Who needs High Speed Internet ?

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

Holwell Broadband Deals For October 2024

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 we all would love 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 signed on concurrently. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or local business has the capacity to do what they want online– all all at once– without any annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband concerns broadband connections of right up to 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 greater than most broadband users.

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

How does superfast internet operate?

Unlike many of UK broadband connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s quickest 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 made of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much quicker than along the copper cables used by standard xDSL connectivity .

BT also offers an as high as 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 future .

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have piggybacked on BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed 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 distant of your internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by joining selected ADSL2+ internet services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This type of connectivity uses the same wiring and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL internet connections, but because of the software and technology 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 dwell in a city or built up location 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 superfast internet product is the fastest?

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 with the help of its superfast fibre-optic broadband 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 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get fast broadband ?

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

 

Benefits of super-fast broadband

Super-fast internet can let you utilise all the services on offer on the world wide web. You’ll have the ability to download movies in a within minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you want it , and getting rid of the hanging around for big downloads.

Fans of on-demand show will love their favourite shows on the BBC iPlayer , as well as rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without interruption .

Reduced ‘ping’ means move favourable response times delivered by super-fast internet means that when playing game online you an one-upmanship over the competition and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.

Disadvantages of high speed connectivity

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very near) and dependent on things that are out of your control , like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the green box. Whether fibre broadband is on offer in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in speed for a much higher cost .

Who is super-fast broadband  for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people downloading music , streaming video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no more a typical user of high speed 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 high speed broadband product – preferably fibre optic for the best service .

Fibre internet 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 as a resulted of slower DSL broadband products. 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 favour a standard ADSL connection.

Holwell – Other Areas

Dryhill

Ardentinny

Crouch End

Seisiadar

Chase Cross

Ruthvoes

Kilmaluag

Pennycross

Inverurie Business Park

Swinithwaite