Community Fibre Broadband Review

Community Fibre is different from many UK broadband providers because it runs its own full fibre network (FTTP). Instead of using copper wiring from the street cabinet, it brings fibre cables directly into your home.

The result is a consistent, low-latency connection with reliable speeds and fewer performance drops than part-fibre or cable networks

Customers also get a 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee. If you’re not satisfied, you can cancel within the first 60 days without a penalty. For improved in-home coverage, the Premium WiFi Guarantee promises at least 50 Mbps in every room, or they’ll help resolve it.

Pros

• Delivers symmetrical download and upload speeds across all packages.
• Wi-Fi 6 router included on all plans, with mesh Wi-Fi on faster tiers.
• Affordable pricing with no mid-contract price rises.
• Includes 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
• Excellent satisfaction ratings.
• Free setup.
• Provides reliable, ultrafast broadband connection.

Cons

• Coverage is limited to London and parts of the South East.
• 3Gbps and 5Gbps plans not available across the full network.
• VoIP-only phone option — traditional landlines not supported.

Community Fibre Broadband Deals

Community Fibre offers packages which come with average download speed of 75Mb, 150Mb, 300Mb, 600Mb, 920Mb, and 5000Mb.

The 920Mb and 5Gbps plans are suitable for households or users with extreme bandwidth requirements.

Customers can choose from 12-month, 18-month, or 24-month contract terms depending on the package. Longer-term deals offer lower monthly rates. All plans include free installation and router.

Customers also benefit from a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If they cancel within that window, no early termination fees apply.

Out-of-contract pricing is capped at £4 above the introductory rate. This is significantly lower than the price rises seen with many national providers. Annual increases for new customers are fixed at £2 per month from April 2026. Mid-contract price rises are not applied until this date.

Compared to BT or Virgin Media, Community Fibre’s fastest plans cost less. Even the gigabit plan is more affordable and reasonably priced. Community Fibre keeps costs down by managing its own network and selling broadband-only plans, without packaging in landlines or pay TV.

Package	Speed	Price
Essential	35 Mbps	£12.50/month
Full Fibre 150	150 Mbps	£19/month
Full Fibre 300	350 Mbps	£21/month
Full Fibre 500	550 Mbps	£29/month
Full Fibre 1 Gbps	920 Mbps	£32/month
Full Fibre 5 Gbps	5,000 Mbps	£59/month

Wi-Fi Router

Community Fibre offers you a router based on the speed of your broadband plan. If you’re on the 75Mb package, you’ll get a Linksys Wi-Fi 5 dual-band router. This is fine for small homes where only a few devices are connected at once.

If you’re on a plan between 100Mb and 500Mb, Community Fibre installs the Linksys MX20. This is a Wi-Fi 6 router that can handle more devices and gives you stronger, more reliable speeds across your home.

For plans above 500Mb and up to 2.5Gbps, you’ll get the Linksys MX57. This model supports higher bandwidth and is better suited for homes with lots of users or heavier online activity like streaming, gaming or file sharing.

If you take the top-end 5Gbps Premium plan, you’ll get a different router altogether: the Technicolor (Vantiva) FGA5330. This is a high-spec Wi-Fi 6 router built to handle very fast speeds across both wired and wireless connections.

On the faster plans, Community Fibre also offers Linksys Intelligent Mesh, which lets you add mesh units to improve Wi-Fi coverage across the house. This helps if you have a large or multi-floor home where signal dropouts are common.

If you choose the Premium WiFi add-on, Community Fibre promises minimum wireless speeds of 50Mb in 12 rooms over three floors, including five bedrooms. If they can’t meet this after setup, they’ll credit you with three months of your subscription.

Linksys App

The Linksys app is available on iOS and Android and is used to configure and manage the home network. It enables users to test speeds, set parental controls, prioritise devices, and enable guest access. The interface is modern and functional, offering control over core features without requiring technical expertise.

