Who needs Superfast Internet ?

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

Sholing Common 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 we all would love to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to come to grips with the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances logged on at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or company manages to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.

What is quick broadband?

Super-fast broadband concerns broadband connections of approximately 300Mbps in the UK.

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

While the current average UK broadband connection is around 12Mbps (2014), super-fast broadband products deliver speeds of right up to 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic broadband networks like Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does fibre connectivity operate?

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

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

 

 

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

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

ADSL2+

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

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

Which high speed broadband product is the fastest?

Among the UK’s quickest connectivity 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 thanks to its superfast fibre-optic broadband network.

BT’s Infinity package offers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the previously mentioned services from Sky, EE and TalkTalk, which use BT’s fibre optic network and feature headline speeds in line with BT.

 

 

Alternatively, 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get superfast connectivity?

Your 1st step is to decide which superfast broadband services are available in your area . Check which products are available.

 

Advantages of fast broadband

Super fast internet connectivity empowers you to enjoy all the entertainment available online. You will have the ability to watch movies in a within minutes – allowing you watch what you want , when you like it, and banishing the days of long waiting times for enormous downloads.

Fans of on-demand programmes will love their best shows on the Sky Now TV, in addition to rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without interruption .

Reduced latency means improved response times delivered by fibre broadband means that online gamers gain an one-upmanship over the opponents and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of high speed connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and rely on things that are not within your control, like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the cabinet . Although super-fast internet is on offer in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in performance for a much higher monthly price .

Who is super-fast internet  for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people downloading music , video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super fast connectivity .

However, 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 good sense to enrol for a high speed connectivity deal – preferably fibre for the very best service.

Fibre broadband is also ideal for fans of online console usage. This is because a faster connection gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is often  as a resulted of slower DSL internet connectivity products. This can seriously ruin your gaming pleasure.

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

Sholing Common – Other Areas

Embsay

Priestcliffe

Broomhill

Holdenhurst

Ozendyke

Bridgefield

Y Fron

The Thrift

Chadsmoor

Balmore