Broadband for the Rural North Reviews 47

Waiting for installation of B4RN for over 5 Years
On my 3rd lot of Gigabit vouchers
Lots of promises about connection
Internal work for connection completed in June 2024 and promise of completion "soon"
Nearest neigbours 200 metres away .had their connection completed in September 2025 .still no news about mine,just a series of broken promises

I had a problem with my connection, I rang the helpline and a local employee can to help. Freddy was so helpful, he sorted out the problem quickly, resolved the connectivity issues I had elsewhere in my house, he was absolutely brilliant

I've been a customer of B4RN since 2013. The speed and reliability of the broadband in that time has been unbeatable. I work with video and regularly transfer massive files that would simply be impossible to do with other providers' services. With no more than a day or so total downtime in 12 years I have to say I just expect so much from my connection that if ever I had to change back to a 'normal' commercial provider I'd probably get a horrible shock. That and I know there are humans at B4RN ready to help with any queries I have, even if it's a topic they're not responsible for - no other provider would ever do that!

Ticket number 87081

Had problems with our internet this morning. Called and spoke to a very helpful and knowledgeable gent who advised us on how to boost our internet with several options..
Unfortunately we didn’t get his name but we would like to say thankyou for your advise and very speedy response.
Eddy

Not only is this the fastest broadband available in this area it is weather and power-cut resistant (very useful in our community). mpbs/£ there's no better value in the country. I particularly love the community aspect of it and the amount of money the project earned for all manner of local projects and community funds.

Wonderful, informed at every step and excellent installers. Quicker than expected too! My old house has very thick walls and via Develo powerline homeplugs every room has fast WiFi, from well over 1000 in sitting room where router is, even in bootroom (in building outside) which powers 3 cameras via Engenious up to 300 meters away!
Betty P

I approached B4RN (Lisa) re. a new connection and within a day I was fully connected.
It's brilliant (and very unusual) to get this level of customer service from a broadband service provider.....
Would recommend wholeheartedly....

Mathew Morrey helped me for several hours today. He was patient and knowledgeable. He went above and beyond. Thankyou so much Mathew.You are a superstar.

We've had B4RN for over 2 years, having previously been with Voneus. We both work from home so need Internet that's reliable and fast in order to do our jobs. Since moving to B4RN I can probably count on one hand the number of times the internet has been down, and this is normally for a very short period and communicated well in advance. The speeds are about 10 times faster than what I used to get in the city (and several multiples of that faster than Voneus provided!). There has been an occasion when a farmer has ploughed through a cable but B4RN have been quick to respond and repair, which given our very rural location is really admirable. I could not speak more highly of the service we've had from B4RN - no flashy ads, just good quality, reliable service!

Absolutely fantastic company. We’ve had excellent broadband since they installed it about 9 years ago. We’ve always found them prompt to deal with any issues. On Easter Sunday our router failed and a technician made a special visit to us on his way home so we were up and running again the same day.

The people who came to fit it were great and the wifi is fast but this weekend it went down after a power surge and we were left with no service. We were told the earliest a technician could come was Monday. So a weekend with no internet which is a problem living in the country with no phone signal or landline.

It is now Monday lunchtime and still no connection. This is especially a problem as we all work from home and still don’t have B4RN internet reconnected. In my opinion, this needed to be sorted out on Saturday.

Absolutely fuming. Since this was installed in a field 10 metres from my home my o2 4g has been non existent.
Livid. Complained but they said it shouldn't affect it. Contacted o2 they stated all areas where in full reception Absolutely 💯 sick to death of no reception.

B4RN has to be the most efficient and customer focussed company I have ever dealt with. I recently arranged for B4RN to install fibre broadband at my elderly parents' home. I had a few questions about connecting the service up to the existing Wi-Fi mesh and the B4RN helpdesk responded to me in less than an hour and answered all my questions. The fibre installation process went very smoothly. Will Delaney did all the work on site. What an outstanding individual he is - friendly and professional and did an outstanding job. In my 41 years as an IT professional, regularly dealing with the likes of BT and Virgin Media etc, B4RN knock it out of the park compared to the lacklustre 'competition'. I have no hesitation in recommending B4RN to those considering using their service.

Contacted them by email - no response. Contacted them by phone - we'll call you back - they didn't. Trade must be too good!

Absolutely gold standard customer support from helpdesk. Above and beyond service by Kane with a same day faulty router switch out. Devil in the detail stuff like same SSID and other customisations observed. Keep up the great work.

Dug through a B4RN cable while digging foundations. Engineers were on site within 30 mins and again at 8am the next day (Saturday) and by midday had restored service to the 17 properties affected. Best customer service I have ever experienced

Great customer service and the super fast internet connection speeds are ideal for working at home as well as meeting the demands of the family!

Firstly cards on table, I am a B4RN local coordinator and volunteer.
I am also a B4RN customer and IT/IS professional.
I was previously a Plusnet customer.
Now the comparisons
On my laptop , ethernet connected Plusnet (60 Mbps/18 Mbps) , B4RN (335,309)
Same laptop via wifi connected at 120MB (73/63)
On my desktop B4RN (888,933)
I have a three ethernet wired APs to cover the house but I had these with my old connection

For £33 per month I can save many hours downloading/uploading files
I have transferred my land line number to VOIP and also have the provider app on my mobile.
The kids don't complain anymore

Ok it is not 1Gbps but it can be very close if you have the right equipment and setup, value for money 6*

Great people and great service let down by terrible router. We cancelled our contract in the end. Yes, we got 600mbps on new and up to date mobile devices whilst in close proximity to the router but go into the next room and the speed drops to about 200. Go up stairs and it’s down to 30 and often zero. Even on a brand new iPhone and after having received all the advice and support B4RN could offer. Any older devices (iPhone 6/7/8 etc) got 30mbps max when right next to the router and as low as zero in room next door. All other routers from all other suppliers we’ve ever had have given good coverage throughout our small house.
PC connected directly to the router got 700mbps max which although super fast and more than will ever be required is still not 1gb.
We reluctantly quit and returned to our original internet provider which is £15 a month cheaper and gets a steady 50mbps throughout the house and slightly slower on older phones.
It’s a real shame that after all the hard work planning, digging, installing all that state of the art super high tech internet stuff that they supply such a poor router! Unbelievable really. We were so disappointed.
But still love the whole project and full of admiration for those involved st every level.
B4RN are aware that the routers are not up to the job and end up advising us to invest in a “whole home” BT system of extenders. We’d already spent £150 for connection so didn’t want to pay another £150 to compensate for the poor router they gave us.

Many thanks to Tony & James. Been with B4RN for 18 months now, had our 1st technical issue last week. Really helpful & totally professional. In the age of total reliance of internet I felt that everything was dealt with as fast as possible, & they kept in touch with regular updates. Great Service, Fantastic Internet Speed & Value For Money. Now we're up & running again, family harmony is restored. Huge Thanks. 😁