Who needs Super-fast Fibre Connectivity ?

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

Martin 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 need 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 signed on simultaneously. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small company has the capacity to do what they want online– all concurrently– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband refers to 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 more than most internet users.

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

How does super-fast broadband work ?

Unlike many UK internet connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s fastest broadband 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 quicker than along the copper pipes used by traditional 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 homes in in the future .

 

 

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

However, fast internet is not only on offer to people in a fibre-optic broadband area . 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 broadband by joining selected ADSL2+ broadband services from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

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

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the cabling and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you dwell in a town or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of up to 16Mb or more. This still provides sufficient bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which superfast broadband product is the fastest?

Among the UK’s quickest broadband 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 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 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get high speed broadband ?

Your first step is to decide which fast broadband services are available to you . Check which service are available.

 

Advantages of super fast broadband

Super fast broadband lets you take advantage of all the music streaming available on the internet. You will have the ability to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you watch what you want , when you demand it , and getting rid of the hanging around for large downloads.

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

Reduced latency means better response times delivered by super fast broadband means that online gamers gain an one-upmanship over the opposition and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of high speed broadband

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and rely on things that are out of your control , like the age of wiring and the distance you live from the cabinet . Even if high speed broadband is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in speed for a much higher annual price.

Who is  FTTC internet  for?

The massive growth in the number of people downloading music , video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no more a typical user of fibre 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 good sense to subscribe to a high speed connectivity deal – preferably fibre optic for the best service.

Fibre connectivity is also ideal for fans of online console usage. This is because faster connectivity eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is called ping,  which is commonly triggered by slower traditional connectivity services . This can seriously ruin your online gaming pleasure.

If you only use the internet for checking your e-mail and for the occasional search, it’s more prudent to decide on a traditional ADSL deal .

Martin – Other Areas

East Kinwhirrie

Steeton

Frost Row

Ruan High Lanes

Dumfries

Stapleton

East Anstey

Middleham

Easthorpe

Ashampstead