Rural Full Fibre ISP Truespeed Launch New Linksys WiFi 6 Router

Alternative network provider Truespeed, which is building a gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across rural parts of South West England, appears to be moving away from their heavily restricted routers of old and have today launched a new WiFi 6 router from Linksys and optional Mesh system.

The operator, which has so far covered 50,000 premises (including 11,500 customers connected) and holds an “ambitious” target to reach 500,000 properties by the end of 2026, is currently being funded by a £175 million investment from Aviva and most of their deployments have taken place across Somerset.

However, Truespeed are also known – like a few other AltNet providers – for shipping a heavily restrict router to their customers, which is something that made the news last year and for all the wrong reasons (here). But the good news is that the ISP has signed a new partnership with Linksys, which means that subscribers will now benefit from Wi-Fi 6 capable kit (router and mesh systems).

The new hardware also includes some added benefits, such as parental and device control to safeguard children’s online activity 24-7, guest Wi-Fi for up to 50 people and the ability to change Wi-Fi name and password all through a convenient app.

James Lowther, Truespeed CEO, said:

“We’re passionate about providing our customers with the very best connectivity and we’re thrilled to have launched our new Wi-Fi 6 router and Mesh Wi-Fi solution. This enables customers to experience the power of ultrafast full-fibre broadband all around their house and eliminate Wi-Fi blackspots.

Linksys is the perfect partner as it not only offers excellent Wi-Fi performance, but it also enables customers to control their experience from an easy to use app.”

The catch is that their new Linksys router is only being provided “as standard” on Truespeed’s 300Mbps package and above. Existing customers and people taking 150Mbps products can upgrade their router, but it’ll cost you an additional £40 activation fee (one-off).

The optional Mesh Wi-Fi nodes can also be added for just £7 per month (inc. VAT) on a monthly rolling contract, although you could also buy these independently of Truespeed, but then you’d lose the support benefits if the kit goes wrong.