed TV and movie content so you will often find NOW TV entertainment or film pass offers bundled with NOW broadband. These work out as a great combination and can save a lot of money on your monthly bills.

Types of NOW broadband explained

When taking out NOW Broadband there are two main decisions that you need to make in terms of determining:

• 1. Length of broadband contract
• 2. Broadband speed

With all the different broadband products on offer you are able to select a no contract option (which means you are not tied into a long term contract and can cancel at any time) or you can choose the 12 month contract option.

The no contract option is an excellent deal for those that don’t want to be tied into a contract (ideal for students) or move around regularly but want the speed of fibre broadband, however, there is a broadband setup charge with the no contract option – there is no setup charge with the 12 month contract option. So although the monthly costs are the same across no contract and 12 month contracts, the no contract option is more expensive in the long run due to the initial setup fee.

There are three broadband speed options to choose from:

NOW broadband speeds

The different broadband speed options from NOW broadband are governed by price and whether you opt for ADSL or fibre broadband. These choices are personal preference depending on your budget and how much you will use your home broadband.

The cheapest broadband option runs at an average download speed of 11Mbps and is called Brilliant Broadband. The mid-range broadband option is called Fab Fibre and has an average 36Mbps download speed and the top end broadband option is called Super Fibre which has an average 63Mbps download.

All of the NOW broadband contracts are unlimited so you won’t need to worry about data allowances when downloading or streaming music or movies online.

Switching from an existing broadband provider to Now broadband is hassle free and NOW claim that they do not run credit checks on new contracts so this could be a huge benefit to students, people who have not built up a credit profile or individuals that would be applying for broadband with bad credit.

NOW broadband router review

As a new NOW broadband customer you will receive a Wi-Fi router from NOW free of charge called the Now Broadband Hub Two NR801. This is in fact a re-badged Sky Q hub so you are receiving a very well regarded router as part of your contract because the Sky Q Hub is recognised as being one of the best routers on the market.

The Now Broadband Hub Two is a dual band 802.11ac hub with support for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz so you can separate devices onto the preferred frequency. The hub has two 1GB  Ethernet ports and broadband setup is a piece of cake.

NOW TV and broadband

NOW TV is the entertainment service that allows you to stream TV channels and on demand content through your broadband to any of your smart devices such as TV, games consoles, tablets, phones, etc.

If your household intends to use a NOW TV subscription and there are multiple people in the house with devices you will need to bear in mind the bandwidth that you would need to allow all the devices to stream HD content with no buffering or degraded service.

A great aspect of the NOW Broadband service is that it is truly unlimited usage so you would not need to worry about going over your allotted data whilst streaming content so the main consideration would be to ensure that you choose a broadband package that is fast enough for yours and the other people in the households’ multimedia needs. Realistically that would mean opting for either the NOW Fab Fibre or the NOW Super Fibre package.

Click back to the best NOW broadband deals

Types of NOW membership

NOW TV split the TV channel and on demand viewing into four membership packages covering entertainment, movies, sports and kids TV. You can pick and choose which membership vouchers to opt for and continue to renew them each month or stop and start with new one depending on what you want to watch. There are even day vouchers for sports should there be football match you want to want but don’t want to subscribe for the full month.

Taking out NOW TV membership is a great low value and flexible way to get premium Sky TV channels as opposed to paying regular subscription to Sky over a long contract duration.

The NOW TV passes that are currently available include:

Kids Pass

There are 6 kids channels that can be streamed which include:

Nickelodeon
Nick Jr
Nicktoons
Cartoon Network
Boomerang
Cartoonito

There are also a wide range of kids TV box sets including all the favourites.

NOW broadband FAQs

Is NOW broadband owned by Sky?

NOW broadband is owned and operated by Sky. Both Sky and NOW use the same infrastructure for their broadband and NOW offer many of the same channels that are available on Sky TV on their NOW membership passes.

So NOW broadband is the same as Sky broadband?

Yes, both NOW broadband and Sky broadband share the same networks so there is no difference between the two when it comes to broadband network infrastructure.

Why is NOW broadband cheaper than Sky broadband?

