Who needs Speedy Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become much more essential to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use every day that depend on broadband connectivity seems to increase. The quantity of tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops, games consoles and TV’s that each person has in their homes, seems to increase daily.

Batsford Broadband Deals For October 2025

Connection Type	Availablity
FTTC / Fibre / Superfast Broadband	Yes
Cable / Virgin Media	Some Areas
ADSL / Broadband	Yes
4G	Yes

Working from home is commonplace as it saves people being stuck in commuter traffic, something that all of us would like to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to cope with the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances logged on concurrently. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or local business is able to do what they want online– all at the same time– with no annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband relates to broadband connections of as high as 300Mbps in the UK.

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to connect to the internet , download music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively greater than most internet users.

While the current average UK broadband connection is around 12Mbps (2014), superfast broadband products deliver speeds of about 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks such as Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does high speed connectivity operate?

Unlike many of UK internet connections, which use telephone lines, the UK’s fastest internet product – the 100Mbps service from Virgin (it’s 200Mbps in some areas) – is delivered by a cable, or fibre-optic, broadband network. These cables are made up of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper pipes used by standard DSL internet connectivity.

BT also offers an as much as 76Mb fibre service called BT Infinity (you can get 300Mbps in some areas), and plans to make this available to millions more UK residence in in the future .

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have resold BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast internet is not exclusively available to people in a fibre broadband area . Fast broadband is not exclusively on offer to people in a fibre-optic broadband area. If you live within a certain distant of your broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by signing up for selected ADSL2+ broadband services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connection uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL internet connections, but due to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of as high as 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “almost 16Mb”.

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the cabling and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you inhabit a city or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of approximately 16Mb or more. This still provides more than enough bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which superfast internet product is the best?

Among the UK’s fastest internet products is Virgin Media’s 152Mbps service. Virgin Media, which also offers 50Mbps broadband products as a bare minimum, is able to deliver such fast connections with the help of its superfast fibre broadband network.

BT’s Infinity package delivers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the previously mentioned services from Sky, EE and TalkTalk, which use BT’s fibre network and feature headline speeds according to BT.

 

 

Broadband products offering an up to 16Mbps (or thereabouts) connection are available from most providers. The arrival of these speeds has been facilitated by an upgrade of BT’s network with ADSL2+ technology, enabling the existing copper to carry more data.

How do I get high speed broadband ?

Your start is to see which super-fast broadband services are available in your area . Check which service are available.

 

Advantages of fast broadband

High speed internet connectivity can let you make the most of all the music streaming on offer online. You’ll have the ability to watch movies in a within minutes – allowing you watch what you want , when you like it, and banishing the hanging around for large downloads.

Fans of on-demand TV will love their favourite shows on the BBC iPlayer , together with rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without interruption .

Reduced latency means better response times delivered by super-fast broadband means that when playing game online you a competitive advantage over the opposition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC internet connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very near) and depend on things that are not within your control, like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Regardless of whether super fast broadband is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in performance for a much higher annual price.

Who is  fibre broadband  for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people downloading music , downloading video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no more a typical user of super-fast internet .

If you are a heavy downloader or are one of the increasing number of consumers who prefer to catch up with TV programmes online, it makes sense to sign up for a high speed internet deal – preferably fibre optic for the best experience.

Super-fast connectivity is also ideal for fans of online games . This is because a faster connection eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is often  brought on by slower ADSL internet connectivity products . This can seriously ruin your online gaming experience .

If you only use the internet for checking your e-mail and for the occasional search, it’s more prudent to favour a standard ADSL service .

Batsford – Other Areas

Chaceley Stock

Richborough

Hungerford

Elton

Weston Green

Kingswood Brook

Wroxall

Studfold

Slattadale

Old Goginan