Giganet broadband review: Is it any good?

Dan Howdle | April 25th, 2024

Giganet is one of the many UK providers you probably haven't heard of. That's because it's an altnet: A network run only in specific parts of the country, running its own network completely separate from both Openreach and Virgin Media. Typically, altnets offer fast Full Fibre with great routers and excellent customer service, and Giganet is no different in those regards. But there's more to the story, so let's take a closer look.

Key features

Here’s a quick look at what you can expect to find in a brsk broadband deal:

Our review of Giganet broadband

Giganet's offering is interesting in that in the realm of altnets, it's actually missing a few elements we would have liked to see. For example, Giganet doesn't offer a phone line option, directing customers instead to third-party VoIP providers like Vonage. Granted, there are other altnets that don't offer a phone line, but it's always going to be comething that counts against a provider. Likewise there is no option to bolt on subscription TV.

Another element that's unusual in the world of altnets is that Giganet's download and upload speeds aren't symmetrical, with upload speeds set only at around 10% of download speeds. Most altnets offer symmetrical speeds where the upload and download speeds are the same, but to be fair to Giganet, its way of doing things is no different to mainstream providers like BT or Virgin Media.

Giganet does offer a great router in the form of the Amazon eero Pro 6E, and you can add multiple eeros to create a mesh wifi system if your home if particularly large or difficult to serve reliable wifi to from a single router.

Availability

Giganet is available across parts of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and West Sussex. For more specific availability information you'll need to use a postcode checker.

Giganet has bought Cuckoo Broadband recently, thereby inheriting its infrastructure and its customers, and is working in partnership with London provider CityFibre to provide its service via its network. It's current mission is to connect 300,000 homes, which it aims to do with over £250m of funding.

Broadband speeds

Giganet keeps things nice and simple with just three speed tiers, all of which are Full Fibre. They are:

FullFibre150: Currently at just £28 per month, FullFibre150 offers 150Mbps download and 30Mbps upload. Again, we're disappointed Giganet doesn't offer symmetrical speeds like most other altnets. However, ultrafast upload speeds are of no use to most customers – it's something almost no one will miss. Just a nice to have. 150Mbps is plenty of speed for a small-ish household with moderate internet usage.

FullFibre500: 500Mbps is very fast, with a 70Mbps upload. Getting into the sort of speeds here that should appeal to gamers and those that work from home, but are probably already too fast for just a regular households that streams and browses the internet. If you go for FullFibre150, you can always upgrade quickly, since all of these packages use the same router. 500Mbps will suit a house full of gamers and streamers.

FullFibre900: Does anyone really need broadband this fast? It's debatable. Gamers who download their games online can certainly benefit, since the file sizes are often gargantuan. However, beyond that a 900Mbps connection stops being functionally useful pretty fast. You may also just want the fastest speed available and that's fine too.

Not sure which package to pick? Our guide to deciding what broadband speed you need has all the answers.

Upload speeds

We're quite disappointed with Giganet's upload speeds in the sense that as an altnet, it's unusual no to offer symmetrical speeds (where your upload and download speeds are the same). However, we can't be too hard on Giganet when it upload speeds are very much in keeping with mainstream providers like Sky, BT or Virgin Media. It's just unusual for an altnet.

Like most mainstream providers, Giganet offers slower upload speeds than their download speeds. This is because a typical home internet connection tends to pull a lot of information into the home, while sending out very little. Of course, some people use upload as much as download, but that's rare, and will tend to require a specific type of job such as videographer or draughts-person, where uploading large files and documents is the norm.

Routers and installation

Giganet supplies the excellent Amazon eero Pro 6E router with its broadband packages. It's fast, well-featured, and is a mesh router by design, meaning you can add more eero Pro 6Es in other parts of the house to widen the reach of your wifi network.

Here is a quick overview:

eero Pro 6E

• eero’s first Wi-Fi 6E router: eero Pro 6E supports fast speeds and direct access to the new 6 GHz band when using Wi-Fi 6E devices, resulting in lower latency
• eero’s fastest router yet: Supports network speeds up to 2.3 Gbps, when using both wired (up to a gigabit) and wireless (up to 1.3 Gbps) client devices
• More Wi-Fi for more devices: Network coverage of up to 190 m² and support for 100+ connected devices
• Set up in minutes: The eero app guides you through setup and allows you to manage your network from anywhere
• Gets better over time: Receive automatic updates to help keep your network safe and secure. Online security tools and additional network management features available via a separate subscription
• Built-in smart home hub: eero Pro 6E works as a smart home hub so you can control compatible Thread and Zigbee devices with Alexa. It also doubles as a border router to facilitate connections with Thread-enabled devices

Installation

Giganet’s full fibre (FTTP) broadband needs a brand new fibre optic cable running to your home. This new cable will usually follow the same path as your old copper telephone wire. The route will be discussed with you prior to installation.

Once the new fibre optic cable is brought to your home, it will then connect to a CSP (Customer Splice Point). This is a small box that attaches to the outside of the property where the external fibre cable routing from the telegraph pole or underground joint, is connected to the indoor fibre cable that then runs through your wall (the engineer will need to drill a hole to feed the cable through) to where the service will be terminated. Inside your home, the engineer will install an ONT (Optical Network Terminator) onto the wall next to a double 13 amp power supply.

Customer service

Broadband providers with less than 1.5% market share aren't included in Ofcom's annual customer service reporting. However, you can see how it's doing on Trustpilot.

While Giganet's 4.0 out of 5.0 rating on Trustpilot looks good on the face of it, it's not as good as most of the other altnet providers we've reviewed. While most feedback is positive there is a smattering of very negative reviews from customers citing billing issues and installation gripes. It's obviously the exception rather than the rule, but Giganet just doesn't rate as highly as many others and that should be taken into account.

Our verdict: Good

Giganet provide a fast, excellent broadband service that won't cost you the Earth. But as things stand things feel a little bare bones compared to some other altnets. The lack of phone line options, symmetrical speeds, or the ability to bolt on extras like a static IP or a TV subscription feel like missed opportunities, and it's clear Giganet isn't doing as good a job on the customer service front than some other providers.

Still, if you can get it, it's certainly worth considering. The eero Pro 6E mesh wifi system is second to none, and 900Mbps is already faster than almost any household needs. As a Full Fibre provider its latency times are going to be very, very low too, making Giganet a good choice for gamers.

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