Who needs High Speed Fibre Internet ?

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

Bowood 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 handle the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances turned on simultaneously. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or 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 go online , stream 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), high speed broadband products deliver speeds of up to 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks especially Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does super-fast broadband work ?

Unlike many 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 composed of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper pipes used by standard xDSL broadband .

BT also offers an as high as 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 used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded super-fast cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast internet is not exclusively on offer 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 internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by subscribing to selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connection uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but thanks to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of almost 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “around 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 town or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of up to 16Mb or more. This still provides ample bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which high speed connectivity product is the best?

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 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 network and feature headline speeds according to 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 fibre optic broadband ?

Your initial step is to see which fast internet services are available in your area . Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Benefits of high speed broadband

Super fast broadband can let you enjoy all the video on demand available on the world wide web. You will have the chance to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you watch what you want , when you demand it , and banishing the days of long waiting times for big downloads.

Fans of on-demand show will love their best shows on the Sky Now TV, and also rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced ‘ping’ means move favourable response times delivered by fibre broadband means that when online gaming you gain an one-upmanship over the opponents and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC internet

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) and depend on things that are out of your control , like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the green box. Even though super fast connectivity is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in performance for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is  high speed internet  for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people listening to music, video and watching 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 deal – preferably fibre optic for the best service .

Fibre internet connectivity 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  brought on by slower ADSL internet connectivity products. This can seriously ruin your online 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 deal .

Bowood – Other Areas

Hawksyard

Preston

Hindhead

Bagborough

Nepgill

Maligar

Tholthorpe

Preston

Dullaghan

Middle Madeley