Essentially NOW broadband is aimed at customers that can’t get access to Sky TV within their homes. For example, there may not be the option to have a satellite dish erected onto the house, the user may be renting a house, may be students or have a limited budget. Therefore, broadband from NOW would be a very good, flexible and low cost option.

Do I need a phone line to get NOW broadband?

Yes, you will need an active telephone line that is connected to the BT Openreach network. NOW will be able to switch your broadband from your existing provider remotely.

Does NOW broadband represent a good deal?

NOW broadband offers low cost fibre broadband with various TV membership packages with flexible short contract terms.

Should I choose NOW Fab Fibre or NOW Super fibre broadband?

Both NOW Fab and NOW Super fibre are fast fibre options running at average speeds of 36 Mbps and 63 Mbps respectively. If you have multiple people in your household that will be using broadband at the same time it would be worth opting for the faster Super fibre option. Particularly considering the price is often the same as the Fab fibre option (or at worst around £2 more per month when it is not on offer).

How much is NOW broadband after 12 months?

You will find that the price of your NOW broadband may well increase in price after the first 12 months. Check the terms and conditions of the services when you first sign up to see if and what the price will increase to after 12 months of service.

How can I cancel NOW broadband?

If you want to cancel your NOW broadband without moving to another provider you would simply need to contact NOW by phone or live chat and inform them that you want to cancel.

If I cancel NOW broadband will I have to pay a cancellation fee?

If you chose the “no contract” option when you took out NOW broadband and paid a one-off fee when signing up there is no early cancellation fee. If you took out a minimum 12 month contract and choose to cancel before the end of the 12 months then an early termination fee will likely need to be paid. This will depend on how much of the contact has already been paid, how much is left to pay and which NOW broadband package you are on because the termination fees differ based on which broadband plan you are receiving (options being Brilliant, Fab or Super broadband).

Will I get compensation if my NOW broadband goes down?

You will be eligible for compensation if your broadband goes down in certain circumstances. For example, if there is a total loss of service for more than 2 working days, or an engineer misses an appointment, or your new NOW broadband doesn’t go live on the date confirmed by NOW in writing. Contact NOW for more details.

NOW broadband positives and negatives

Positive reasons to buy NOW broadband

• NOW Broadband are one of the few broadband providers to offer a no minimum contract that can be cancelled at any time. This makes NOW TV an excellent student broadband option or for those with short term rental agreements.
• NOW TV is a home entertainment offering owned by Sky (who are now one of the biggest and most established ISP’s in the UK.
• NOW Broadband do not perform a traditional credit check on broadband applicants which makes NOW Broadband a great option for young people whose credit profile may not have built up, for bad credit broadband applicants or for students from foreign countries.
• There are three main broadband choices offering a maximum speed of 8.5Mb per second through to a maximum 80Mb per second.
• All NOW Broadband packages come with unlimited usage.
• There is no broadband traffic management in place which means you shouldn’t see traffic slow down or prioritised depending on time or activity.
• Bundling the excellent NOW TV flexible packages with NOW Broadband allows for a great value TV streaming experience with the flexibility of adding or removing channels on a monthly basis.
• NOW TV offers you the chance to stream TV content on up to 4 different devices such as TV’s, games consoles, tablets or mobile phones.
• If you currently have broadband through another provider such as EE, Plusnet, BT or TalkTalk, NOW Broadband provide an easy broadband switch service whereby they do all the work involved in switching broadband provider on your behalf.
• NOW Broadband Buddy is offered free to all broadband subscribers and offers control over which websites can be viewed and when on all devices connected to the broadband network. It helps to provide protection against phishing and security against websites containing malware which could infect your device/s with viruses.
• All broadband subscribers receive a NOW Broadband hub free of charge and if a TV package is chosen a free NOW TV Hub will also be provided.

Potential negatives with using NOW broadband

• A phone line from NOW Broadband also needs to be taken in conjunction with the broadband (some providers allow the phone line to be from a separate provider).
• The NOW Broadband no contract option is more expensive than the 12 month option.
• NOW TV offers predominantly an online technical support service.
• There are connection fees for new accounts, but check the NOW Broadband site regularly because there are often deals to be had that cut the connection fee price.

NOW broadband rating

By Michael Forrester – 4.5 out of 5.