Gigaclear broadband review 2025

Is Gigaclear any good in 2025?

Super speedy and stable internet is usually hard to come by in rural regions, so that’s where Gigaclear steps up to the challenge.

Being a rural broadband specialist, it’s focused on providing fast connections in those typically hard-to-reach areas – and all for a very competitive price.

Although its network continues to expand, whether you can get it varies region by region. At the time of writing, it mainly covers villages and rural areas down south.

If you do happen to live rurally but it’s not available to you just yet, your local community needs to show enough interest and demand for Gigaclear to consider serving your area. This is because it’ll need to work with local stakeholders to plan, develop and build a new network.

And of course, if you’re an urban dweller, you’ll need to look elsewhere for full fibre broadband.

All contracts are 18 months long – nothing more, nothing less. This might suit you fine, although some might wish for the flexibility to choose between shorter-term and longer-term contracts.

There aren’t any fancy extras or rewards for customers, like you’d get with some of the big providers. But that’s to be expected with the more budget-friendly options.

Gigaclear broadband review: Packages and cost

At the time of writing, Gigaclear offers four broadband packages:

• Superfast 200 – download speeds of 200Mbps

• Ultrafast 300 – download speeds of 300Mbps

• Ultrafast 600 – download speeds of 600Mbps

• Hyperfast 900 – download speeds of 830Mbps

Prices start from £17 per month, rising to £49 for the fastest plan – plus, Gigaclear. For ultrafast broadband at these speeds, it’s pretty good value for money. It’s miles faster than similarly priced packages from other providers, as well as being in line with or cheaper than other budget-friendly options like TalkTalk.

What’s more, there aren’t any one-off upfront or set-up costs.

Be aware though, the prices don’t stay the same after your 18-month contract is up. While it’s normal for providers to increase prices once a contract runs out, Gigaclear’s prices pretty much double – a significant jump in cost.

And although Gigaclear used to promise fixed price contracts, that's sadly no longer the case. Now, your contract may be subject to mid-contract price hikes in line with inflation. Still, this is largely the norm when it comes to broadband packages in general.

So, it’s definitely worth shopping around for cheaper deals with different providers once your 18-month contract has finished. Although, if you’re living in a rural area, it might be difficult to find one that’s as fast.

Gigaclear broadband review: Speed

This is perhaps the highlight of the review, as Gigaclear’s main draw is its amazingly fast speeds. If you’re living rurally, you’d be hard pressed to find a faster provider in your area.

It uses a full fibre connection – also called fibre-to-the-premises, or FTTP – to deliver lightning-fast speeds to households.

Ranging from 200Mbps to 830Mbps, Gigaclear’s packages are aimed at those with a need for speed. Whether you’re in a large household, use multiple devices, work from home, or regularly download or stream content, these speeds have got you covered.

Even better, Gigaclear’s broadband speeds are symmetrical – meaning that upload and download speeds are the same, so you can multitask seamlessly.

On the flip side, if you’re in a smaller household, or you’re a light user (only using the internet for tasks such as sending emails or casually surfing the web), you may be better off looking for smaller, cheaper packages from other providers.

Gigaclear broadband review: Data limits, fair usage and traffic management

All three packages come with unlimited usage as standard. Rest assured that you can upload and download as much as you want, without having your internet slowed down or restricted.

Gigaclear broadband review: Router

Most of the packages come with the Linksys Dual-band router, while the Hyperfast 900 plan gets you the Linksys Tri-band router.

Without getting too technical, both have some pretty impressive specs, such as tri-band performance and Intelligent Mesh technology. What’s more, you can download the Linksys app to manage your home Wi-Fi network from your phone or tablet.

For an extra charge, you can choose to add additional Wi-Fi nodes to cover a larger home (some of the faster plans include an extra node for free). With these, you can set up Smart Wi-Fi and increase coverage in your home, which is great for areas where your signal is patchy.

Gigaclear broadband review: Installation and setup

However, setting up your home Wi-Fi isn’t just a simple case of being able to plug in your router and go. Unlike most providers, who use your phone landline to deliver broadband, Gigaclear needs to physically install a cable to your house first.

It’ll initially send a surveyor to your house, who will look at your property and the potential route to connect your house to the nearest point of termination.

Next, to install the necessary cable and equipment, it needs to dig a trench to your house, as well as drill a hole in the wall to connect the cable to the equipment.

While it sounds like a major renovation, you shouldn’t have to worry too much – it’s most likely that your home will look exactly the same as it did before. Also, you’ll be relieved to hear that there are no one-off setup costs, despite all the effort that goes into installation.

Still, it’s definitely more work and time than most other providers, and you might decide that you don’t want to deal with the hassle.

Gigaclear broadband review: TV

You can add Sky Stream with to your plan. This gets you Sky Entertainment channels, including top original shows on Sky Atlantic, as well as a Netflix subscription.

You don't need a TV dish installed, as you can stream to any TV over Wi-Fi. It's a handy way of accessing all your favourite streaming services, channels and apps in one place.

Gigaclear broadband review: Home phone

Gigaclear doesn't use classic landlines to deliver broadband in your home, but does offer home phone in the form of VoIP (voice over IP) using your broadband line. You have the choice between:

• Evenings and Weekends – Unlimited calls to UK landlines at evenings and weekends

• Evenings and Weekends PLUS – The same as above, including mobile numbers too

• Anytime PLUS – Unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines and mobiles

It's a decent enough selection, and they're priced reasonably. At the time of writing, a basic home phone line is only £3 per month, making it one of the cheapest on the market.

Because it's VoIP, your line will be crystal clear and high quality. The only downside is that if your internet goes down, you won't be able to make calls - even to emergency services.

Gigaclear broadband review: Extras

Unlike the major providers, Gigaclear doesn’t offer any extras or rewards to sweeten the deal. Its main appeal to customers is its ultrafast speeds at affordable prices.

Gigaclear broadband review: Reliability and customer service

If you need help or support, you can get in touch with them through their helpline. It’s open from 9am-7:30pm Monday to Friday, and 10am-4pm on Saturday.

There’s also an email address, should you prefer asking in writing.

Gigaclear is still a relatively small provider, so its customer service record hasn’t been rated by Ofcom yet.

Pros and Cons of choosing Gigaclear broadband

Pros

• One of the fastest and most reliable broadband connections available if you live rurally

• Competitive prices for the speeds you’ll get (at least for the initial 18-month contract, anyway)

• No one-off set-up costs

• High-tech router and Wi-Fi node

Cons

• Very limited availability – it’s focused on rural regions, and even then, you’ll need to check if you can get it in your area

• Complicated to install and set up in your home

• Big price hike after your 18-month contract is up

• No extras or rewards for customers

How does Gigaclear compare against other providers?

Gigaclear vs Shell Energy

Both providers focus on competitively priced, 18-month contracts with no frills or fuss. However, while Gigaclear offers three lightning-fast, full fibre options, there’s more choice with Shell Energy, which has a much greater range of broadband speeds to suit different needs.

Gigaclear vs TalkTalk

Both are decent choices if you’re on a budget, although the latter does provide some add-ons, such as TV subscriptions and call packages. And while Gigaclear’s full fibre network is limited to those living in certain rural areas, TalkTalk’s network is expansive – its ADSL and standard broadband packages are widely available across the UK.

Gigaclear vs EE

EE broadband is fibre optic and broadly offers speeds and plans in line with Gigaclear, though the latter's entry-level plans are faster. On the other hand, EE does offer a few more extras, such as exclusive discounts if you're an EE Mobile customer. Plus, EE is much more widely available, as it uses the Openreach network to provide its services.