The Best Shell Energy Deals for Broadband, TV & Mobile

Shell Energy Broadband Explained

The company once known as First Utility has now become Shell Energy broadband and, yes, it is the very same petrol energy company with which we are all very familiar. The broadband package originally offered by First Utility hasn't altered a great deal since it changed its name to Shell Energy broadband. Their winning formula is their ability to offer good value deals for short term contracts and they are a financially stable organisation able to offer highly competitive prices as a result.

Here's our review of Shell energy broadband

Shell Energy broadband uses the Openreach BT network to bring you your broadband and is therefore as competitive and reliable as other leading broadband providers.

Shell's download speeds can range from anything between 11Mbps up to 63Mbps, with average upload speeds ranging from 1Mbps up to 17 Mbps. They tend to run on standard and fibre broadband technologies and offer home phone line packages as well. Prices are reasonable, starting from a pretty impressive £16.99 per month.

About Shell energy broadband

The company once known as First Utility has strived to remain highly competitive whilst offering a very simple and easy to understand package with clear pricing structure. Their starter package gives an average download speed of 11Mbps which is more than enough for internet browsing, music streaming and TV. If your household includes avid gamers, however, this is probably not going to be sufficient. You will need to go up a level to their fibre packages which include superfast fibre at 35Mbps and superfast fibre plus at 63Mbps.

A fibre connection is ideal for multi-household users (especially those with teenagers) as it is able to handle traffic from multiple devices at the same time.

These advertised speeds are fairly standard across the industry and sit comfortably within the realms of what is being offered by most broadband providers. The only exception to this is Virgin Media who offer incredibly high broadband speeds of 362Mbps and higher.

As is often the case with providers, the initial sign-up price will tend to be a little cheaper as they attempt to win over your custom, just be aware of this before you sign as you will be locked into an 18month contract thereafter.

The router

When you sign up with Shell energy broadband, they will offer you a very basic Technicolor TG588v2 router, which although good enough for the job, is certainly not one of the better models out there. It is possible to use your own router, of course, as models from other providers to tend to be better. Just make sure that when you sign up with Shell that they are happy for you to use another provider's router and more importantly, that the technology will work.

Initial set-up

One of the plus points for going with Shell Energy broadband is that they won't charge you for the initial installation and set-up, with the exception of those with no phone line. Many providers charge for the router, installation and delivery so this is a major plus. Shell doesn't increase the price after your initial contract term has expired which is also a positive factor.

Prior to set-up, Shell Energy broadband will check to see whether you are able to get fibre in your area and will give you an idea as to the expected speed, not taking into account any wi-fi connections which will always be slower.

Benefits and discounts in using Shell Energy broadband

Being an energy company, Shell offers fuel discounts through the use of an app with their broadband package, enabling you to get discounts from Shell petrol stations throughout the UK. They also send you other offers and discounts once you have signed up.

Shell Energy broadband home phone packages

If you are like many other broadband users who tend to rely on the internet and mobile phones only, you'll be pleased to hear that you don't have to take out an all-inclusive phone and internet package. If you are an occasional home phone user, then you can opt to take out some extra-adds on with your package which include:

  • The 'Anytime Plus' package which is £8 extra to call any UK landlines and UK mobiles at any time.
  • The 'Weekend and Evening Plus' package which costs an extra £4 to add all-inclusive evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and UK mobiles.
  • An extra 'International Call Package', which costs £5 for 600 minutes to 40 international destinations, offering a further 75% discount to any mobile numbers based in the same international destinations. In addition to this, they also offer a 50% discount on all calls to other international destinations and these can be accessed by taking out the packages mentioned here.

Customer service

A note of caution about the company; in 2014/15 First Utility, which has now become Shell Energy, received a high number of customer complaints following their inability to keep up with demand, with customers not receiving responses to customer service requests and, in some cases, being left waiting with non-functional connections. At the time, First Utility said that this was due to unprecedented customer demand and that they were simply unable to keep pace. This has now been addressed and should not be a problem going forward.

The final review

Overall, Shell Energy broadband are reasonably priced and offer a wide variety of speeds and packages, depending upon how you plan to use the internet. They offer further incentives for Shell Energy customers in the form of discounts and rewards. The potential negatives could be the long 18 month contractual terms and very basic router hardware. Despite this, it would seem that Shell are offering a very competitively priced, no-frills service.

Company ethics and the environment

Just one point to note, if you are looking for ways of reducing your impact on the environment, then remember that Shell were originally and always will be an oil energy company. If environmental credentials are a major factor for you, you may wish to look at some of the other providers here on our site.

Shell Fast broadband
  • Average speed of 11 Mbps
  • Access to Shell Go+ reward programme
  • Unlimited data usage allowance
  • WiFi router and line rental included
  • 18 months contract plan
Shell Energy Superfast Fibre broadband
  • Average speed of 35 Mbps
  • Access to Shell Go+ reward programme
  • Unlimited data usage allowance
  • WiFi router and line rental included
  • 18 months contract plan
Shell Superfast Fibre Plus broadband
  • Average speed of 63 Mbps
  • Access to Shell Go+ reward programme
  • Unlimited data usage allowance
  • WiFi router and line rental included
  • 18 months contract plan

What other services you can get from Shell energy home broadband offering?

Sky Sports packages / channels No
BT Sports / BT Sports app No
TV channels No
Fibre optic broadband service Yes
ADSL broadband service Yes
Mobile phone deals and packages No
Call package options Yes
International calls No

Shell energy broadband router specifications

Technicolor tg588v v2 Router LED's  LED description 
 
Modem ADSL2+ and VDSL2 Power button LED
Wi-Fi standard IEEE 802.11n 2.4 GHz Orange LED Router starting  
Bands 2.4GHz Green LED Its on and ready to use 
Stated speed Not stated  Ethernet LED
Security Parental control  Green LED Cables are connected correctly 
WAN 10/100/1000 Base-T port, RJ-11 DSL Green flashing LED Data being transferred 
LAN ports 4 ethernet ports  Internet LED
USB ports 2.0 USB port and 4G/3G backup usb dongle  LED off  Internet disabled / No broadband service 
Wall mountable NO Red flashing LED Device attempting to connect 
Size 160x126x25mm Solid greed LED It is connected and ready to use 
Media sharing  DLNA and UPnP A/V options  Green flashing LED Data being transferred 
Broadband LED
LED off  There is no broadband connection 
Fast green flashing LED  Broadband speed synchronising
Solid greed LED Internet connected 
WPS LED
LED off  It is not active 
Orange flashing LED Its pairing 
Red LED Pairing didn’t work and failed 
Green LED Pairing successful 
Wi-Fi LED
LED off  Wi-Fi disabled 
Green LED Wi-Fi enabled 
Green flashing LED Data being transferred 
  • Name: Shell Energy Broadband
  • Parent company: Shell Energy Retail Limited
  • Operated in Regions: UK
  • Plans offer: Broadband, Landline
  • IPv6 Support: No
  • Ofcom Code of Practice: No
  • Relocation Support: Yes
  • ISPA Member: No
  • Customer Service Number: 0330 094 5800

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