Who needs High Speed Connectivity ?
Broadband has become more and more necessary to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use per day that depend on broadband connectivity seems to increase. The amount of tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops, games consoles and TV’s that each person has in their homes, seems to increase daily.
Lydeard St. Lawrence Broadband Deals For March 2024
[elementor-template id=”137965″]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 most of us would love 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 logged on at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small company has the ability to do what they want online– all simultaneously– without any annoying delays.
What is high speed broadband?
Super-fast broadband refers to broadband connections of more than 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 above most broadband users.
While the current average UK broadband connection is around 12Mbps (2014), superfast broadband products deliver speeds of around 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks such as Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.
How does superfast broadband work ?
Unlike most UK broadband connections, which use telephone lines, the UK’s fastest internet 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 made up of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper cables used by traditional DSL internet connectivity.
BT also offers an as much as 76Mb fibre service called 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 used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband services of their own.
However, fast internet is not exclusively available 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+ broadband packages from the providers 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 due to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of approximately 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “to 16Mb”.
Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the copper and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you live in a city or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of as much as 16Mb or more. This still provides ample bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.
Which super-fast internet product is the quickest ?
Among the UK’s quickest 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 because its superfast fibre-optic broadband network.
BT’s Infinity package offers 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 according to 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 broadband ?
Your initial step is to see which superfast broadband services are available at your exhaage. Check which service are available.
Advantages of high bandwidth internet
Super fast broadband lets you make the most of all the music streaming available on the world wide web. You’ll have the capacity to watch movies in a within minutes – allowing you consume what you like, when you demand it , and getting rid of the hanging around for huge downloads.
Fans of on-demand programmes will love their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , and even rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.
Reduced ‘ping’ means better response times delivered by super fast connectivity means that when playing game online you an one-upmanship over the opponents and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.
Disadvantages of FTTC internet
Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very near) and depend on things that are out of your control , like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the cabinet . Even when fibre broadband is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in speed for a much higher monthly cost .
Who is high speed connectivity for?
The massive growth in the range of people listening to music, streaming video and watching TV online means that there is no more a typical user of high speed internet connectivity.
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 join a fibre internet service – preferably fibre optic for the greatest service.
Super fast broadband is also ideal for fans of online games . Due to the fact a faster connection eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is called ping, which is commonly as a resulted of slower traditional connectivity 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 take a traditional ADSL service .
[elementor-template id=”137965″]