Your broadband almost never goes live the day you move in. Here are the honest options for staying online in the gap, and a simple timeline so it never catches you out.
Last updated 18 July 2026
Moving day has enough going on without discovering the WiFi does not work. Yet that is exactly what happens to most people, because a broadband line rarely goes live the same week you move in. The good news is that the gap is easy to bridge once you know your options. Here is how to stay online from day one, whatever your provider says.
For most UK homes, broadband takes around two weeks from order to a working connection, driven almost entirely by whether an engineer needs to visit. It can be a few days on an existing line, and it can stretch past a month on a new-build. So even if you order the moment you get the keys, there is usually a stretch where you have moved in but the internet has not caught up.
Two quick tools to see where you stand: our broadband installation time checker gives you a tailored estimate in seconds, and our guide on how long broadband installation takes breaks it down provider by provider.
There are a handful of ways to get online in the gap, and each suits a different situation. Here is the straight version of when each one wins.
| Option | Rough cost | Setup | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone tethering | Free if you have the data | Instant | A day or two, one or two devices |
| Rent a 5G WiFi router | From £35 for a week | Next working day, about a minute to set up | A whole household, for a defined gap of a week to a couple of months |
| Rolling 5G home hub | Around £29 to £31 a month | A few days, needs a credit check | A longer-term connection you will keep |
| Public WiFi or a cafe | Free | Instant | The odd urgent task, not real home use |
Free if you already have the data, and fine for a day or two. The catch is that most phone plans are not built for a whole household streaming and working, and heavy tethering can eat a monthly allowance in an afternoon. Treat it as a stopgap for the first day, not a plan for two weeks.
This is the option built for exactly this situation, and it is the one we offer, so here is the honest picture. A pre-configured router arrives before you move, you plug it into any socket, connect with the card in the box, and the whole home is online in about a minute. There is no engineer, no phone line, no credit check and no direct debit, and you only pay for the weeks you need. When your broadband finally goes live, you post the router back with the free label and the rental simply ends. It suits short, defined gaps: the two weeks between moving in and your line going live, a new-build where the line is months away, or a short let. It is not trying to beat a long-term contract on price per month, so if you need internet for the long haul, a proper contract is cheaper.
Providers like Three, EE and Vodafone sell rolling 5G home broadband from around £29 to £31 a month. The hardware is decent and the data is generous. The downsides for a short gap are that these usually involve a credit check and a direct debit, and you have to remember to cancel, which is more admin than a two-week wait deserves. This is the better choice if you actually want to keep a mobile connection long term rather than just bridge a gap.
Fine for sending an urgent email or two, but not a serious answer for a home. You cannot run a household, a work setup or a family off the local coffee shop, and you should never do banking or anything sensitive on open public WiFi.
The gap nobody plans for. Whatever your provider's date, you still have to live, work and stream in the meantime. This is exactly why we built Airgen Go. We rent out pre-configured, unlimited-data 5G WiFi routers that arrive the next working day, from £35. Plug it in, connect, and you are online in about a minute. No engineer, no phone line, no credit check. We even check your postcode across the mobile networks first and ship the SIM with the strongest predicted signal at your new address. See WiFi for moving house for how it works.
Sort the internet the same way you sort the removals, and it never becomes a moving-day emergency.
Two situations catch people out most. New-builds are the slowest of all, because the infrastructure in the street or the block is sometimes not finished when you move in, and the wait can run to weeks or months. And plenty of modern homes simply have no landline, which is fine for full-fibre but can leave you stuck if the fibre is not ready. In both cases a 5G router is the neat answer, because it uses the mobile network rather than a fixed line, so it works with no landline and no installation at all. It gets a whole home online now, and you keep it only for as long as you need it.
Most large UK providers have signed up to Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme, including BT, EE, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Hyperoptic, Plusnet and Zen. Under the rates that apply from 1 April 2026, if your service does not start on the agreed date you are owed £6.46 for every day of delay, and a missed engineer appointment is worth £32.31. It should arrive as a credit on your bill within about 30 days, and you should not have to ask. If a date slipped, check your account to make sure the credit appears.
Moving house rarely lines up neatly with your broadband going live, but the gap is a solved problem. Order your broadband early and get the date in writing, work out the gap, and bridge it with whatever fits: a quick tether for a day, or a rented 5G router for a proper household connection from the moment you walk in. Plan it a week ahead and moving day stays about the boxes, not the WiFi.
Unlimited 5G WiFi from £35, delivered next working day to your new address. No credit check, no contract, free return label when your line goes live.
See pricing →