How long does broadband installation actually take?

The honest answer is that the installation itself usually takes under an hour, and getting to that hour takes between two days and three weeks. The variance comes from whether a working line already exists at your address, and whether anyone has to visit.

A self-install kit typically arrives in 2–3 working days and takes ten minutes to set up. An engineer visit is usually booked 5–10 working days out, and can run to three weeks at busy periods or where external work is needed. Your service goes live on the activation date, not when the box arrives — those are often different days.

The two kinds of install

Which one you get is decided by the state of the line at your address, not by which package you bought.

• Self-install — the property has a working line of the right type and has been connected before. A router is posted to you, you plug it in, and it activates on the agreed date. No appointment, no waiting at home.
• Engineer install — the line is new, has been inactive for a long time, or needs work at the exchange or outside the property. Someone has to be there, and the slot is typically a half-day rather than a specific time.

What happens on activation day

The service is switched on at the network level, usually in the morning. Your router then needs to pick up the connection, which can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. If nothing happens by mid-afternoon, call — the order can be stuck at the exchange and pushed through manually.

On a same-network switch, the old service stops the same day. Expect a few hours of downtime rather than days, but plan for it if you work from home.

How to avoid the gap

The most common failure is a gap: the old service ends before the new one starts. It happens when you are crossing networks, because the two orders are not coordinated by anyone.

The fix is deliberate overlap. Book the new install for a day or two before you cancel the old service, and accept that you will pay for both for a short period. Two days of double billing is a small price for not being offline for a week. If you are on a same-network switch, the providers coordinate and the gap does not arise.

What can delay it

• The previous occupant's line is still active in their name. The provider has to wait for it to be released.
• The property has never had a line, or the line was cut during building work.
• You live in a flat where access to the riser or the communal cupboard needs the building manager.
• The engineer needs a permit to work on the street outside — this can add a week or more and is outside anyone's control.