NOW Broadband - increased by £3 to £27

makara

Been with NOW a couple of years (I think) after ditching Sky due to high prices

Last year I was paying £25 per month (discounted) for Superfast BB only (no call pacakge) - and it was about to go up to full price in May 2025

Phoned them and got a new 12 month contract for £24 per month

Then came the dreaded letter with a £3 increase

Surprisingly when I phoned them just now - although I'd JUST missed the no-fee cancellation window - the guy told me he'd waive it if I left - because they had no offers other than the £27

Been shopping around - and the cheapest ones for a similar speed (67 to 80 megs) are "POP Telecom" and "One Stream" - both AROUND £20 per month (if you factor in Cashback / plus the first year being cheaper / and the 2nd year being more expensive)

However the service from NOW has been pretty much excellent - apart from a couple of outages per year

Also there no longer seem to be any REALLY competitive deals that used to happen say 2 years plus ago - the prices apart from those two  mentioned all seem to be in the mid-20s to early-30s per month

Just wondering if anyone has RECENT thoughts and experience on POP and One Stream - and whether I should take a chance - or swallow the £27 from NOW

QrizB

Onestream are widely advised against due to hidden costs in their deals. See for example:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6614540/onestream-broadband-unreasonable-early-termination-fee

POP are another of the budget providers, OK so long as you don't need any customer service, patchy if you do. My experience with POP isn't recent but there are threads from this year if you want to search.

Here's an example:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81431999/#Comment_81431999

POP and Onestream both get mentioned in this thread, and not positively:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6566698/onestream-need-cancellation-notice-even-though-i-ve-already-switched/p1

makara

QrizB said:

Onestream are widely advised against due to hidden costs in their deals. See for example:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6614540/onestream-broadband-unreasonable-early-termination-fee

POP are another of the budget providers, OK so long as you don't need any customer service, patchy if you do. 

Many thanks for digging those up - the One Stream thread sounds pretty horrific

Just wondering if for both of them - the price increases in early 2026 they state NOW might possibly be MORE come this time in 2026...?  

Or are they not allowed to change what is currently advertised for the predicted 2026 to 2027 year prices?

makara

Just clicked through an £18.50 per month deal on One Stream - and when I got to the end it asks - 

++++++++

Do you need landline calling? What is digital voice?

We are unable to offer any digital voice packages

If you require a digital voice package, please select a router provider by Onestream

++++++++

We RARELY if ever use our Landline to make out-going calls - and rarely get incoming calls on it either

- but we've had the number for over 50 years - so it's a nice to have

I don't understand what their above statement is saying 

- are they effectively saying that UNLESS you rent one of OUR routers - your landline voice won't work at all...?

EDIT - I went further - and there it asks if you need a Calls package

If you DON'T - and are happy to stay PAYG - they have the cheek to add £7.50 per month on to the cost of the Broadband!!  For having NO calls package?!

Now I get why One Stream SEEM the cheapest

AndyPK

£27 isn't a bad price for NOW inc landline.  I'd give them another year.

You could get vodafone a bit cheaper. and maybe a gift card too, but the second year will be +£3 and you won't be able to leave them until the 2 years is up.

So I would stick, until it gets to £30

Now aren't doing landlines anymore, so you won't be able to go back for one

makara

AndyPK said:

£27 isn't a bad price for NOW inc landline.  I'd give them another year.

You could get vodafone a bit cheaper. and maybe a gift card too, but the second year will be +£3 and you won't be able to leave them until the 2 years is up.

So I would stick, until it gets to £30

Now aren't doing landlines anymore, so you won't be able to go back for one

Many thanks 

I wonder if it's worth waiting a week or two, and calling back to see if another agent sounds more interested in keeping me as a customer - although I doubt it - but it's not going to cost me anything to ask them

Re. Vodafone - when I was looking to leave Sky a couple of years back - I did initially sign up with them - but cancelled AFAIR because Sky tempted me to stay with a discount - PLUS I had read on many websites that people had major issues with Vodafone's Wi-Fi stability (although their Ethernet / wired connectivity seemed without complaint)

When you say Now aren't doing Landlines - does that mean if we were to leave them - then try to come back after 1 or 2 years - we would lose our landline and its number?

