Living in (or moving to) Northern Ireland, and looking for a new broadband provider?
In this article, we’ve reviewed the 5 best broadband deals in NI in 2024.
We’ve also discussed how to find the right broadband plan for your specific needs when living in Northern Ireland.
Best broadband deals in Northern Ireland
Below, we’ve compared 5 of the best broadband deals available right now in Northern Ireland.
1. Three 5G Hub
The best value home broadband deal in Northern Ireland at the moment is actually this wireless internet plan from Three.
When you buy it, you’ll get a 5G router, bundled with an unlimited data SIM card.
To get started, you just insert the SIM card into the router, and once it connects to 5G, the router will create a WiFi hotspot you can get online with. Since there’s no cabling involved, you don’t need to wait around for an engineer visit, which is nice.
Using 5G in Belfast, as well as other urban and suburban areas, you can normally get download speeds of at least 300 Mbps, and we were able to get up to 700 Mbps using the 5G Hub when we tested it.
The best bit is though, this router costs less than most fibre broadband deals. If you paid the same monthly cost to a company like BT or Virgin Media, you’d probably only get a download speed of 100 Mbps or so.
Go to the Three website to see if you can get their 5G broadband service at your address.
And don’t worry if you’re afraid your signal might be a bit patchy compared to what the coverage checker suggests – you get a 30 day return policy with this router, meaning you can easily send it back if the speeds aren’t up to scratch.
Pros
- Low monthly costs.
- No technician visit required.
- Fast download speeds.
- 30 day money back guarantee.
Cons
- Only available in Three 5G areas, but most of Northern Ireland is covered.
2. BT Fibre 1
BT Broadband is available in almost all of Northern Ireland, and offers ultrafast download speeds of up to 900 Mbps in most places, especially in cities like Belfast.
They don’t offer the cheapest prices on the market, but when we tested BT’s Fibre 1 plan, we were impressed by how consistent it was, and how helpful their customer support is.
We had an issue where our order was accidentally cancelled after being placed, but BT’s UK-based phone support was very helpful in resolving this issue. We never had to spend much time on hold when calling them either, which was nice.
Since getting online, we’ve experienced consistent download and upload speeds, and our Wi-Fi signal has been good, even without using signal extenders in a four-bedroom house.
You have to commit to a 24 month contract when you join BT, which is quite a long time.
However, they offer a reward card for new customers, helping to offset the first month or so of the cost of their service. This helps to make their deals a bit better value for money, despite not having the lowest monthly costs on the market.
The other thing you get with BT that some other providers don’t offer is a “Stay Fast” guarantee, ensuring that your speeds don’t drop too much below the advertised average.
If your speeds aren’t as good as what you’re paying for, you’ll be able to get compensation, or leave the contract.
Pros
- Good customer support.
- Consistent speeds and Wi-Fi signal, in our experience.
- “Stay Fast” guarantee is quite helpful.
- Includes quite a substantial reward card.
Cons
- High monthly costs, although their customer support helps to make up for this.
3. Fibrus Full Fibre 150
Fibrus is a company that is building its own full fibre broadband network in Northern Ireland at the moment. Currently, they cover about 40% of the country.
This provider offers download speeds of up to 982 Mbps in most coverage areas, faster than what Openreach providers like BT offer. Plus, Fibrus offers even faster speeds of just under 2,000 Mbps at some addresses.
Despite offering such fast download speeds, with a 159 Mbps average speed on their slowest package, Fibrus is one of the cheapest broadband providers in Northern Ireland right now.
Fibrus is very price competitive because they’re currently trying to attract market share from the bigger providers. These prices won’t last forever, but they’re definitely worth taking advantage of at the moment.
You also get an Eero 6+ router included as a new customer, which is quite a high-tech bit of kit, and offers better Wi-Fi signal than most other providers’ routers.
The main difference you’ll find with Fibrus compared to the bigger providers is their lack of extras and add-ons. You can’t get cable TV for example, although there are some good landline add-ons available.
