Established in 2011, since that time Origin broadband has built a reputation as being one of the best budget broadband providers in the UK, with the atmosphere of a small, local provider even despite its nationwide presence.

Although Origin broadband does not have the market share or popular name recognition of other budget broadband providers such as Plusnet or TalkTalk, its broadband services have won numerous awards through the years such as the Rising Star Award from Cable.co.uk, and the Business of the Year Award from Chamber Awards..

Origin broadband’s website says they offer “Great value broadband packages” and “Keep broadband simple”, while also making a big deal about there being “no hidden charges”, no upfront costs, and line rental is included in all their prices.

Just how good is Origin broadband? In this Origin Broadband Review, we’ll find out the answers.

Determining The Best ISPs In The UK

Before we delve into the specifics, let’s first discuss the standards that we’ll examine in order to judge whether or not Origin will be a worthwhile ISP for you.

1. First and foremost, internet speed is perhaps the top thing to consider so that you can determine if the speeds are compatible with your lifestyle. You may be a work-from-home office worker who has video conferencing needs, a gamer who requires fast internet, or maybe someone who requires constant large downloads for your projects. Regardless, in these times the internet is one of our main means of communicating with the outside world. So, how much internet speed do we need? 1 Mbps is typically the minimum amount needed for simple browsing, while you need around 1-4 Mbps if you want to do video conferencing. 5-8 Mbps should be enough for high-quality video viewing, while 50 Mbps and above are best for those who frequently download large files.
2. Second, we’re going to examine pricing relative to competing companies. We want the best value for our dollar, so it’s only natural to determine how these subscriptions compare to other choices in your area.
3. Finally, we’ll look at customer service and service reviews. Customer service is the primary means of communication between the company and the customers. It’s the only means for you to ask for advice or help in case there are issues. Lack of communication may result in an overall bad experience, which means you’ll simply be wasting your time and money.

Now that we’ve determined our criteria, let’s delve in.

What Broadband Speeds Does Origin Offer?

Consumers in the UK typically consider several factors when choosing a broadband service. A combination of both speed and price tends to come under consideration, while many consumers will take out a broadband package linked to another service, most commonly a TV subscription although they may get offered deals from a mobile phone provider or another source.

Origin broadband does offer landline telephone services, although these do not appear to be marketed individually on the Origin website.

Origin broadband offers the three tiers of broadband which have been commonly seen in the UK for years, but which may become the domain of budget providers such as themselves as some of the larger providers start to move towards ultrafast broadband.

The three speeds and package names offered by Origin broadband are featured in the table below.

Origin Broadband Plans

Origin’s standard plan is an ADSL package – which is one step below their fibre plans. This includes an average download speed of 11 Mbps and an average upload of 1 Mbps, which doesn’t sound like much but will mostly be enough to do basic internet functions such as gaming, video conferences, and Netflix. The package offers a free router and a 12-month contract. Extremely basic services, but its strength lies in its simplicity and reliability. If you’re a simple user with undemanding internet needs, this may be for you.

The Superfast plan is Origin’s offer for an entry-level fibre plan that comes with average download speeds of 36 Mbps and upload speeds of 9 Mbps. If there are quite a few people living in your home all with internet access needs, then this subscription may be for you. However, not all areas are viable for fibre installation, so checking beforehand whether your area is available for connection will save you a lot of time.

Max Fibre is Origin’s biggest offering – a fibre plan capable of 67 Mbps downloads and 17 Mbps upload speeds. This is enough bandwidth to cater to multiple heavy internet users all at the same time.

Both the Superfast and the Max Fibre plans come in 18-month contracts. And does not offer extras like ones you get from other companies. These subscriptions are best for simple, no-frills internet needs.

Origin Broadband Speeds

Due to a ruling from the Advertising Standards Authority that came into effect in May 2018, internet service providers (ISP’s) in the United Kingdom are now required to advertise average speeds on the basis of what at least half of their customers can receive at peak times. Prior to this ruling, ISP’s could advertise higher headline speeds, so long as only 10% of customers were being provided with such a speed.

Although this ruling means the advertised speeds you see when looking for your ideal broadband package are more accurate, the speed you can receive, and use, depends on several variables. Use a broadband speed checker to get an even more accurate idea of the internet speeds you can expect to receive, from Origin broadband or any other provider.

How Does Origin Broadband’s Average Speeds Compare with Others?

As of February 2020, the latest research from Ofcom had been conducted in November 2018 and published in May 2019. That research did not include Origin broadband, so at present there are no sources of valid comparison data for Origin broadband against other UK ISP’s.

If you’re currently with another broadband provider, then you can check your current speed with a speed checker and compare how Origin broadband would perform against this.

Origin Broadband Offers and Deals

Origin broadband currently offers three packages at the speeds detailed in the earlier table.

The company tends not to offer specific incentives such as free gifts in order to join them, although will sometimes offer price reductions in order to attract new customers.

However, Origin does offer a unique option of being able to upgrade the free router. Like most broadband providers, Origin offers a free router for your subscription; for the standard ADSL subscription, the model of the router will most likely be ASUS DSL-N14, and for fiber it’ll be ASUS DSL-N16. But if you choose to upgrade, Origin offers you 2 choices that they classify as ‘pro’ and ‘gold standard’. They guarantee that these routers are able to support multiple high-performance tasks simultaneously. If you have a lot of wireless devices that you use to work from home, these upgrades may be a good investment for you.

