Who needs High Speed Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become increasingly more important to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use on a daily basis that utilise 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 each day.

Harlow Hill 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 all of us wish 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 business has the capacity to do what they want online– all simultaneously– with no annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband describes broadband connections of about 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 above most internet users.

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

How does fibre broadband operate?

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

BT also offers a to 76Mb fibre service called BT 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 resold BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded super fast cable broadband products 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 broadband by registering selected ADSL2+ internet services from the companies like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connection uses the same wiring and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but because of the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of around 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “as high as 16Mb”.

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the wiring and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you live a city or built up location 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 connectivity 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 due to its super-fast 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get fibre optic broadband ?

Your start is to see which fast internet services are available at your exhaage. Check which products are available.

 

Advantages of super-fast internet

High speed broadband lets you use all the music streaming available on the world wide web. You’ll have the opportunity to download movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you view what you like, when you like it, and banishing the hanging around for large downloads.

Fans of on-demand TV can enjoy their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , in addition to rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced latency means improved response times delivered by super fast broadband means that online gamers gain an one-upmanship over the opponents and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of fibre internet connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very near) and rely on things that are out of your control , like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the exchange . Even though fibre connectivity is available in your location, these limiting factors may yield little difference in performance for a much higher price .

Who is  FTTC internet  for?

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

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 fibre internet connectivity deal – preferably fibre optic for the best experience.

Fibre broadband 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 internet connectivity services . 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 choose a standard ADSL deal .

Harlow Hill – Other Areas

Mains of Ardestie

Empshott

Mauchline

Barrow Hill

Bridge End

East March

Glenariff

Tregarlandbridge

Ashleworth

Rosemarkie