Who needs Super-fast Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become much more essential to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use per day that utilise broadband connectivity seems to increase. The quantity of tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops, games consoles and TV’s that everyone has in their homes, seems to increase each day.

Low Barugh 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 sitting in commuter traffic, something that all of us wish to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to cope 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 small company manages to do what they want online– all all at once– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

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

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to connect to the internet , download music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively above most broadband users.

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

How does super-fast broadband operate?

Unlike the majority 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 made up of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper pipes used by standard xDSL connectivity .

BT also offers an as high as 76Mb fibre-optic 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 services of their own.

However, fast broadband is not only 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 distant of your broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by registering for selected ADSL2+ internet services from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This style of connection uses the same wiring and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL broadband connections, but thanks to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of approximately 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “up to 16Mb”.

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the copper and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you inhabit a city or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of about 16Mb or more. This still provides more than enough 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 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 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 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get high speed connectivity?

Your start is to decide which highspeed broadband services are available at your exhaage. Check which products are available.

 

Benefits of fast broadband connections

Super-fast internet connectivity enables you to take advantage of all the music streaming available on the web. You will manage to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you watch what you like, when you like it, and getting rid of the days of long waiting times for enormous downloads.

Fans of on-demand show can enjoy their best shows on the Sky Now TV, and also 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 online gaming you gain a competitive advantage over the opponents and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC internet

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very near) and rely on things that are not within your control, like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Despite the fact that fibre internet connectivity is available in your area , these limiting factors may yield little difference in performance for a much higher annual cost .

Who is  FTTC connectivity  for?

The massive growth in the number of people streaming music , streaming video and watching TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of high speed internet .

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 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 referred to as ping,  which is often  as a resulted of slower DSL broadband products. 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 favour a standard ADSL connection.

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