Broadband ISP Connect Fibre Add Wi-Fi 7 At No Extra Cost for UK Homes
Alternative broadband operator and UK ISP Connect Fibre, which aimed to cover 100,000 premises across the East of England with their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network, has this morning announced the launch of Wi-Fi 7 capable routers “across all its contracted fibre broadband packages” and at “no additional cost“. But that’s not the only change.
As well as adding Wi-Fi 7 capable hardware, Connect Fibre has also refreshed their broadband packages in other ways. For example, the provider has upgraded its entry-level package to offer speeds of 250Mbps (symmetric) at the same price (£25 per month on a 24-month contract) as its previous 150Mbps tier, with their premium package now achieving speeds of 2000Mbps (2Gbps) for £55 per month.
The press release itself didn’t include any details on the new Wi-Fi 7 kit, although they did preview their plan to introduce co-branded Wi-Fi 7 routers from TP-Link to customers late last year (here). The packages will thus bundle the new co-branded HB610 and HB810 routers, which they said would deliver wireless “speeds of up to 4.8x faster and improved network capacity 5x versus previous Wi-Fi 6” (although real-world experiences over WiFi will always vary).
Advertisement
Otherwise, Connect Fibre, which is backed by investment from the Foresight Group (here), is currently rolling out their new open access (wholesale) full fibre network – using ADTRAN’s XGS-PON technology – across various locations in Essex, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Cambridgeshire.
Stefan Stanislawski, CEO of Connect Fibre, said:
“The launch of Wi-Fi 7 is a game-changer, and we’re proud to be leading the charge in bringing this cutting-edge technology to our customers. At Connect Fibre, innovation and customer experience are at the heart of everything we do. We believe everyone should have access to the best possible connectivity without barriers or premium pricing. With Wi-Fi 7, we’re not just keeping up with the future – we’re shaping it.”
Last year’s announcement also pledged to launch a new Wi-Fi 7 Connect Mesh add-on service powered by TP-Link’s HB210 Pro mesh node, which they said would offer the “UK’s best Wi-Fi mesh guarantee” of 120Mbps seamless, uninterrupted connectivity in every room (EE does get close to this with 100Mbps on their top package).
UPDATE 8:49am
The routers used will be the HB610 on the Fibre 250, Fibre 500 and Fibre 1000 packages, with the high-end HB810 being used for Fibre 2000 and above. For their mesh systems, the first puck will be a HB610 on all plans and any further mesh nodes being HB210.
Advertisement
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
« Customers of Broadband ISP Lit Fibre Gain Access to CityFibre’s UK Network
They look like Deco BE85, wonder if they’re interoperable with Deco units.
Good to see Connect Fibre is pushing forward the tech but most devices can’t even handle these crazy speeds! Even if you get 1Gbps or 2Gbps broadband, your phone, laptop, or even your router will likely cap out way lower—most Wi-Fi 6 devices max out at 500-800Mbps. Unless you have a fully wired setup with 2.5Gbps Ethernet, you won’t see the full speed. For most homes, 100-200Mbps is more than enough! These extreme speeds are mostly marketing hype unless you have super high demand needs.
Yes, you might only get 500Mbps on your phone – but you might have more than one device on your network..
Agree but I regularly see 1500 – 2 GBPS on my devices at home.
Fixed and over WIFI 🙂
More Devices ≠ More Speed Needed – Even if you have 10+ devices, they don’t all demand max speed at once. Streaming 4K, gaming, and video calls barely scratch the surface of a 200Mbps connection. The real bottleneck? Your router and device limits—not your broadband!
More Devices ≠ More Speed Needed – Even if you have 10+ devices, they don’t all demand max speed at once. Streaming 4K, gaming, and video calls barely scratch the surface of a 200Mbps connection. The real bottleneck? Your router and device limits—not your broadband!
I think it’s great to see WiFi 7 bring offered from alt nets. Especially when the big players still are getting to grips with it. Even if devices can’t utilise today, they will in the next 2 years so over the term of the contract from most providers, for the first time in ages the router won’t be essentially out of date. Roll on BeFibres WiFi 7, which I think coincides with my Virgin contact ending.
I wish Youfibre did this.