Social Tariff

Community Fibre offers one of the UK’s most accessible social broadband tariffs. The Essential plan delivers 35Mb symmetrical speeds for just £12.50 per month. Eligibility is not restricted to benefit claimants—any household in a Community Fibre-enabled area can take the plan. It includes unlimited usage, the same Wi-Fi 5 router, and access to support channels as standard plans.

This tariff was increased from 20Mb to 35Mb in 2023 in response to Ofcom guidance on the minimum speed required for modern households. The Essential plan has no setup fee and no in-contract price increases.

TV and Phone Add-ons

Customers can add a digital voice line for an additional £10 per month. This includes unlimited UK calls to landlines and mobiles. Numbers can be ported, and the service uses VoIP rather than copper-based PSTN, in line with the UK’s move to digital-only phone services.

TV can also be added via Netgem 4K. This add-on includes 100+ channels and access to streaming apps. It costs £10 per month and uses a compact plug-and-play set-top box. While limited compared to Sky or Virgin Media, it serves as a cost-effective alternative for customers seeking basic live and on-demand content.

Performance

Speed tests consistently place Community Fibre at the top of the broadband rankings, thanks to its full-fibre infrastructure. While many providers advertise “fibre” but still use copper in parts of the network, Community Fibre’s direct-to-home fibre connection ensures minimal latency, no congestion issues, and ultra-fast upload speeds.

• 1 Gbps is 13x faster than the UK average download speed
• 3 Gbps is 43x faster than the national average
• Upload speed is same as download speed (symmetrical), unlike most UK ISPs.

These speeds are particularly beneficial for gaming, 4K/8K streaming, cloud storage, and video conferencing, where a fast upload connection is just as important as fast downloads.

However, to achieve the full 3 Gbps speeds, you’ll need a WiFi 6 router and a multi-gigabit-capable device connected via Ethernet. On WiFi, speeds typically max out at 800 Mbps, which is still significantly faster than most standard broadband connections.

A key benefit is symmetrical speeds—upload speeds match download speeds. This is ideal for video calls, file sharing, and cloud backups.

The provider also uses AI-driven network monitoring through its partnership with Lifemote. This detects faults before customers experience issues, contributing to a low volume of complaints and high satisfaction scores. Fault resolution is managed internally, avoiding third-party engineer delays.

For larger homes, Community Fibre offers Premium Broadband WiFi Guarantee , which includes:

• Mesh technology for extended coverage
• Guaranteed 50 Mbps WiFi in every room
• WiFi 6 routers for better speed and stability

Premium WiFi feature provides up to three mesh units and a £100 credit if the guarantee is not met.

Customer Service

Community Fibre is rated Excellent on Trustpilot, with over 63,000 5-star reviews praising its speed, reliability, affordability, and excellent service.

However, no provider is without faults. Some customers have reported customer service delays and occasional connectivity issues in certain areas. A few tech-savvy users on forums like Reddit have raised concerns about latency issues on lower-tier plans due to CG-NAT (Carrier-Grade NAT), which may affect gamers or users needing a static IP.

Despite this, the overall feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with most users citing significant improvements over their previous providers.

Community Fibre offers customer support on the phone, Twitter and Facebook. You can contact them on 0800 082 0770.

In addition, the help section on its website offers lots of information about issues related to broadband. You can also send messages online regarding your issues.

Installation

Community Fibre installs full fibre connections directly into each property using either overhead lines or underground ducts. Installations are carried out by in-house engineers and typically take up to two hours for standard residential setups. The process includes bringing the fibre line from the street into the home, terminating it at a fixed wall socket, and connecting it to the supplied Linksys Wi-Fi 6 router.

Entry point locations are agreed with the customer during installation, and the router is positioned near the fibre socket. Engineers carry out basic signal testing to confirm throughput and Wi-Fi range. Customers ordering mesh Wi-Fi can request up to two additional nodes, which are installed and optimised during the same visit for maximum coverage.

Availability

Community Fibre currently serves over 1.3 million premises in London and surrounding areas. It is present in 31 of the 32 London boroughs, with only Havering yet to be added. It has also started limited deployments in Surrey and West Sussex through Box Broadband. While its network remains regional, overlap with providers like Hyperoptic, Virgin Media, and Openreach is common in London, giving customers a competitive choice.

