Compare the best SSE Broadband internet deals

Founded as an energy company, it might be news to you that you can get broadband with SSE. In this article, we’re going to bring you up to speed on SSE Broadband and give you an idea of whether it’s worth considering when looking for internet deals.

Scottish and Southern Energy, to give SSE its full name, is the result of a merger between Scottish Hydro-Electric and Southern Electric, which made it a powerful player in both Scottish and English energy. Its purchase of SWALEC in 2000 spread its influence into Wales, and it now operates in the principality under that name.

Having established itself across Britain as an energy provider, SSE has since introduced broadband deals to its range of products, as well as bundles combining its energy offer with an internet connection.

SSE Broadband Packages

In entering the UK broadband market, SSE Broadband has decided to forgo the standard broadband package that most providers still offer as a formality. These packages are slow and don’t meet the needs of most internet users nowadays to stream videos and access the web on several devices at once.

Don’t know what broadband speed you need?Take a look at our broadband speed guide, where you’ll find out exactly what speed you need to sign up for based on your usage. You can also get an idea of the speed you’re currently getting by heading over to our broadband speed test.

Instead of offering standard broadband, SSE Broadband only gives customers two fibre deals to choose from - Unlimited Fibre and Unlimited Fibre Plus - here are the details for both:

Apart from being reasonably priced, the draw of no upfront costs in signing up to SSE Broadband is not inconsiderable - many providers do charge a fee when you sign up. These are not the only perks to signing up, with the following also there to draw prospective customers in:

• Fixed-price guarantee for the duration of your contract.
• 60-day ‘Happiness Guarantee’ period during which users can cancel for free.
• A free wireless router.

On the whole, SSE’s pricing, combined with the lack of added costs and the guarantee of no price hikes or exit fees if you want to leave early, gives us a great impression of its value for money. If its service is up to scratch, which you can find out about further down the page, SSE offers serious value.

SSE Energy and Broadband bundle

SSE, above all, represents a great opportunity for customers to group their energy and broadband bills and save a bit of money in the process. SSE recognises this and offers a bundle specifically for those looking to do this. Here are the details for it:

Those opting for the Energy and Fibre Broadband bundle would save a fiver per month, or £60 a year, signing up to this bundle as opposed to the Fibre Broadband offer alone. This is a significant saving and brings the price of SSE fibre broadband down to as low as we’ve seen for a similar speed in the UK.

You can also upgrade to Fibre Plus with this bundle, but you’ll need to contact SSE for a quote as it doesn’t currently advertise a price for it on its website. For more information, get in touch with SSE via the channels outlined on our contact page (link coming soon).

Calls add-ons

While line rental is included, and with it pay as you go calls, you’ll have to pay extra for SSE’s range of calls packages or else potentially be faced with a hefty phone bill. Here are the packages you can choose from when you sign up for SSE Broadband:

• Evening & Weekend (UK landline & mobile calls at evenings & weekends): £4
• Anytime (UK landline & mobile calls at any time): £8
• Anytime Plus (UK landline & mobile at any time, plus international calls to landlines in 35 countries): £12

This is about the standard price for similar calls packages on the market in general, but the inclusion of mobile calls across all packs is not typical. Packs often only include landline numbers or only a certain number of mobile minutes. We feel that this is a generous addition and adds a decent amount of value to SSE’s calls offer.

Remember to hang up before you hit 60 minutes!Whether you sign up with SSE or another provider, calls inclusive within your package are only inclusive up to an hour. For every minute you go over an hour, you’ll be charged the standard rate, so remember to hang up and redial before you reach the hour mark if you want to keep chatting.

For more information on SSE’s phone offer, including information on how much calls would cost you per minute outside of your inclusive minutes, see the SEE Broadband website.

SSE Broadband Login

Unlike SSE energy customers, SSE Broadband customers do not have an app that they can access to manage their account. Instead, customers will have to log in online to do this. To log into your online account, simply go to the SSE website’s sign-in page and enter the email address and password you registered with - if you’ve yet to register you can do so in a couple of clicks, but you’ll need your account number and perhaps a few other details handy.