Although they don’t yet cover the entire country, if you just want fast, cheap broadband, it’s definitely worth seeing if Fibrus is available at your address.
Pros
- Fast download speeds.
- Very low monthly costs.
- Comes with a great Wi-Fi router.
Cons
- Only available in about 40% of NI.
4. Vodafone Pro II Broadband
Vodafone’s broadband deals are similar to BT’s in some ways. They both come with a 24 month contract, and offer the same choice of download speeds in NI (you can get up to 910 Mbps with Vodafone).
However, Vodafone Broadband has no upfront costs, and they have two different tiers of broadband package to choose from, no matter what download speed you need.
Their regular tariffs offer basic, simple broadband, but you can still get ultrafast fibre download speeds. These plans often offer some of the lowest monthly costs on the market in Northern Ireland, depending on the promotion Vodafone is currently running.
On the other hand, their Pro II Broadband plans include a range of extras such as a WiFi 6E router, 4G broadband backup device, and a Wi-Fi signal booster. These plans have quite high monthly costs, but offer really good Wi-Fi performance.
You can also choose to pay more for extras like an Apple TV 4K device, and anytime landline calls, if you buy a Pro II Broadband deal.
As long as you don’t mind committing to a 24 month contract, Vodafone is definitely worth looking at – no matter whether you want a cheap, simple broadband plan, or a more advanced package with a really good WiFi 6E router.
The only reason we rank BT higher is their customer service is a bit better than Vodafone’s in recent years, according to Ofcom data.
Pros
- No upfront fees.
- Basic plans are very price-competitive.
- Pro II plans offer a range of useful add-ons.
Cons
- Customer support could be a bit better.
5. Virgin Media M125
Similar to Fibrus, Virgin Media operates its own broadband infrastructure, offering faster download speeds than you can get with providers like BT.
Virgin’s fastest plan, Gig1, offers average download speeds of up to 1,130 Mbps. And currently, their network is available at about half of all households in NI.
Given the download speeds on offer, Virgin Media’s monthly costs are quite reasonable, although they’re not as cheap as Fibrus.
They’re also one of the best providers on the market if you want cable TV, or anytime landline calls. Alternatively, you can also choose to get broadband without paying line rental with Virgin Media, which is nice.
Apart from Virgin Media’s lack of coverage in NI compared to Great Britain, the other issue with this provider is their customer service. Their support team can be hard to reach, according to Ofcom, especially when you want to cancel, and when we tested their M200 plan, we weren’t able to get the download speeds we were paying for on a consistent basis.
However, these issues aren’t affecting most customers, and Virgin Media does offer the fastest broadband in most parts of Northern Ireland, which is why they’re still worth considering.
Pros
- Reasonable monthly costs.
- Great choice of cable TV add-ons.
- Fastest provider in NI in most areas.
Cons
- Customer service could be better.
What you need to know
In this part, we’ve explained some key things to consider when shopping for a new broadband provider in NI.
Which broadband providers are available in Northern Ireland?
The following broadband providers are available to buy from in Northern Ireland:
- Openreach providers such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, NOW Broadband, and Plusnet are available in almost the entire country.
- Virgin Media Broadband, which has a separate network to Openreach, is available in about half of Northern Ireland. Most of their coverage is centred around Belfast, Lisburn, Londonderry, and Newry.
- Fibrus, which is another independent full fibre network that specialises in providing gigabit internet in Northern Ireland, is available in about 40% of the country.
- YouFibre is available in certain districts of Belfast.
Most parts of Northern Ireland have quite a good range of options when it comes to choosing a broadband provider to buy from. However, in rural areas, you might only be able to get broadband from Openreach providers.
Which is the cheapest broadband provider in NI?
Three often offers the cheapest broadband deals in Northern Ireland. This is because since their plans use 5G, they’re not very technically complex compared to fibre broadband, making their service cheaper to provide.
Vodafone Broadband is normally also very price competitive on their more basic plans, if you don’t mind entering into a 24 month contract.
