Public reviews
4.7 out of 5
Checked 2026-08-23
A self-selecting public-review signal. Provider invitations and who chooses to review can affect the headline score.
Trustpilot profile used in this review (opens in a new tab)
Head-to-head
National Broadband vs Highland Broadband: 5G Now or Wait for Full Fibre?
This is not a like-for-like comparison: National Broadband is a 5G fixed-wireless service available to most UK addresses today, while Highland Broadband is a full-fibre network still being built across rural Scotland.
The quick answer
This is not a like-for-like comparison: National Broadband is a 5G fixed-wireless service available to most UK addresses today, while Highland Broadband is a full-fibre network still being built across rural Scotland. For someone in Highland Broadband's build area right now, the real choice is between a working 5G connection today and a faster fibre connection that may still be months away.
Updated 23 August 2026·Reviewed by BroadbandPicker editorial team
Quick Verdict
Highland Broadband wins on raw speed, upload symmetry and long-term value wherever its own network has actually reached a property. National Broadband wins on availability today: its 5G service does not depend on a construction timeline, which matters for anyone who needs a working connection now rather than when a build programme reaches their street.
National Broadband vs Highland Broadband: customer-review evidence
These signals are shown separately because they measure different things. Ofcom complaints record serious escalations, surveys measure experiences across a sample, and public reviews reflect self-selecting recent sentiment. We never combine them into an invented trust score.
National Broadband
Highland Broadband
Public reviews
4.7 out of 5
Checked 2026-08-23
A self-selecting public-review signal. Provider invitations and who chooses to review can affect the headline score.
Trustpilot profile used in this review (opens in a new tab)Missing a metric does not mean a provider performed badly. Some providers are below Ofcom’s reporting threshold or were not named in a comparable survey. Read our evidence dashboard and review methodology.
National Broadband
From
£34.99/mo
Max speed
60 Mbps
Coverage
80%
Trustpilot
4.7/5
- A 5G fixed-wireless alternative for addresses fibre has not reached, no engineer visit or landline required
- Works across all four UK mobile networks, picking whichever gives the strongest signal at the address
- Unlimited data as standard, with a plug-in router rather than a fixed-line installation
Highland Broadband
Best valueFrom
£29.99/mo
Max speed
5000 Mbps
Coverage
1%
Trustpilot
4.7/5
- Building its own full-fibre network across rural Scotland, backed by a £50 million investment confirmed in August 2025
- Every plan is symmetrical, from 150 Mbps up to 5,000 Mbps upload and download
- A means-tested social tariff is available at £23.99 a month, separate from the standard range
At-a-Glance Comparison
| Metric | National Broadband | Highland Broadband |
|---|---|---|
| From price | £34.99/mo | £29.99/mo |
| Max speed | 60 Mbps | 5000 Mbps |
| Setup fee | £49 | Free |
| Typical contract | 12 months | 24 months |
| Coverage | 80% of UK homes | 1% of UK homes |
| Trustpilot | 4.7/5 | 4.7/5 |
Pros and Cons
National Broadband
- Can be live within days, no waiting for a fibre or copper engineer appointment
- A genuine option for rural or hard-to-reach addresses that fixed-line providers have not built to
- Multi-network approach improves the odds of a usable signal versus a single-network 5G router
- Strong customer-review pattern, particularly from people switching from poor rural broadband
- Speed depends entirely on local mobile signal strength, not a guaranteed fixed-line figure
- Considerably slower than full fibre where full fibre is actually available
- A one-off router cost applies, plus a more expensive professional external-antenna installation for weaker signal areas
- Performance can vary at peak local mobile network usage times in a way a dedicated fibre line does not
Highland Broadband
- Free premium installation, worth £50, included on every plan
- Symmetrical speeds across the whole range, including the entry tier
- Advanced cyber security and parental controls included free on the two fastest plans
- A genuine social tariff for households on means-tested benefits
- Only a 24-month contract is offered, with no rolling monthly or 12-month option
- Prices are scheduled to rise by £4 every April from 2027 onward
- Coverage remains limited and is concentrated in specific parts of Scotland
- Easily confused by name with Highland Community Broadband, an unrelated wireless ISP that is closing in April 2026
Key Differences
Technology
National Broadband uses 4G and 5G mobile signal, delivered through a plug-in router with no engineer visit needed for most properties. Highland Broadband is a physical fibre-to-the-premises network, requiring the property to actually be connected by an engineer once the build reaches that street.
Availability today
National Broadband's 5G service is stated to reach over 80% of UK properties today, working across all four mobile networks. Highland Broadband is still mid-build, targeting full Highlands coverage by the end of 2026, with roughly half of rural Highlands premises connected as of its most recent reporting.
Speed and upload
Highland Broadband is fully symmetrical, from 150 Mbps to 5,000 Mbps upload and download, well beyond what any mobile-based service can offer. National Broadband's 5G typically delivers 40 to 80 Mbps download with considerably lower upload, dependent on local mobile signal strength rather than a fixed guaranteed rate.
Price and contract
National Broadband's 5G plan starts around £34.99 to £39.99 a month on a 12, 18 or 24-month contract, with no mid-contract price rise. Highland Broadband starts from £29.99 a month on a 24-month-only contract, with a scheduled £4 a month rise each April from 2027.
How We Think About This Matchup
National Broadband and Highland Broadband solve a similar underlying problem, poor broadband in rural and hard-to-reach parts of the UK, including large parts of rural Scotland, using completely different technology. National Broadband delivers 5G and 4G fixed-wireless broadband over the mobile network, needing only a plug-in router; Highland Broadband is building its own full-fibre network physically into the ground across the Highlands, Argyll, Fife, the Lothians, Moray and Stirlingshire.
For most of Highland Broadband's eventual coverage area, the realistic comparison is not "which is better" in the abstract, but "is Highland Broadband's fibre live at my address yet, and if not, is National Broadband's 5G worth having in the meantime."
Final Verdict
Choose Highland Broadband if its full-fibre network has actually reached your address; it will outperform 5G broadband on speed, upload capacity and long-term reliability.
Choose National Broadband if Highland Broadband has not built to your address yet, or is not planning to, and you need a working connection now rather than on a construction timeline you cannot control.
Frequently Asked Questions
Editorial and Source Notes
We review provider comparisons against the same published methodology used across our provider reviews, then add source links where they help verify pricing context, methodology, and trade-offs.