NOW Broadband Fibre Speed Test Guide (2026)

NOW Broadband customers should receive average download speeds of 80Mbps (Full Fibre 75), 100Mbps (Full Fibre 100), or 300Mbps (Full Fibre 300) depending on their chosen plan, delivered over the Openreach full fibre network. NOW is powered by Sky and uses Sky's Openreach-based infrastructure. If your speeds are below expectations, a structured test and a few practical steps can identify the cause.

Expected NOW Broadband Speeds by Package

NOW Broadband is the budget broadband arm of Sky, and all its Full Fibre plans use the Openreach network under Sky's wholesale arrangement. Full Fibre 75 advertises 80Mbps average download with 16Mbps upload. Full Fibre 100 delivers around 100Mbps down and 18Mbps up. Full Fibre 300 provides approximately 300Mbps download and 40Mbps upload. These upload speeds are asymmetric — typical of Openreach FTTP plans — and lower than symmetrical providers such as Gigaclear or Hyperoptic. NOW's plans are competitively priced: Full Fibre 75 starts from £23 per month, Full Fibre 100 from £25 per month, and Full Fibre 300 from £30 per month on a 24-month contract, with prices potentially rising from April 2026. NOW is available to approximately 51% of UK homes, limited by Openreach's full fibre coverage footprint. On legacy NOW Broadband plans (FTTC), download speeds are lower and more variable — typically 10–35Mbps depending on distance from the street cabinet.

How to Run a Speed Test on NOW Broadband

For an accurate reading of your NOW Broadband connection, connect your computer directly to the NOW-supplied router using an ethernet cable. NOW's router is a rebranded Sky device, and Wi-Fi performance will vary significantly depending on your home layout, the number of walls between your device and the router, and the number of competing Wi-Fi networks in your building. Close all other browser tabs, streaming apps, and automatic cloud backups before running the test. Run it at least three times, averaging the results. Test at both peak hours (8–10pm) and off-peak times (mid-morning) to understand your connection's consistency — NOW Broadband has historically seen higher complaint volumes than premium providers, partly related to congestion and support responsiveness. If your results are consistently below your minimum guaranteed speed for more than a week, contact NOW Broadband's customer service to log a fault. Under Ofcom's Voluntary Code of Practice, if the issue persists for 30 days you are entitled to exit without penalty.

Understanding Your NOW Broadband Speed Test Results

Your NOW speed test will show four figures. Download speed (Mbps) is what most households notice first — it affects streaming quality (Netflix 4K requires around 25Mbps), web browsing, and downloads. Upload speed is more relevant for video calls, gaming, and uploading to cloud storage; NOW's upload speeds are modest by modern standards at 16–40Mbps across its range. Latency (ping in milliseconds) on NOW Full Fibre should be around 5–20ms to UK servers via ethernet — acceptable for most gaming and video calls. Jitter should be under 5ms on a full fibre connection. If your download or upload is below the minimum guaranteed speed you were given at sign-up, take screenshots or logs of your results over several days before contacting NOW. For context, all three of NOW's Full Fibre plans use the same Openreach infrastructure as premium providers BT and Plusnet, so line-level performance should be comparable at the same address.

How to Improve Your NOW Broadband Speeds

Place your NOW router in a central, elevated position away from thick walls, metal objects, microwaves, and baby monitors. All of these generate interference on the 2.4GHz wireless band. Where possible, move devices to the 5GHz band, which is faster and less congested in most homes. If your NOW router's Wi-Fi does not reach all areas of your home, a third-party mesh Wi-Fi system (such as TP-Link Deco or Amazon Eero) can be connected via ethernet to the NOW router to extend coverage. The most reliable performance improvement is always a direct ethernet cable connection between your device and the router — particularly for Smart TVs, games consoles, and desktop computers, where the ethernet port is often Gigabit-capable. Restart the router at least once a month to clear temporary network issues. If speeds remain below your guaranteed minimum after troubleshooting, NOW Broadband's support team can run a remote line test to check for Openreach faults.

Compare Broadband Deals at Your Address

If you are not getting the speed you expected from NOW Broadband, it may be worth comparing other providers on the same Openreach network. NOW Full Fibre packages start from £23 per month and include 24-month contracts. CompareFibre can show all available deals at your address so you can find the best value for your speed needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is NOW Broadband the same as Sky Broadband?

NOW Broadband is owned by Sky and uses the same Openreach full fibre infrastructure. However, NOW is Sky's budget brand with lower prices and fewer bundled features — notably, no Sky TV or dedicated Sky Q box is included. The underlying broadband speeds and network performance at the same address are comparable between NOW and Sky.

Why are NOW upload speeds so much lower than download?

NOW uses Openreach FTTP, which is technically capable of symmetrical speeds but is provisioned asymmetrically by most ISPs, including NOW. The upload speeds (16–40Mbps across NOW's plans) reflect NOW's network configuration rather than a fault. For symmetric uploads, consider CityFibre-based providers like Cuckoo or Zen Internet.

What should I do if NOW Broadband is consistently slow?

First, test via ethernet rather than Wi-Fi to isolate the issue. If speeds are still below your guaranteed minimum, contact NOW Broadband's support team and provide your speed test results with timestamps. Ofcom's rules require NOW to resolve the problem within 30 days, after which you are entitled to leave your contract without paying an early exit fee.

Related Guides

NOW Fibre Broadband Reviews · Sky Fibre Broadband · BT Fibre Speed Test · Plusnet Fibre Speed Test · Broadband Speed Guide

Methodology

This guide is based on publicly available data from Ofcom, provider websites, and independent sources including ISPreview.co.uk, Thinkbroadband, and Point Topic. Pricing, speeds, and availability were verified in April 2026 and are subject to change. CompareFibre is editorially independent — providers do not pay for placement or influence our recommendations.