Setting up new broadband at a new address

Broadband availability is decided by the address, not by you. The flat you are leaving might have had three full fibre networks fighting over it while the house you are buying has one part-copper line and a long memory. Around 9 in 10 UK premises can now get gigabit-capable broadband, which also means around 1 in 10 cannot, so check before you start shortlisting providers.

Run two checks. Ofcom's broadband checker gives a postcode-level view of which networks and speeds serve the address, though its data is updated twice a year, so very new properties may not show up yet. Then run a postcode check on our deal pages to see what is actually orderable, whether that is Full Fibre Broadband Deals or a standard Fibre Broadband Deals connection on the older part-copper network. If the difference between the two means nothing to you, five minutes getting your head around FTTP, FTTC, cable and 5G: broadband types explained now will save confusion at the ordering stage.

This is the bit most people get wrong. Since 12 September 2024, switching provider at the same address has been genuinely easy. You contact the new provider, they handle the old one, there is no double billing and there is compensation if you are left offline for more than a working day. That process is called One Touch Switch and it is a real improvement.

It does not apply to moving house. A new address is a different journey entirely: either a home-move order with your current provider or a brand-new order with a different one. Either way you deal with the provider directly. None of the One Touch Switch protections come with you: not the seamless handover, not the no-gap guarantee, not the double-billing ban. Openreach's own guidance says the same: if you are moving, check what is available at the new address and plan it with your provider. Same address, new provider, use the switch. New address, new order.

Most providers run a home-move service and will move your package if they serve the new address. The catch, commonly, is that moving starts a new minimum term, so the household that was four months from freedom is suddenly signed up for another 24. Ask before you agree to anything.

If your provider cannot serve the new address, most will let you out without early-exit fees, but that is provider practice rather than an Ofcom rule, so get the waiver confirmed in writing before you stop paying.

The decision logic is short. Out of contract, moving is the single best moment to switch you will ever get: free choice, no exit fees and a new address that may have networks the old one never did. In contract, compare the exit fee against whatever the recontract offer looks like. If the new address has full fibre and the old deal was creaking along on part-copper, a fresh deal usually wins even after the maths.

Whether anyone in a van turns up depends on what is already in the property.

If the new place already has full fibre, a change of occupant is usually a takeover order: the provider posts you a router, you plug it into the ONT (the small white box on the wall where the fibre terminates) and no engineer is needed. The same goes for a part-copper FTTC line that is still working, which gets activated remotely.

An engineer visit is needed when the property has never had full fibre, when there is no working line at all or when you are changing network entirely. A first-time full fibre install typically takes a two-to-four-hour appointment and someone over 18 needs to be in. Block out the day. The engineer will arrive in the last 45 minutes of the window, because they always do.

Some properties have no live connection at all. You never book the network operator yourself. Your provider checks what work is needed and arranges it, so order early, because installation work can stretch the timeline well past the usual couple of weeks.

New builds are mostly the easy case. They typically come enabled with full fibre and an ONT already installed, usually in a service cupboard or under the stairs. Nothing is live until you place an order though. The same applies to the previous occupant's broadband: their service is tied to their account, so however healthy the kit on the wall looks, you still place a takeover or new order.

As soon as you have a completion or tenancy date, order. The sensible rule of thumb is two to three weeks ahead with the activation date set to move-in day. Most orders typically take one to two weeks from order to activation, longer if install work is needed, so a household that orders the week before the move is gambling.

If the dates do not line up, a 5G home broadband deal on a 30-day rolling term makes a decent stopgap, typically 100-300Mbps where the signal is strong, with no engineer and no commitment. The current crop of Mobile Broadband Deals is worth a look as soon as you know your dates.

The new router arrives in the post before activation day, with instructions that amount to "plug it in": into the ONT on full fibre, into the master socket on part-copper. The old router usually remains the old provider's property and may need sending back to avoid a fee, so check before it vanishes into a box marked "misc".

One last habit to break: do not order a phone line for the new house just because the old one had one. The copper phone network is being switched off by 31 January 2027 and landlines now run as digital voice over the broadband itself, added as an option on your broadband order. If anyone in the household uses a telecare or care alarm, tell the provider when you order.

Before any of that, it is worth two minutes working out What broadband speed do I actually need? and whether a Cheap Broadband Deals package does the job or the household teenager has made Gigabit Broadband Deals non-negotiable. Settle the speed question before the order, not after.