Who needs Super-fast Broadband Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become more and more essential to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use each day that rely on broadband connectivity seems to increase. The amount of tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops, games consoles and TV’s that everyone has in their homes, seems to increase daily.

Dunvegan 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 all of us need 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 turned on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or business has the ability to do what they want online– all simultaneously– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband concerns broadband connections of as high as 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 broadband users.

While the current average UK internet connection is around 12Mbps (2014), superfast internet 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 most 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 made up of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much quicker than along the copper pipes used by standard DSL internet .

BT also offers a more than 76Mb fibre-optic 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 used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded super-fast cable broadband services of their own.

However, fast broadband is not only 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 broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by enrolling in selected ADSL2+ broadband packages from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This style of connectivity uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but because of the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of as high as 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “approximately 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 right 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 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 due to its super-fast fibre 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 in line with 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 connectivity?

Your 1st step is to decide which fast internet services are available to you . Check which service are available.

 

Benefits of super fast broadband

Fast broadband empowers you to take advantage of all the services on offer on the net. You will manage to download movies in a within minutes – allowing you watch what you like, when you like it, and banishing the hanging around for big downloads.

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

Reduced ‘ping’ means move favourable response times delivered by super-fast connectivity means that when online gaming you gain a competitive advantage over the competition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of super-fast broadband

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) and based upon things that are not within your control, like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the green box. Despite the fact that fibre connectivity is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in speed for a much higher annual price.

Who is  FTTC connectivity  for?

The massive growth in the amount of people streaming music , streaming video and watching TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super fast internet .

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 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 referred to as ping,  which is commonly caused by slower traditional internet connectivity services . 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 prefer a standard ADSL connection.

Dunvegan – Other Areas

Lower Island

Fairoak

Pouchen End

Kintbury

Prestonhall

Whiteface

Great Barrington

Halse

Scalasaig

Mile Oak