Who needs High Speed Connections ?

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

Harmby Broadband Deals For January 2026

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 come to grips with the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances logged on concurrently. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or company has the opportunity to do what they want online– all concurrently– with no annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband refers to broadband connections of as much as 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 more than most internet users.

While the current average UK internet connection is around 12Mbps (2014), superfast internet products deliver speeds of to 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic broadband networks which includes 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 fastest internet 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 quicker than along the copper cables used by traditional ADSL broadband .

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 residence in in the not too distant future.

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have resold BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast internet is not exclusively available 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 range of your internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by subscribing to selected ADSL2+ broadband services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connectivity uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL internet connections, but thanks to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of about 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “about 16Mb”.

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the wiring and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you live in a city or built up location 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 superfast internet 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 because its superfast fibre-optic connectivity network.

BT’s Infinity package delivers 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.

 

 

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 optic connectivity?

Your 1st step is to decide which super-fast internet services are available at your exhaage. Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Benefits of high speed broadband connections

High speed internet connectivity lets you use all the video on demand available on the world wide web. You will have the chance to download movies in a within minutes – allowing you consume what you want , when you like it, and getting rid of the hanging around for astronomical downloads.

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

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

Disadvantages of high speed internet connectivity

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) and based upon things that are not within your control, like the age of wiring and the distance you live from the cabinet . Whether or not high speed connectivity is available in your area , these limiting factors may yield little difference in performance for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is  FTTC internet connectivity for?

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

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 super-fast internet connectivity product – preferably fibre optic for the best service.

Super-fast internet 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 referred to as ping,  which is commonly as a resulted of slower traditional connectivity services . 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 favour a traditional ADSL service .

Harmby – Other Areas

Hilton

Lamas

Pont-Henri

Southend

Balmedie

Moxley

Sigford

East Hanningfield

Alkerton

Tregoodwell