The below table summarises Origin broadband’s current packages in terms of upfront and continuing cost.

Contract Inclusions

At present, Origin broadband’s basic 11MB packages comes as a 12-month contract as standard, while the Superfast and Max Fibre packages come with an 18-month contract as standard.

In previous years, Origin’s basic broadband price would stay the same after the minimum contract term, while the faster packages would typically increase in price by £3 per month. At present, it appears that the contract is simply there to lock customers in for a set period with no price increase at the end of the contract, with services simply continuing.

One other option that Origin broadband offers, which we believe is unique among UK ISP’s, is the opportunity to pay for your contracted services upfront and in full. While this involves a substantial upfront payment, over the course of the contract your Origin broadband services will work out cheaper.

While the potential savings for paying upfront for Origin’s basic broadband and superfast packages are modest, the potential saving if you do so for the max fibre package is huge, at £10.55 per month and just shy of £190 over the course of the contract.

Origin Broadband Pricing vs Competitors

Let’s look at how Origin broadband’s pricing compares to its competitors. To give you as full a picture as possible we have included both the pay monthly and the pay upfront price as a monthly equivalent for Origin broadband’s services to enable you to compare against other UK ISP’s.

Origin 11MB Broadband Pricing vs Competitors

While Origin broadband is competitive even at the regular price of £18.99, being more expensive than only Now broadband, if you’re able to pay for the full 12-month contract upfront then you’ll be getting the cheapest basic broadband package available in the UK.

Origin 36MB Superfast Pricing vs Competitors

At the mid-range package, it offers, Origin broadband is again very price competitive, but doesn’t offer the cheapest package in the UK even when paying upfront.

Origin 67MB Max Fibre Pricing vs Competitors

With its fastest package, Origin broadband is again price competitive at its pay monthly pricing tier, while by paying upfront they will again become the cheapest option in the market.

How Does Origin Broadband’s Pricing Compare Overall?

Overall, Origin broadband’s pricing is competitive at all levels of the market, and the company offers the UK’s cheapest broadband at 11MB and 67MB for customers who are willing and able to pay the full cost of their contract upfront.

While Origin broadband’s pricing is competitive, they don’t offer any money back guarantees if your broadband speed isn’t what they say it will be, which a few other competitors including Plusnet and Sky do. As a result, there is potentially an added element of risk in taking out Origin broadband as you’ll be paying for their services no matter what, regardless of whether they deliver.

Origin Broadband Customer Service Performance

A quick search for Origin’s customer service reputation online brings you to a wide array of opinions.

Origin’s customer ratings from various sources at time of writing are:

• 2.8 out of 5 stars on Google
• 2.7 out of 5 stars on broadband.co.uk
• 4.1 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot

Of the customer reviews present online on various sites, most of them were about internet signal and customer services. Some of them complained that the signal is inconsistent and that the services are awful.

One reviewer stated that his attempts to cancel his service were met with roundabouts, frequently switching him to other service representatives and shutting the line down on him to the point where he mentioned that he may contact his bank and simply tell them to stop paying for the services that he wishes to be rid of. However, these may just be isolated instances, as shown by the relatively high Google and Trustpilot ratings.

Nevertheless, once you’ve signed up with Origin broadband, if you have any issues you can contact them via @OriginBroadband on Twitter, while their Help & Support section on their website is designed to help you get the answers to any problems as quickly as possible.

Important Tips Before Getting Origin Broadband

We all want to get the biggest bang out of our buck, and to do this we have to carefully decide whether or not this company is worth handing over our money to for the foreseeable future. If you’re still in doubt whether Origin Broadband is deserving of your trust, here are some other things you can do to gather more information.

• Reach out to people who have subscribed. If you know a neighbor, friend, family or co-worker that is on Origin Broadband, hit them up and ask them about their experiences. It would be better if you knew someone near your own home, as they could serve as a basis for signal strength and reach of customer service in your area. They would be able to provide a wealth of first-hand knowledge about the company’s performance that you simply cannot find on online reviews.
• Ask people if they are experiencing issues. If they are, try to determine what the cause was and what they have done about it. They may simply be experiencing issues from other factors, such as an outdated router, outdated firmware, internet consuming malware, breach in security resulting in network leechers, and forgotten software that regularly consumes data – and then blaming it on the ISP.
• Try to seek information from as many sources as you can. Whether their opinions are favorable or not, it’s best for you to take their opinions with a grain of salt and not just believe them outright.
• Try contacting their customer service yourself. Not only is this a good measure of their responsiveness and how they treat their customers, but you can also ask them questions personally in case something is not clear to you.

Summing Up Origin Broadband

Origin broadband fits right in alongside the UK’s other budget broadband providers, and remains competitive in terms of pricing right up to its fastest packages, even offering the fastest broadband in the UK at 67MB for customers who are able to pay for their full 18-month contract upfront.

One potential downside of Origin broadband is that due to its low market share it does not feature in Ofcom’s latest consumer research, nor is it likely to do so in the next edition. Therefore, despite being a multi-award-winning ISP, consumers have no real-time view of how their broadband is performing in the here and now, and cheap broadband is meaningless if you’re not getting the speed you’ve paid for. Origin broadband’s apparently inconsistent customer service performance would be another factor that might put us off.

That all said, if the price is your main factor in determining the ISP for you, then Origin broadband offers competitive packages right up from basic broadband to superfast packages, and are a reasonable ISP for you to consider as your broadband provider.