Who needs High Speed Connections ?

Broadband has become more and more vital to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use each 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 everyday.

Alconbury Broadband Deals For March 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 sitting in commuter traffic, something that most 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 signed on concurrently. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or business has the opportunity to do what they want online– all all at once– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband refers to broadband connections of more than 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 broadband connection is around 12Mbps (2014), superfast broadband products deliver speeds of as high as 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks which include Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does high speed broadband work ?

Unlike most of UK broadband connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s quickest 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 composed of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper cables used by standard ADSL broadband .

BT also offers a more than 76Mb fibre 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 internet is not exclusively on offer to people in a fibre-optic 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 broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by joining selected ADSL2+ internet services from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connectivity uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL broadband connections, but because of the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of up to 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “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 a city or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of as much as 16Mb or more. This still provides sufficient bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which superfast internet product is the fastest?

Among the UK’s quickest 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 offers 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 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get fibre optic broadband ?

Your first step is to see which superfast internet services are available in your area . Check which products are available.

 

Advantages of high bandwidth internet

Super-fast internet connectivity enables you to take advantage of all the video on demand available on the net. You will have the ability to download movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you view what you like, when you want it , and banishing the days of long waiting times for astronomical downloads.

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

Reduced latency means better response times delivered by high speed connectivity means that when online gaming you gain an one-upmanship over the competition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC internet connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very near) and dependent on things that are not within your control, like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the cabinet . Whether or not fibre connectivity is on offer in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in performance for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is  FTTC connectivity  for?

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

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 super fast internet connectivity product – preferably fibre optic for the best experience.

Super fast internet connectivity is also ideal for fans of online gaming . This is because faster connectivity gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is commonly caused by slower DSL broadband 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 select a standard ADSL deal .

Alconbury – Other Areas

Hose

Hillend

Inshes

Higher Waterston

Cregrina

Giddy Green

Strensall

Wolverhampton

Chadwell St Mary

Holmesdale