Can I get Hyperoptic?

Hyperoptic is only available at select urban apartment buildings. As of the start of 2016 this is hundreds of London postcode areas and buildings in Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Reading and Sheffield, but more are being added in both new builds and existing developments.

Hyperoptic's hyperfast gigabit broadband uses a technology called fibre to the building (FTTB) where a full fibre optic link is taken into the basement of an apartment building, this is then distributed to the apartments within the building using a high speed network, either using ethernet or fibre links, depending on the nature of the building. Residents of the building can then connect to the high speed network using an network faceplate installed within their home, either connecting their computer directly with network cable or using the supplied Hyperhub.

To find out if your building has been hooked up to Hyperoptic's network, use our postcode checker. Please note, in some limited cases more than one building will be in the same postcode area or your building may still be in the pre-order phase, if this is the case then the Hyperoptic site will confirm availability before you sign up.

If your building has been hooked up and you already have a Hyperoptic faceplate within your home, then sign up to Hyperoptic's gigabit broadband services could take place within 24 hours. If your building is still in the pre-order stage when batches of installations will happen together to save costs, you could pay as little as £40 to have a faceplate installed. Outside of the pre-order stage, if you don't have a faceplate already, you could pay as much as £200 for installation, but there may be occasional building-level promotions to connect more cheaply.

Property developers within Hyperoptic areas can apply to have their buildings upgraded to bring gigabit fibre to their tenants, so if other buildings in your area have Hyperoptic already, talk to your property manager about the possibility of an upgrade. If they know that there's demand in the building, they may be more likely to invest in hyperfast broadband. You can also register your interest on the Hyperoptic website. Buildings with the highest customer demand get the lowest installation costs, and they also get connected before anyone else.

What packages are available?

Hyperoptic offer three core broadband packages:

• 30Mb download and 1Mb upload - ideal for those on a budget who don't need speed
• Symmetric ultrafast broadband - 150Mb download and upload - suitable for most households
• Symmetric gigabit broadband - 1Gb download and upload - the fastest broadband available, full stop

All of these packages come with unlimited usage without traffic shaping or throttling, or any restrictions based on the type of traffic or the time of day. However these is an excessive usage policy, meaning you could be warned or have your service suspended if you use an excessively large amount of data, to the material detriment of other customers.

As Hyperoptic's service is based on full fibre optic to the building and high speed ethernet or fibre networks within the building, there's no slow downs from copper telephone lines, so the advertised maximum protocol speeds tend to be very close to what you'll actually get, as the very high average speeds show. Most gigabit customers get an average speed of at least 95% of what was advertised, with the median speak at peak hours a whopping 900Mb, with any slowdowns caused by limitations in their devices, the speeds of web servers on the Internet or the links beyond Hyperoptic's servers on the way to the site they're visiting.

There's no need to have a copper phone line to your home, or to pay line rental, but if you need a phone service you can sign up for Hyperoptic's voice over broadband telephone plan starting from only around £3 to £6 extra per month. As this uses your broadband to make calls, it won't work during power outages or other broadband outages. You also have the option of a separate copper phoneline if you wish to maintain a traditional landline with another supplier.

Which package should I choose?

An important first question to ask yourself is do you need hyperfast speeds, or would ultrafast symmetric broadband meet all your household's needs?

If you're a light user who doesn't do much uploading (such as sharing photos and videos on social media, or syncing or backing up your devices to the cloud) then the 20Mb downloads and 1Mb uploads package may meet all your needs while saving money compared to the other packages.

If you have a busy household or you make use of cloud backup or syncing, are a vlogger, social networker or content creator, you're likely to want the speed of 150Mb or 1Gb connections, and their symmetric uploads that make these the fastest upload speeds on the market.

100Mb download is usually fast enough the even very active households, and the 100Mb uploads mean cloud sync and backup, or video sharing on sites like YouTube, is faster than on any competitor's network, so 100Mb is likely to be a significant upgrade even from an asymmetric fibre service like BT Infinity 2. However if you want the very fastest connection possible, the 1Gb symmetric gigabit hyperfast broadband is unbeatable.

Points to consider before you choose

• Is speed a priority for you?
• Can your computer or other devices actually handle speeds of 1Gb (needs a 2GHz or faster processor and an up to date network card)? If not, opt for 150Mb
• Do you have a busy household or make a lot of use of HD or better video services?
• Do you upload photos or videos, or make use of cloud sync and backup services like DropBox, iCloud or SkyDrive?
• Do you need a phoneline to your home or could you make do with just mobile phones for voice?
• If you need a phoneline, would Hyperoptic's voice-over-broadband phone service work for you, or do you need a phone line that works when your power or broadband is down?

Compare all Hyperoptic deals

What do I get when I sign-up?

It's always good to know upfront what you'll get when signing up with an ISP so you know what you can enjoy for free, or to budget for any extras you may want.

• Hyperhub wireless router - Although not strictly necessary as you can connect your faceplate directly to your computer's ethernet network port, a free Hyperhub router is supplied that allows you to share your connection over an N-rated wireless network. This comes with built in security and network-level parental controls. Please note, N-rated technology limits wireless connection to 130Mb per device, if you want to make faster wireless connections then an AC-rated wireless router would be required. The Hyperhub is required if you need to use Hyperoptic's phone service, but can also be connected to a separate wireless router or network switch.
• 24/7 customer service - Hyperoptic's telephone customer service and technical support is available 24/7 to help with any queries or problems you may have. You can also raise technical support tickets using Hyperoptic's website. Your building may also be visited by a Hyperoptic customer support representative at certain times.

What are the benefits of Hyperoptic?

The benefits offered by an ISP may be what seals the deal in your decision to buy a package from them.

• Unbeatable gigabit speed - With hyperfast 1Gb speeds available, few other providers comes close to matching Hyperoptic. As of early 2014, 1000Mb represents 68 times the UK average broadband speed, is 13 times faster than fibre to the cabinet and 6.5 times faster than Virgin Media's top download speed.
• Symmetric upload speed - On Hyperoptic's 1Gb and 150Mb deals, upload speed is the same as download speed, this is in sharp contrast to competitors who may offer upload speeds of less that 10% of download. 1000Mb is 83 times faster than Virgin Media's fastest upload option of 12Mb.
• Cheaper options available - If you don't need the full 1Gb service then you can save money with a budget Hyper-lite 30Mb/1Mb service, or a symmetric Hyper-active 150Mb service. Hyper-active offers download speeds in excess of FTTC and equivalent to Virgin Media's mid-range products, with upload speeds 5 times faster than FTTC's maximum and 6.5 to 16.7 times faster than Virgin Media's uploads.
• Unlimited, unthrottled usage - Customers can download as much as they like without limits, there's no traffic shaping or throttling and traffic management is only used to ensure that the voice-over-broadband telephone service is prioritised, which is unlikely to be a significant factor. Contention rates within buildings are monitored to ensure that no one user is having a detrimental effect on the connections of other users. If necessary, links can be upgraded to improve contention.
• No landline needed - Hyperoptic comes into your building via fibre optic cable, and into your home via an ethernet network faceplate, products can be bought stand alone with no landline at all, or paired with someone else's line rental and call plan through your separate copper phone line.
• Phone bundles available - Hyperoptic can provide good value voice-over-broadband phone services with competitively priced phone bundles starting from only £3 to £6 extra per month. Your free Hyperhub router has a voice port that will allow you to connect a standard telephone handset.
• Future proofed - Hyperoptic use full fibre to your apartment building, allowing them to increase broadband speeds as technology or demand progresses. Their building networks can support much higher speeds than are currently offered, or upgraded as needed. Hyperoptic have already planned an upgrade to 10Gb connections once technical and customer demand requires it.
• Improves property prices - If your building and home have been hooked up to the Hyperoptic network this can produce a sizeable value increase when selling your home, especially if surrounding properties have poor broadband speeds.

What are the drawbacks of Hyperoptic?

Let's face it, not everything can be perfect, and even the best deals may have a downside.

• Limited availability - Only select urban locations are supported, at the beginning of 2014 this is 270 London postcode areas plus some in Bristol, Cardiff,  Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Reading. These tend to be large up market apartment buildings, but more affordable locations have been recently upgraded in parts of London with no other fibre broadband options and so unusually high demand.
• Outside of special offers, installation can be expensive - If your home hasn't already been given a Hyperoptic faceplate while your building was constructed or first connected, and if the pre-order phase is over, installation charges could be as much as £240. If you're in pre-order phase then installation is £40, and if you already have a faceplate installed then set up is free and fast. However, Hyperoptic often run promotions waiving these fees entirely, or offering a significant discount. There may also be occasional building-specific promotions where new customers can be signed up more cheaply in groups.
• Computer or device upgrades may be needed - If you don't have a more recent network card, or have a slower processor, you may need to upgrade your computer to enjoy full gigabit speeds. 150Mb should work on older computers though. If you wish to get more than 130Mb speeds per each device on your wireless network you'll have to invest in a separate 802.11ac compatible (aka AC-rated) wireless router, but be aware that as of early 2014, very few mobile devices support this new technology.
• Router limitations - Although Hyperoptic have prioritised wired connection speeds to bundle the very fastest router available, wired connections through the Hyperhub can only achieve speeds of 829Mb for 1 device and additional devices can only connect at 100Mb. For the full 1Gb connection you must connect your computer directly to the ethernet port on the wall. The Hyperhub only supports 802.11n wireless so wireless connections are limited to 130Mb per device. You are able to use your own router or access point to add 802.11ac gigabit wireless support (note, devices must support both wireless-ac and multiple data-streams, single streams are limited to 433Mb connections).
• No copper phoneline during outages - Hyperoptic's telephone services work over your broadband connection, meaning they won't work if you have a power cut or broadband outage. This may not be a problem, but be aware that you may have to rely on your mobile phone to make emergency calls, or separately maintain a copper phone connection if continuous phoneline availability is critical.
• Excessive usage policy - Although Hyperoptic's broadband is unlimited and unthrottled, only using traffic management to prioritise telephone calls, their fair usage policy states that if you make such excessive use of their services that other customers' connections are detrimentally affected, then you may be given a written warning or even have your service suspended or terminated. Their terms and conditions also define a number of stringent 'content standards' that prohibit use of your connection for activities such as deceiving, impersonating or annoying any person, which some users may consider too restrictive.