NOW Broadband routers

Aaron Howdle | December 2nd, 2022

NOW TV is the cheaper streaming service from Sky. You can buy monthly passes which allow you to view sport, movies and TV, normally only available via a Sky subscription. Since NOW TV is owned by Sky, it makes sense that it also offers broadband services. In this case, broadband takes the form of three packages, designed to be affordable and flexible.

Your broadband router is a key factor in the speed of your internet connection. It is quite possible to have fast internet speeds piped to your home, which are then squandered by a poor quality router or a weak wifi signal. So which routers do you get with NOW Broadband? And are they any good?

How to get a NOW Broadband router

NOW Broadband provides the NOW Hub Two with all its broadband packages. The router is a rebranded Sky Q Hub, which is not surprising, since Sky owns NOW Broadband. The whole service is essentially rebadged Sky Broadband, albeit with a more limited range to keep the monthly fees low. To obtain a NOW Hub Two, you need to sign up to one of its broadband packages. NOW Broadband offers an ADSL (11Mbps) package, and two fibre broadband packages, with a choice of 36Mbps or 63Mbps services.

You can expect your NOW Hub Two to arrive within a couple of weeks of signing up to a new package. In most cases, you can easily set it up yourself, but if an engineer is required to install a phone line, it may take a little longer to get you up and running.

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NOW Broadband router features

NOW Broadband offers a simple line-up of broadband packages. You can choose from two mid-level fibre broadband speeds of 36Mbps or 63Mbps. Or you can go for its cheapest option of 11Mbps ADSL broadband. In all cases customers are provided with the same NOW Hub Two router.

NOW Hub Two

• Next generation wifi – Devices can connect using older wifi standards or with the newer 802.11ac wifi standard
• Smart channel selection – The NOW Broadband router automatically connects your devices to the fastest wifi channel and frequency available
• Dual band – Like many modern routers, the NOW Hub Two uses both the 2.4Ghz and faster 5Ghz bands
• Two gigabit ethernet ports – Two gigabit ethernet ports for fast, wired network connections to your computers. It is worth mentioning that many routers provided by other broadband companies have four ethernet ports
• Five antennae – Five internal antennae beam wifi around your home. Many modern routers have seven or more antennae, so wifi range and quality may be comparatively worse than you get from other routers
• Broadband Buddy – This app, which is also available from Sky, gives you access to parental controls for individual devices and a host of other features

If there are any unfamiliar terms you'd like a more in-depth explanation of, check out our jargon-busting guide.

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Setting up a NOW Broadband router

It is a fairly quick and easy process to set up your new router.

Firstly, if you have an existing router, you will need to unplug it and also remove the microfilter from the phone socket. Locate the new microfilter which came with your new router and plug it into your wall mounted telephone socket. Now, take the grey cable and plug it into the microfilter, then plug the other end into the NOW Hub Two router.

The router now needs some power. Switch off the mains plug socket, then plug the power supply into your new router. Plug the router’s power supply into the mains wall socket. Now switch on the power socket, then switch on the power button on the router. Once it has started-up and all three LED lights are the same colour, you can move on to the next stage.

You are ready to connect your devices to your new wifi network. Your wifi log-in details are on the underside of the router, there is also a card provided with the details printed on it.

Once your router is up and running, we'd suggest you start making it as secure as possible. Our guide to securing your wifi router can help.

Legacy NOW Broadband routers

NOW Broadband is still a relative newcomer to the broadband market. As such it does not yet have a back catalogue of old routers out in the wild. NOW Broadband’s NOW Hub Two is a rebranded Sky Q Hub. Sky no longer supplies its customers with this router, as it is already a little out of date in some respects. Rebadging the router and supplying it with NOW Broadband packages is one of the ways Sky is able to offer a budget service via its NOW TV brand.