Dan Howdle | July 3rd, 2024
EE broadband review: Is it any good?
EE is hailed as the UK’s number one mobile network thanks to its extensive 4G and 5G coverage. And now, unexpectedly, it's now one of the UK's very best broadband providers – certainly the fastest, and with a number of features unmatched by its competitors. Let's take a closer look.
Results of our broadband survey
We interviewed 6,000 household broadband decision makers in 2021. This is how SSE broadband customers rated their service:
| Installation/switching | |
| Speed satisfaction | |
| Reliability |
| Equipment/routers | |
| Value for money | |
| Likeliness to recommend |
Our review of EE broadband
g EE has been owned by BT for many years at this point, and as such shares much of its technology – including its routers – and offers similarly specced broadband packages. EE is, however, more than just a BT subsidiary and has to some extent fostered its own unique and respected broadband identity that looks to tie together your broadband, mobile and indeed TV under one banner. So what does it have to offer in 2024?
Reasons to buy
- Fastest broadband in the UK
- Good choice for EE mobile customers
- Very good router
- Unique features for gamers and home workers
- EE TV is now worth having
Reasons to avoid
- Full Fibre packages not available to everyone
Fastest broadband in the UK (up to 1.6Gbps)
With full fibre (called Fibre Max in the EE family of packages), you can get speeds of up to 1.6Gbps. However, availability is limited to around one in three homes at the time of writing (check the date at the top of this page). Virgin Media comes pretty close to these speeds with its 1.13Gbps Gig1 package, and you're more likely to be able to get it as it's available to around two thirds of the country. Whether anyone needs 1.6Gbps however is another question entirely. We would argue no one does.
EE mobile customer benefits
If you’re already an EE Mobile customer you can get up to a discount on your monthly broadband fee. You’ll also get free additional data to on your mobile deal (provided it's not already unlimited) add to your existing limits if you also sign up to EE Broadband. With ‘unlimited’ fast becoming the preferred option on mobile data, however, it’s arguable whether this offer will continue to be useful down the line.
Smart Hub Plus router
The Smart Hub Plus router was launched in June 2023 and is one of the best free routers out there (fre as in it comes with your broadband deal). Especially considering that EE Broadband isn’t expensive, that means you’ll be getting pretty good value for money. It's capable of delivering up to 1.6Gbps (way more than any currently available broadband package from EE offers, so quite future-proof). It uses up to and including the latest Wi-Fi 6 protocols meaning it's both fast and rangey.
Work mode and Game mode
More than just buzzwords, these modes are available from within the EE Broadband app. Work mode prioritises work-related traffic so someone downloading in another room can't drop you out of your Zoom meeting, for example. Game mode is much more meaningful. It understands which game or games you're playing and routes your connection to the best server to cut latency. Coupled an EE Full Fibre connection, lag is likely to be so close to zero as means nothing, giving gamers if not an advantage at least a level playing field with the best connected other players.
BT TV is now EE TV, and it's worth having!
BT clearly no longer wants to focus on TV, having in 2023 both sold its BT Sport service (now owned by Warner Bros under the TNT Sports brand), and abandoned BT TV altogether, rebranding it EE TV – a move that's quite confusing both for existing BT TV customers and to anyone planning to get a BT Broadband and TV bundle.
The good news is that since BT TV was a fully fleshed out service with the ability to get both live TV, Freeview, Sports, Movies, kids and so on as you please, so too now is EE TV – and you can now get it with your EE Broadband deal. Both the EE TV Box Pro (formerly the BT TV Box Pro) or the Apple TV device are offered rolled in with those deals. The former is a dedicated EE TV set-top box, while the latter is an anything box which ultimately has a bit more flexibility.
