Who needs Superfast Broadband Connections ?

Broadband has become much more essential to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use each day that rely upon 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 daily.

Hill Green Broadband Deals For January 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 would like to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to handle 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 small business has the capacity to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.

What is super-fast broadband?

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

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

How does high speed connectivity work ?

Unlike the majority 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 faster than along the copper cables used by standard ADSL connectivity .

BT also offers a right up 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 super fast cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast broadband is not only on offer to people in a fibre broadband area . 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 signing up for selected ADSL2+ internet services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This kind of connectivity uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but thanks to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of around 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “around 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 city or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of approximately 16Mb or more. This still provides sufficient bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which high speed broadband 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 as a result of its superfast fibre-optic broadband network.

BT’s Infinity package delivers 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 accordance 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 high speed broadband ?

Your first step is to decide which superfast broadband services are available to you . Check which products are available.

 

Benefits of fast internet

Super fast internet empowers you to use all the entertainment on offer on the world wide web. You will have the ability to watch movies in a within 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 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 online gamers gain a competitive advantage over the opponents and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of fibre broadband

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very near) and depend on things that are not within your control, like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the cabinet . Wherever super fast internet connectivity is on offer in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in performance for a much higher annual price.

Who is  fibre broadband  for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people downloading music , video and watching TV online means that there is no longer 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 sense to enrol in a super fast internet service – preferably fibre optic for the very best service.

Super-fast connectivity is also ideal for fans of online console usage. This is because faster connectivity gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is often  triggered 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 go for a standard ADSL deal .

Hill Green – Other Areas

Carlenrig

Witchford

Hopkinstown

Two Burrows

Llanbethery

Bicton Heath

Peasmarsh

Barbers Moor

Martin Mill

Pentwyn