Unfortunately, signing in to your SSE account online doesn’t appear to offer a great deal of features - the only thing it’s clear customers can do via the website is view their bills and manage payments. There is, however, a broadband help section on the website where users can find handy articles on the following subjects:

• Billing and payments
• Moving home
• Contracts
• Guides and advice
• Phone
• Regulatory information

For existing SSE Broadband customers looking for help with any of this, head over to the help section of the SSE website or keep reading to find out the number to reach SSE’s support team.

SSE Broadband Router

When you sign up for broadband with SSE, one of the things that comes as standard in your deal is the SSE Broadband router. In fact, a few bits of kit come will arrive when you sign up, and its important you know what to do with them, so we’re going to take you through them. Firstly, here’s what you’ll receive in the post:

• A wireless router with a power supply
• A filter for your phone socket
• A WiFi key and an internet security card
• Ethernet and DSL cables
• A booklet to guide you through setup

If you’re switching from another provider to SSE, you will probably already have a modem or filters plugged in at home. You can get rid of these - everything you’ll need to get your internet set up is listed above and will come with your router.

Follow these steps carefully to get yourself connected to the internet without a hitch:

1. Connect your router to the master phone socket in your home. Take care to place it centrally in an elevated position, and make sure there aren’t going to be too many obstacles (such as walls) between it and the devices you plan to connect.
2. Connect your router to the network. You may need a filter to do this, depending on the type of telephone socket you have (find out more about this in SSE’s help centre).
3. Connect your landline to the socket (either directly or via a filter).
4. Plug your router’s power adaptor into a socket - otherwise it won’t switch on!
5. Switch on your router using the on/off switch at the back until the lights turn solid green - this means it’s on!

For more information on SSE’s free wireless router and getting connected to the internet after you sign up, see the broadband help section of the SSE website or keep scrolling to find contact information for its support team.

SSE Broadband Number

If you’re looking to find an SSE Broadband number, the one you need will depend on your reason for contacting them. We’ll assume that as you’re here, you’re most likely wanting to call them to inquire about signing up. Here, then, is the number for SSE Broadband’s sales team:

Alternatively, you can find out more about SSE Broadband on the SSE website. Unfortunately, there’s no online chat function for you to consult as you browse, so you’ll have to give the sales team a call if you have any doubts or consult the website’s FAQs.

If you’re an existing customer, you can find full contact details for SSE, including a number for its support team, on our SSE contact page (link coming soon).

SSE Broadband Reviews

So far, we’ve been able to tell you about SSE Broadband’s products and paint a favourable picture of its pricing, but this doesn’t matter much if the service isn’t up to scratch. The best way to get an idea of this is by hearing what past and present customers have to say about it, so we’ve scoured the internet in search of customer reviews.

In our search, we found that SSE gets an awful rap from its energy customers. On the consumer review site Trustpilot, 84% give SSE the worst rating of Bad. SSE Broadband reviews, however, are more difficult to get a sense of as these seem to get mixed in with reviews about energy.

It’s true that if a company provides a poor service in one of its products it leaves us with little hope that it will provide exemplary service in another, but we decided to give SSE the benefit of the doubt and dig a little deeper into those reviews that mentioned broadband specifically:

I switched to them from another provider offering the same features and the advertised costs were similar. Little did I know they would sting you on making UK calls during the day which is at least 4 times the average.

This customer’s experience is worth noting, as it would take a bit of delving into the small print on the SSE Broadband website to find out just how much of a hit you could take on making calls outside of your inclusive periods. It isn’t necessarily something that could affect everyone, but given the image SSE puts across as a cheap provider with no hidden costs, it’s worth knowing that there are traps hidden in certain places.

There are, however, positive experiences to be spoken of by some SSE customers. Here’s what one reviewer who gave it 5 stars wrote. Most promising is that this SSE broadband review concerns service specifically:

Switched to SSE for broadband & phone, have better Internet than with my old supplier.

It’s an encouraging sign that this is one of few recent reviews to discuss the quality of the internet itself and that it speaks positively. It would seem that SSE does provide decent quality broadband, at least leaving customers with no reason to bemoan it, and for the price we’d say this makes it a steal.

Pros and cons

Users should weigh up their options carefully when considering whether it’s worth switching to a certain provider, and there are certainly things which might discourage you from signing up with SSE Broadband.

On the whole, if you just want broadband at a cheap price and don’t plan to bundle your broadband with energy or use your landline too often, we’d say SSE is worth considering. Here’s what we consider the pros and cons of signing up with them: