Can I get Zen Broadband?

Zen's standard ADSL-based broadband is only available in Zen network areas. Their fibre service is restricted to exchanges that have been upgraded to support fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) broadband.

This currently applies to about two-thirds of UK households although this is growing as more and more exchanges are being upgraded to enable fibre every month. You can discover whether or not you live in a fibre-enabled area with our postcode checker. In addition to having a fibre enabled exchange, your street cabinet also needs to have been upgraded to support the technology (BT generally place advertising posters on these once they've been enabled).

What packages are available?

Zen Broadband offer one ADSL-based broadband packages and two fibre broadband packages covering a range of speeds, all offering truly unlimited downloads.

The Zen Broadband ADSL-based broadband package is:

• Zen Unlimited Broadband - averages 6Mb at peak times

All ADSL-based broadband packages with Zen Broadband have a one month rolling contract, allowing for flexibility in your contract duration. You can get these packages without line rental for £10 a month less, but must have a working phone line with another company, such as BT.

Their standard phoneline speed is given as ‘averaging 6Mb at peak times’ despite a 'protocol speed' of up to 17Mb, this is because of factors like the distance from the telephone exchange in line length, and peak time congestion. At least half of users will achieve speeds faster than 6Mb at peak times and all users are likely to see speed increases outside of the 8pm to 10pm peak time. You can find out where your local exchange is, and how far away you are from it, with our postcode checker.

The Zen Broadband fibre broadband packages are:

• Zen Unlimited Fibre 1 - averaging 26Mb download and 6Mb upload at peak times
• Zen Unlimited Fibre 2 - averaging 55Mb download and 17Mb upload at peak times

Unlike with the ADSL-based packages, all fibre and phone package contracts with Zen Broadband have a duration of 12 months. You can also get these packages without taking out line rental for £10 a month less, but must have a working phone line with another company, such as BT.

Fibre services are also likely to experience some slowdown with copper line length, but thanks to using fibre-optic from the exchange to the street cabinet, it's only the much shorter distance from that cabinet to your home that causes any slowdown. FTTC products are also based on the faster VDSL technology over the copper cable segments, so the lowest speeds to be experienced from the longest lines are still likely to be as high as 10 or 15Mb when ADSL-based products might be experiencing 0.5Mb.

Which package should I choose?

Zen Broadband offer different kinds of package with their fibre and phone deals as opposed to their ADSL broadband deals, but the main factors are still speed, download capacity, phone service, contract length and overall expense.

When deciding between fibre and ADSL, your main concern should be speed. Fibre can be a lot faster and it is tempting, but the stated headline ADSL speed of 6Mb (available to 50% of users during peak hours, 8pm to 10pm) is more than enough for the majority of Internet uses, allowing not only casual browsing and email usage, but also watching videos, using Skype or downloading music. If you're on a budget then there could be little point paying extra for speed you won't necessarily need.

However, the faster speeds that fibre provides do suit some people better - especially if you're a regular heavy Internet user, and if your connection is shared with other heavier users, or just a lot of other people. The speed of the connection will be divided by those using it any one time, and so larger households including student flats and large families will benefit from having a fibre connection. This applies even more with the Zen Unlimited Fibre 2’s even higher speeds averaging 55Mb. People living far from telephone exchanges might also benefit from fibre if they can get it, as their ADSL speed is likely to suffer.

However, Zen Broadband’s deals are also tied to contract length. The short 1 month rolling contracts offer a great deal of flexibility, so are ideal for those whose living circumstances are likely to change in the next year, such as young people and students. The flexibility also means you are less tied to a single package (and provider). However the 12 month fibre contracts are still relatively short compared to many providers' fibre offerings which commonly have 18 or even 24 month minimum contract lengths. At the time of writing, the only fibre contracts shorted than 12 months offered are 9 month student-only offers from BT and Virgin that are only available around the start of the academic year.

Those who would like a home phone line provided with their broadband should opt for the packages with line rental and calls. The basic line rental package with only pay for the calls you use costs £16.99, and the Line Rental Plus package costs £23.50 a month and comes with anytime calls. If you want to keep your existing provider for line rental and calls, you can select the no line rental option for all of these packages for an extra £5.40 a month.

All of these factors must be weighed against each other in relative importance to you because you can only pick and match to a limited extent - all 1 month rolling contracts come with ADSL-based broadband, for example. The bottom line is to remember that you shouldn't have to pay for more than you require, as much as possible.