However, if you live somewhere that Fibrus Broadband is available, they may be the cheapest provider. They are often cheaper than NOW Broadband and Vodafone, even though they offer faster download speeds.
Which is the fastest broadband provider in NI?
Currently, Northern Ireland has the largest proportion of households covered by gigabit broadband in the UK, at just under 95%.
There are a huge range of providers that offer full fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband in NI. However, the fastest option will depend on where you live.
- Fibrus offers download speeds of up to just under 2,000 Mbps, although this is not available at all addresses that they service. Most households covered by Fibrus can get up to 982 Mbps.
- Virgin Media Broadband offers download speeds of up to 1,130 Mbps in areas with coverage.
- Openreach providers like BT offer download speeds of up to 900-910 Mbps in most places. However, Openreach is currently getting an upgrade in Northern Ireland, and speeds of up to 1.6 Gbps will be available in some areas soon (EE Broadband is currently advertising these speeds already).
There is no single fastest broadband provider in Northern Ireland. However, BT, Vodafone and Sky are the fastest providers in most locations, because Openreach full fibre broadband is more widely available than Fibrus or Virgin Media at the moment.
To find out what speed you can get where you live, use our broadband postcode coverage checker.
Broadband in rural Northern Ireland
While fibre broadband is widely available in Northern Ireland, including in the countryside, there are still some rural areas that don’t have good download speeds.
About 2% of the country cannot get superfast broadband speeds of at least 30 Mbps at the moment.
If you’re stuck with speeds of 30-60 Mbps or less, there are some alternative ways of getting online that you might like to consider:
- Mobile broadband routers like this one from Three can offer 50-500 Mbps, depending on the mobile network signal available at your address.
- Satellite broadband products like Starlink can be a good option in very remote locations, although they do involve a high upfront cost to get a satellite dish installed.
Apart from this, make sure to look for broadband coverage at your address from smaller, independent networks like Fibrus. You might be covered by one of these small providers (known as altnets) without realising it.
How to choose the right broadband plan for your needs
Apart from finding out which broadband providers service your address, there are a few other things you should consider when buying a broadband deal:
- What download speed do you need? While ultrafast broadband is widely available in NI, it might not be worth paying for, depending on how often you’re online. You can use this tool to get an idea of what download and upload speed your family needs.
- Do you want a basic broadband plan, or a deal with bonuses and benefits? Some broadband providers, like NOW Broadband, are a lot more basic than others. If you want extras such as TV channels, Wi-Fi signal boosters, and benefits for mobile customers, you might be better off choosing a more expensive broadband provider.
- How good is the provider’s customer service? It can be very helpful to be able to speak to a UK-based support team on the phone if you ever have any Wi-Fi issues, or problems with your download speed.
- How good is the Wi-Fi router the provider will supply? Does it have enough Ethernet ports for devices you want to plug into the router? And does it support WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E, giving you better signal and speeds?
- How long is the contract? Some broadband providers only offer 18 month or 24 month contracts, while others have 12 month agreements, or the option to buy on a rolling monthly basis. Long-term contracts are less flexible, but they normally come with a lower upfront fee, and they can allow you to lock in a low price for longer.
Conclusion
This is the end of our NI broadband buyer’s guide.
Are you still unsure which broadband provider to choose? Leave a comment below, and we’ll get back to you.
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About the author
Tom is the founder of Broadband Savvy. He has more than five years’ experience writing broadband tutorials, reviewing routers and internet service providers, and explaining broadband-related concepts. Tom is experienced as a writer, and also produces videos for the Broadband Savvy YouTube channel.
He currently specialises in writing content for Broadband Savvy designed to help people understand broadband jargon and terminology, increase their download and upload speeds, and improve their Wi-Fi connectivity. Tom also occasionally contributes to buyer’s guides and review articles on Broadband Savvy, utilising his knowledge of the broadband market in the UK.
When he’s not writing about broadband, you’ll find him walking his dog (Rex) or playing agar.io.
Very informative