Who needs Superfast FTTC ?
Broadband has become much more essential to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use per day that count 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 daily.
Admaston Broadband Deals For December 2023
[elementor-template id=”137965″]| 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 sitting in commuter traffic, something that we all need to avoid.
Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to deal with the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances signed on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small business has the ability to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.
What is fast broadband?
Super-fast broadband refers to broadband connections of right up to 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 higher than most internet users.
While the current average UK internet connection is around 12Mbps (2014), super-fast broadband products deliver speeds of right up to 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks including Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.
How does fibre connectivity work ?
Unlike many of UK internet connections, which use telephony 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 quicker than along the copper pipes used by traditional DSL broadband .
BT also offers a to 76Mb fibre service called Infinity (you can get 300Mbps in some areas), and plans to make this available to millions more UK homes in years to come.
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 only on offer 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 range of your internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by joining selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.
ADSL2+
This form of connectivity uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL internet connections, but thanks to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of almost 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “approximately 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 town or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of as high as 16Mb or more. This still provides more than enough bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.
Which superfast broadband product is the quickest ?
Among the UK’s fastest broadband 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 because of its superfast fibre-optic connectivity network.
BT’s Infinity package delivers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the aforementioned 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 copper to carry more data.
How do I get fast broadband ?
Your first step is to see which super-fast internet services are available at your exhaage. Check which types of connectivity are available.
Advantages of fast broadband
Super fast internet connectivity empowers you to make the most of all the entertainment services on offer on the world wide web. You’ll manage to watch movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you consume what you like, when you want it , and getting rid of the hanging around for enormous downloads.
Fans of on-demand show will love their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , and also rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.
Reduced latency means improved response times delivered by high speed connectivity means that online gamers gain a competitive advantage over the competition and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.
Disadvantages of fibre internet
Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) and based upon things that are not within your control, like the age of wiring and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Wherever super-fast connectivity is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in performance for a much higher annual cost .
Who is fibre connectivity for?
The massive growth in the quantity of people downloading music , video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super-fast internet connectivity.
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 fibre connectivity deal – preferably fibre optic for the best service .
Super-fast connectivity is also ideal for fans of online gaming . This is because faster connectivity eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is called ping, which is often as a resulted of slower ADSL broadband products . This can seriously ruin your gaming experience .
If you only use the internet for checking your e-mail and for the occasional search, it’s more prudent to take a standard ADSL service .
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