Living in Wales and wondering what your broadband options are? Our page goes through the top providers in the country, the types of broadband packages you can get, and how to find a good deal.
Broadband deals in Wales
Due to its complicated topography and population distribution, the cost of rolling out network coverage to Wales is much higher than the UK average. As a result, Wales has historically experienced lower-than-average broadband availability.
Nevertheless, there’s been real progress over the past few years. The vast majority of Welsh homes are connected to superfast fibre broadband, while ultrafast full fibre coverage continues to rapidly expand its reach across the country.
In fact, a substantial 40% of Welsh homes now have access to full fibre broadband, bringing Wales in line with the rest of the UK.
All this is to say, if you’re living in Wales, you should have a decent selection of broadband options to choose from.
Wales internet providers
Plenty of household-name providers operate in Wales, including:
Which is the best internet provider in Wales?
It’s hard to say which internet provider is the best in Wales, as that largely depends on what you’re looking for in a broadband deal, as well as what you can get in your area.
As with the rest of the UK, BT’s Openreach network has the most widespread coverage across Wales. So, you’ll be able to get fibre broadband with any provider that uses Openreach’s infrastructure. This includes most household names, such as Sky, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Vodafone, NOW, and – of course – BT.
If you can get it, Virgin Media offers the fastest broadband in the country, with speeds reaching up to a dizzying 1,130Mbps.
What types of broadband can I get in Wales?
You can get several types of broadband in Wales, although your options depend on where you live.
All homes should be able to get standard ADSL broadband, which is the most common and basic type of broadband connection. It uses your copper phone wires to deliver internet to your home, with speeds averaging around 10-11Mbps.
If you can get fibre optic broadband, we’d recommend that instead. It’s much faster and more reliable than ADSL, as it uses fibre optic cables to deliver your home internet connection. Luckily, most areas in Wales 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 optic 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
FTTC broadband is a lot more common than FTTP. If you live in an urban area in Wales, you’ll have much better chance of getting FTTP, though full fibre is being rolled out across the rest of the country. 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.
Getting fibre broadband in Wales?
In general, most homes in Wales will have access to fibre optic broadband.
Superfast fibre broadband (with average speeds of 36-68Mbps) is widely available, with 95% of Welsh homes able to get it.
Meanwhile, ultrafast coverage continues to steadily grow. A 2022 Ofcom report found that 40% of Welsh households are now connected to full fibre – so, if you happen to live in an area that’s connected, you’ll be able to enjoy some of the top speeds on the market.
How to compare deals for my postcode
Wondering what broadband deals are available in your area? You can use our quick and easy postcode checker. Just enter your postcode, and you’ll be able to see all the providers and deals you can get at your address.
What broadband speed can I expect in Wales?
Again, that depends on where you live in Wales, 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.
