Living in Glasgow and wondering what your broadband options are? Our page goes through the top providers in the city, the types of broadband packages you can get, and how to find a good deal.
Broadband deals in Glasgow
Being a major city, Glasgow has plenty of choice when it comes to broadband.
If you live in or around the area, you’ll be able to take your pick from a wide range of packages and providers. So, whether you’re looking for a simple, entry-level fibre deal or the speediest ultrafast broadband money can buy, there’ll be many options available.
Glasgow internet providers
Plenty of household-name providers operate in Glasgow, including:
Which is the best internet provider in Glasgow?
It’s difficult to definitively name the “best” internet provider in Glasgow, as that largely depends on what you’re looking for in a broadband deal, as well as what you can get at your address.
That said, the fastest broadband in Glasgow is supplied by Virgin Media. Whether you can get it depends on your postcode – it’s available on an address-by-address basis.
If you can’t get it just yet, don’t fret – you’ll likely be able to get fast and ultrafast fibre broadband with any provider that uses BT’s Openreach network. This includes the likes of Sky, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Vodafone, NOW, and – of course – BT.
What types of broadband can I get in Glasgow?
Glasgow is home to all types of broadband, from the most basic ADSL deals to the fastest full fibre connections.
Standard ADSL broadband is the most common and basic type of internet connection. It uses your copper phone wires to deliver internet to your home, with speeds averaging around 10-11Mbps.
In Glasgow, fibre optic broadband is just as widely available – and has a lot more going for it. It’s much faster and more reliable, as it uses fibre optic cables to deliver your home internet connection. Glaswegians will have access to some form of fibre broadband – there are two types:
- Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) – this uses fibre optic cables to connect the exchange to the nearest street cabinet to your home, before using copper phone wires between the cabinet and your home. Speeds are usually anywhere between 36-68Mpbs
- Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) – this uses fibre cables all the way between the exchange to your home, resulting in a quicker, more stable connection. Speeds usually range from 100Mbps all the way to 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) and above
In general, FTTC broadband is a lot more common than FTTP. Some parts of Glasgow are covered by Openreach’s full fibre network, while other areas are still waiting for it to reach them. For more on the differences between the two, visit our page on FTTP and FTTC broadband.
Finally, there’s also cable broadband, which uses both fibre optic and coaxial cables to provide ultrafast gigabit broadband. Currently, only Virgin Media operates a cable network – as a result, it’s able to provide the fastest broadband on the market, up to 1,130Mbps. As with FTTP broadband, whether you’re covered by Virgin Media’s network depends on your postcode.
Getting fibre broadband in Glasgow
Virtually all homes in Glasgow will have access to fibre optic broadband. However, the speeds you can get will depend on your address.
As mentioned above, some areas are covered by Openreach’s full fibre network, and/or Virgin Media’s gigabit cable broadband infrastructure. If you happen to live at such an address, you’ll be able to enjoy ultrafast speeds of anywhere between 100Mbps to more than 1,000Mbps.
However, not all areas are served by these ultrafast networks just yet. In which case, you may only be able to access superfast fibre broadband. Still, with speeds averaging 36-68Mbps, or a minimum of 132Mbps with Virgin Media, that’s more than enough for most households.
How to compare deals for my postcode
Wondering what broadband deals are available at your address? You can use our quick and easy postcode checker.
Just enter your postcode, and you’ll be able to see all the deals you can get at your address from providers we work with.
What broadband speed can I expect in Glasgow?
Again, that depends on where you live in/around Glasgow, as well as the speed that suits your needs best.
Wondering what speed you’re currently getting? Use our broadband speed test to see your home broadband speed – that way, you can check if you’re getting the advertised speeds, and decide whether you need a faster broadband package.
