How we assess broadband

The best broadband companies offer a great service at a fair price. They provide a fast, reliable connection and are on hand to help in the rare instances when something goes wrong.

For such an essential service, this is exactly what you should expect. But we know that far too many companies still don't deliver this – and all too often it's the biggest and best-known that are the worst offenders.

How does Which? rate and review broadband providers?

Don't get stuck with poor broadband – use our guide to the best broadband providers to find out which companies impressed in our latest customer satisfaction survey.

To find out which broadband companies you can rely on, we ask the people who know best: their customers.

Every year, we survey thousands of broadband, home phone and TV customers to learn more about the service that they receive, and use the information to create our broadband deal reviews.

We ask broadband customers everything – from how much they spend each month to the type of broadband package they have. We also get them to rate the key components of their broadband service, such as the speed they receive, the reliability of their connection, the technical support their provider offers and the value for money they receive. And we find out about the frustrations they face – like incorrect bills, outages and dropouts, or long waits to speak to customer service advisers.

Our customer scores and brand scores

We analyse the mass of customer feedback we receive to create ratings that enable us to compare each provider's performance. And we award each broadband provider a Which? customer score – based on each customer's overall satisfaction with the provider and the likelihood that they would recommend it. 

We then use this score to create a league table ranking all the providers from best to worst – and to compare individual deals from providers in our broadband provider reviews.

What are recommended providers?

We award the best broadband companies our Which? Recommended Provider logo. These firms are the cream of the crop, and the accolade is given only to broadband companies that achieve a customer score of 70% or above. It's a tough standard, and in our latest survey, only four providers achieved a score that high.

But that's not all. We expect more than top scores and reasonable prices from Which? Recommended Providers. Now, they must be signed up to Ofcom’s Codes of Practice as well as its automatic compensation scheme. 

The two are designed to ensure a fairer broadband market – the codes require providers to give customers clear indications of the speed they can expect and a minimum speed that’s guaranteed. Automatic compensation ensures those who experience poor service get money back when things go wrong – without having to chase it.

Both exist, in part, thanks to campaigning by Which? – but they are also voluntary. We'll only endorse providers if they've committed to both schemes.

What are Great Value broadband providers?

Great Value broadband providers are those that offer broadband deals at a decent speed for a price that's cheaper than the market average, while also maintaining customer satisfaction.

Eligible providers must also have a strong customer score - although we will consider those that aren't quite good enough to be Which? Recommended Providers.

We also conduct a rigorous pricing analysis to look at the partial and full fibre deals on offer, at the speeds required by the majority of broadband customers. We don't only look at the headline price - we also check upfront and setup costs and factor in both introductory offers and price rises to check whether deals that might look attractive actually end up costing over the odds.

Broadband package information

The customer scores and performance ratings that we set are judged on a provider level.

For help with finding the best deal for you, head to our broadband comparison service where we also provide information on each provider's individual packages. You can compare a range of deals, narrowing them down to those available where you live (by providing your postcode), so you can compare them based on your needs. You can also filter the results – for example, selecting fibre packages with unlimited data allowances – to easily find the best connection for you.

We also regularly round up the best broadband deals on the market, helping you to cut your costs.