Points to consider before you choose

• Do you need the flexibility of a 1 month minimum contract term or is the speed of fibre a more important factor?
• How many people will be using your broadband connection at any one time, especially for heavy downloading, HD streaming or online games?
• Would the expense of the faster speed be worth it for you?
• How far do you live from a BT telephone exchange, and will this be a problem for your ADSL speeds?
• What are your main priorities out of speed, download capacity, contract length, phone service and cost?

Compare all Zen Broadband 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.

• Zen Customer Portal - The Zen Customer Portal allows you to manage your connection, including showing you how much data you have used so you know if you are approaching your download cap (if you have one).
• 2GB inclusive web hosting - If you want to start your own website, or host files online, you may find this an attractive feature.
• Zen Webmail - Closely linked to the Zen Customer Portal, Zen Webmail provides up to 11 POP3 email accounts per Zen Broadband account, and comes with Zen’s regularly-updated antivirus email protection to catch any threats before they reach your mailbox.
• UK-based customer support - Unlike some other providers, Zen’s customer support is entirely UK-based, and do not use scripts. Calls to them are at local rates, which is not as good as freephone customer service, but still better than some other providers’ premium rates.
• Broadband Voice - Zen Broadband’s Broadband Voice service allows Zen Broadband customers with a VoIP-compatible router and telephone to make telephone calls over the internet, providing an extra outgoing phone line for a fraction of the cost of a landline at £5.10 per month for 1000 inclusive minutes.
• ADSL Move - Zen Broadband’s ADSL Move service helps you transfer your home broadband connection when you move house. Zen Broadband will help manage everything free of charge, and will waive the usual activation fee for setting up their broadband connection at the new home. This does not apply to Zen Fibre customers however - indeed, it is not currently possible to move your Zen Fibre connection with you and you might end up paying for two houses’ connections at once (however this may be the case with any BT Wholesale fibre to the cabinet service).
• Static IP addresses - Zen Broadband offer free static IP addresses as a matter of course, which can be a great benefit to customers running servers.

What are the benefits of Zen Broadband?

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

• Award-winning - Zen Broadband have a number of accolades to their name, including having won the PC Pro Best ISP Award ten years in a row, and being named Which? Broadband recommended provider. These awards are good signs that a provider delivers on its promises and provides a quality service. Zen Broadband’s customer service team are particularly praised in this regard.
• UK-based customer support - Unlike some other providers, Zen’s customer support is entirely UK-based, and do not use scripts but are instead staffed by technically proficient technicians.
• Short rolling contracts - While Zen Broadband offer 12 month fibre contracts which can be helpful for those who like to manage their accounts on an annual basis, they also provide short rolling one-month contracts on their various ADSL packages, which can be of great help to those with uncertain living circumstances or short tenancies who may need to move within the next year, such as students. It also provides greater flexibility in your broadband service, not consigning you to a contract for the foreseeable future.
• Truly Unlimited fibre - Zen Broadband’s fibre and phone packages are truly unlimited, meaning that they are not only free of download caps and fair usage limits that would curb your internet usage per month, but they are also free of traffic management, meaning your fibre broadband service will never be artificially slowed.
• Premium features - As a business-focused provider, Zen offer extras like static IP addresses, web space, truly technical support and exceptional reliability. Having majority business users also means that their network is slightly faster in the evenings when most other providers would be experiencing peak network congestion.

What are the drawbacks of Zen Broadband?

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

• No inclusive routers on ADSL packages - Unlike almost all other providers, Zen Broadband do not provide free inclusive routers with their ADSL contracts, necessitating you to get your own. There is the option to purchase routers from Zen Broadband with £6.95 delivery, however this still adds up to an extra cost, unless you already have a compatible router.
• No freephone tech support - Calls to customer support are charged at local rates. This isn't as bad as some providers' premium rate lines, but may become a significant additional expense.
• Low peak time speeds - Zen's advertised average speeds, as achieved by 50% of customers between 8pm and 10pm, are significantly lower than most other providers using equivalent broadband technology. Zen's slowest advertised speed is only 6Mb while the next slowest provider has an average of 10Mb for the same protocol.
• Premium pricing - Zen is rarely the cheapest option available. They've chosen to invest in stability, performance and excellent technical support, rather than offering the cheapest possible prices.