Its acquisition of Box Broadband extends limited availability into Surrey and West Sussex. While there are no plans for national expansion, further growth within the capital remains ongoing.

The company is now focused on consolidating its footprint and improving service delivery rather than expanding nationally. For those within coverage, availability can be checked using a postcode search.

Community Fibre vs BT

• BT offers both FTTC and FTTP connections, depending on location, with most homes still on hybrid part-fibre lines.
• Community Fibre delivers full FTTP as standard, with symmetrical speeds and no copper in the last mile.
• BT’s FTTP plans often come with asymmetric speeds and standard router hardware unless upgraded.
• In contrast, Community Fibre includes a Wi-Fi 6 router on all plans and offers optional mesh Wi-Fi on higher tiers.
• BT’s national scale and bundled services give it reach, but where Community Fibre is available, it generally offers faster upstream speeds, simpler pricing, and lower latency.

Community Fibre vs Virgin Media

• Community Fibre uses a true FTTP (fibre to the premises) network, delivering symmetrical speeds and low-latency connections across all packages.
• Virgin Media relies on a DOCSIS 3.1 cable network, which supports high downstream throughput but limited upstream capacity.
• Peak-time slowdowns and inconsistent upload performance are more common on Virgin’s hybrid infrastructure.
• Community Fibre includes Wi-Fi 6 as standard, while Virgin offers Hub 3 or Hub 5 depending on tier.
• Virgin has broader coverage nationally, but in London postcodes where both are available, Community Fibre typically delivers more stable upload speeds, lower latency, and better value for bandwidth.

Community Fibre vs Hyperoptic

• Both providers deliver full fibre broadband using dedicated FTTP networks and offer symmetrical speeds.
• Hyperoptic focuses on MDUs (multi-dwelling units) like flats and apartment blocks, while Community Fibre has expanded into both flats and individual homes, including street-level premises.
• Hyperoptic caps its top speed at 1Gbps, whereas Community Fibre offers up to 3Gbps and 5Gbps in select areas.
• Router hardware is comparable, with both including Wi-Fi 6 on faster plans.
• In areas where both are available, Community Fibre typically offers a wide range of options and support for whole-home mesh systems, while Hyperoptic is more limited in rollout scope and hardware flexibility.

Community Fibre vs Sky

• Sky Broadband primarily uses the Openreach network, offering both FTTC and FTTP connections depending on location. Community Fibre delivers full fibre (FTTP) as standard across its entire network.
• While Sky’s fastest plans now include ultrafast and gigabit speeds in FTTP areas, most customers still get access to part-copper lines with asymmetric speeds. Community Fibre offers symmetrical upload and download speeds across all tiers.
• Sky’s routers (Sky Hub and Sky Max Hub) vary by plan, with Wi-Fi 6 available only on premium packages. Community Fibre includes a Wi-Fi 6 router on every plan, with mesh Wi-Fi available for higher tiers.
• Sky also focuses on bundled services—TV, landline, and mobile—whereas Community Fibre is broadband-only.
• In terms of performance and value, Community Fibre offers faster upload speeds, lower latency, and low-cost deals where available.

Community Fibre vs Vodafone

• Vodafone delivers full fibre broadband using both Openreach and CityFibre networks, with coverage and performance varying by location.
• Community Fibre runs its own independent FTTP infrastructure, available in parts of London and the South East.
• On Openreach, Vodafone’s upload speeds are capped and asymmetric; on CityFibre, symmetrical speeds are available on select plans. Community Fibre offers symmetrical speeds with all plans.
• Vodafone includes the Ultra Hub and mesh boosters on Pro 3 plans, but standard packages come with older hardware. Community Fibre includes a Wi-Fi 6 router on all plans, with optional mesh add-ons and no contract upgrades needed to access them.
• Vodafone offers better national coverage and mobile-broadband bundling, while Community Fibre focuses on broadband only plans, performance, symmetrical uploads, and low-latency.

Further Reading