QrizB

makara said:

Just wondering if for both of them - the price increases in early 2026 they state NOW might possibly be MORE come this time in 2026...?  
Or are they not allowed to change what is currently advertised for the predicted 2026 to 2027 year prices?

There should be a contractual annual price rise with broadband suppliers (unless they're one of the suppliers with zero price increases while you're in contract). It would historically have been related to CPI or RPi, but now they've mostly moved to a fixed sum.

If they ask for a price rise that's greater than the contractual sum, they have to let you switch away without penalty. That sounds like what you've got right now with NOW.

You should find the price rise is displayed clearly by your provider. See for example the screenshot on my thread there, when I joined Vodafone earlier this year:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6591621/24m-contract-only-one-price-increase

makara said:

We RARELY if ever use our Landline to make out-going calls - and rarely get incoming calls on it either

- but we've had the number for over 50 years - so it's a nice to have

You could switch your phone number to a standalone VoIP provider. People say good things about Andrews and Arnold:

https://www.aa.net.uk/

Probably best speaking to them rather than trying to do it online as there's a risk you'll end up cancelling your broadband service completely by transferring your number.

A&A offer broadband but it's at the "boutique" end of the market, excellent service but a price to match. You'll see their prices when you visit their website. I'm fairly sure you can get VoIP from them without taking their broadband service.

makara

Update on POP - their website states they can't install BB in my house yet -

++++++++

This is due to one of three reasons

• Poptelecom cannot service your address
• Poptelecom have not upgraded your address to fibre to the cabinet
• Our network has not freed up your exchange

++++++++

So that rules them out

- and after my above comments on One Stream being sneaky by adding £7.50 for PAYG (ridiculous!) calls to the BB package (or you lose your landline number if you don't pay that...) 

- and with other "Big" provider deals not being much lower than NOW's £27 - I guess I'll take one more crack at them - and if no result will stay on £27 (until it increases)

makara

QrizB said:

There should be a contractual annual price rise with broadband suppliers (unless they're one of the suppliers with zero price increases while you're in contract). It would historically have been related to CPI or RPi, but now they've mostly moved to a fixed sum.

If they ask for a price rise that's greater than the contractual sum, they have to let you switch away without penalty. That sounds like what you've got right now with NOW.

You should find the price rise is displayed clearly by your provider. See for example the screenshot on my thread 

You could switch your phone number to a standalone VoIP provider. People say good things about Andrews and Arnold:

https://www.aa.net.uk/

.

Many thanks - now I understand why NOW always state I can leave them without penalty every time they have a price increase - I didn't realise there were different ways a BB provider can increase the monthly rate annually

Also thanks for the A and A link - I had no idea it was possible to port a landline number to a different company without also taking the Broadband along - handy to know!

littlemissbossy

I’m in the same boat as you. I was paying £25, my contract ends in 2 weeks. I’ve accepted the £27 12 month contract. 

I’ve had a shop around and can’t find much better.  Onestream doesn’t really appeal. 

AndrewJB

It seems like full fibre is the cheapest option these days, if it’s available where you live.

I switched to Sky’s Fibre 150 service for £23 a month, which is the same as NOW was offering for Fibre 75. Sky was also offering Fibre 100 for £22 a month, but there was no mention of it on Quidco. The cashback available for Fibre 150 was £100 after upgrading to premium, and there was also a bonus of £40. Those deals have now ended, but they seem to alternate between Quidco and TopCashback.

I’m not sure if the cashback will pay out (moving from NOW to Sky), but it tracked quickly. If it does, it will work out at £17.21 a month. I do lose the free anytime calls, but even at £23 a month, the savings are worth it for me, and I was able to keep the same landline number.