Who needs Super-fast Broadband Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become increasingly more vital to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use per 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 on a daily basis.

Hargrave 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 most of us would love 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 at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or company has the capacity to do what they want online– all all at once– without any annoying delays.

What is super-fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband describes broadband connections of right up to 300Mbps in the UK.

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to surf the internet, 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), high speed broadband products deliver speeds of up to 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks specifically Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does super-fast internet operate?

Unlike most of UK broadband connections, which use telephone lines, the UK’s quickest broadband 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 cables used by traditional xDSL internet .

BT also offers an as much as 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 piggybacked on BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded super-fast cable broadband services of their own.

However, fast internet 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 broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by joining selected ADSL2+ broadband services from the companies like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This sort of connection uses the same cables 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 “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 town or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of as high 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 best?

Among the UK’s fastest internet 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 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 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get fibre optic broadband ?

Your 1st step is to see which super-fast broadband services are available at your exhaage. Check which products are available.

 

Benefits of super-fast broadband connections

High speed broadband enables you to take advantage of all the entertainment services on offer on the web. You will have the ability to watch movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you like it, and getting rid of the hanging around for very large downloads.

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

Reduced ‘ping’ means better response times delivered by high speed internet means that when online gaming you gain an one-upmanship over the opposition and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC broadband

Speeds are never 100% 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 if fibre internet connectivity is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in speed for a much higher annual cost .

Who is super-fast broadband  for?

The massive growth in the range of people downloading music , downloading video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no more a typical user of fibre 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 good sense to subscribe to a high speed connectivity service – preferably fibre optic for the best service.

High speed connectivity is also ideal for fans of online games . This is because a faster connection gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is called ping,  which is often  caused by slower DSL connectivity products. This can seriously ruin your gaming pleasure.

If you only use the internet for checking your e-mail and for the occasional search, it’s more prudent to decide on a traditional ADSL connection.

Hargrave – Other Areas

Goose Hill

West Sleekburn

Upper Broxwood

Northallerton

Hackness

Stainburn

Market Deeping

Croesor

Feetham

Halls Green