Who needs Super-fast FTTC ?

Broadband has become increasingly more important to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use per day that count 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 everyday.

Drylaw Broadband Deals For December 2024

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 all of us would love to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to manage 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 capacity to do what they want online– all all at once– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband describes broadband connections of 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 higher than most internet users.

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

How does super-fast internet operate?

Unlike many of UK broadband connections, which use telephone 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 comprised of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much quicker than along the copper pipes used by standard ADSL internet connectivity.

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 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 distant of your internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by getting selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

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

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

Which super-fast broadband product is the quickest ?

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 with the help 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 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get fibre connectivity?

Your start is to decide which fast broadband services are available at your exhaage. Check which service are available.

 

Advantages of fast broadband connections

High speed internet connectivity enables you to make the most of all the entertainment on offer on-line. You will have the chance to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you like it, and getting rid of the days of long waiting times for huge downloads.

Fans of on-demand show can enjoy their best shows on the Sky Now TV, besides rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without interruption .

Reduced latency means move favourable response times delivered by super-fast internet means that when online gaming you gain an one-upmanship over the opposition and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.

Disadvantages of fibre internet

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

Who is  fibre internet  for?

The massive growth in the amount of people downloading music , video and watching TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of high speed 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 sense to subscribe to a super-fast internet connectivity service – preferably fibre optic for the best service.

Fibre connectivity is also ideal for fans of online games . Due to the fact faster connectivity gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is referred to as ping,  which is often  as a resulted of slower ADSL internet connectivity 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 favour a standard ADSL service .

Drylaw – Other Areas

Whistlow

Greenlooms

Lower Everleigh

Westfield

Colwyn Bay

Wyverstone Green

Birchen Coppice

Summerley

Hammill

High Green