How to get superfast broadband

View some frequently asked questions about how to get superfast broadband.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)​

We expect that around three quarters (over 282,000 premises) will secure access to superfast broadband via private sector commercial plans. We also expect around 80% of premises (around 290,000 premises) to eventually benefit from gigabit capable broadband via the commercial market over this decade. A strong market is good news and Superfast Northamptonshire continues to promote North and West Northamptonshire to telecoms providers more widely as a great place to invest. There are a range of commercial providers with existing or planned fibre networks in Northamptonshire which are enabling access to superfast and gigabit broadband services. These include Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre, Gigaclear and OFNL.

Please visit our Telecoms Providers page for more details. Internet Service Providers use these networks to provide broadband services to their customers.

If you are a commercial provider of broadband networks with investment plans in the county, or wish to know more about Northamptonshire as a potential opportunity but are not listed above, please contact the Superfast Northamptonshire project team.
In addition to network providers delivering access to superfast or gigabit broadband, other telecoms providers offer services which can deliver faster broadband for example, wireless based services or satellite services.

In addition to network providers delivering access to superfast broadband, other telecoms providers offer services which can deliver faster broadband for example, wireless based services or satellite services. Please view our satellite demonstrator video for more information.

If superfast broadband is already in your area, you can find out more information about which internet suppliers are providing services and what their respective offers and costs are by using one or more of the links in the Useful Links to the right hand side of this page.

Once you've decided what looks best for you, you simply contact the supplier to request a service. Please note that if you already have a broadband contract with a supplier and are looking to switch to a different supplier, there may be a cancellation fee payable if the minimum term of your existing contract has not yet passed.

You can also find advice on the Get Connected page.

The When and Where map on the project website will give you an indication of broadband availability. Plans shown may be subject to change.

If your property is in our plans with Gigaclear you can find out more about timescales on the Roll Out Schedule coming soon section. 

Alternatively, use the Useful links to the right of the page to contact telecoms providers directly to find out more about planned commercial upgrades.

You can check speed availability yourself by using the Useful Links on the Get connected page. There are a number of address checkers to find out the speeds currently available to your premise over the existing network depending on which telecoms provider has built and operates the network. This includes Openreach, Virgin Media and Gigaclear for example. 

Please note this may be different from running an online speed test which will be capped depending on what level of service you have bought. If you want to check the speed performance of your current service, there are any number of broadband speed checkers available on line (simply Google!).

Please note that if superfast fibre broadband services are available to you but you have not yet purchased an upgrade, any speed checker will only report the line speed of your current service, not the potential speed you could access if you choose to upgrade. If you are performing a speed test on a device which is served from your home modem over wifi, this will also affect speeds recorded.

No. To get superfast broadband you will need to contact your existing internet service provider or another provider of your choice and ask about taking up a service upgrade. There may be a range of service options or packages to choose from.  An upgrade to faster broadband does not happen automatically. Once your order is confirmed with an internet provider, an engineer will need to visit your home or business to install the necessary equipment.

Please go to the Get Connected page for more information.

If you choose not to upgrade to superfast fibre broadband, you will still be able to continue using your existing broadband service as normal which will continue to be provided over the existing copper network.

​Gigaclear is delivering part of Stage 3 of the Superfast Northamptonshire project and also has significant existing and planned commercial coverage in rural parts of the county. To find out if your property is in plans or to register an interest visit the Gigaclear website and use the postcode checker. 

​The BT Broadband Availability Checker will tell you if superfast broadband services are available via your landline.

Using the BT Broadband Availability Checker 

  • Enter your landline number (without any spaces) into the Telephone field and click 'Submit'. This will generate a table of results if you have a BT landline.
  • If you get a message saying there is no data available for your number, you will need to click on the 'Address Checker' link. Then click 'Proceed'.
  • Enter your postcode in the Postcode field and click 'Submit'.  Select your address from the list and click 'Submit' again to get your results.

Making sense of my BT Broadband Availability results

  • You only need to focus on the top rows of the results table to quickly find out whether you can get superfast broadband at your property. Information will be displayed in one of the following product categories: VDSL, WBC FTTP and/or ADSL Products.

VDSL Products

  • If 'VDSL' is stated under 'Featured Products', this means that the cabinet your landline is connected to has been upgraded via FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) technology and you should be able to order an upgraded fibre broadband service.

Image showing an example of VDSL speeds from Openreach Broadband Availability Checker

The example above shows that fibre broadband is now available and that in principle, your line will support download speeds of between 80 and 70.4 megabits per second (Mbps) on a 'Clean' line or between 80 and 49Mbps on an 'Impacted' line.  These speeds are estimates but will give you a good indication of the level of service which should be available to buy from an internet service provider.

"Clean" relates to a line which is free from any wiring issues (i.e. in good condition) and "Impacted" relates to a line which may have wiring problems (e.g. poor extension wiring).

The information under the heading ADSL Products shows the speeds the resident was experiencing before the upgrade (up to 17Mbps) and will continue to experience until they order the new fibre service.

WBC FTTP Products

If 'WBC FTTP' is stated under 'Featured Products', this means that the landline to your property has been upgraded via Fibre to the Premise technology and that you can now order a superfast broadband service.

Image showing an example of WBC products using BT Broadband Availability Checker