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 rely upon 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.

Olympic Park Broadband Deals For April 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 sitting in commuter traffic, something that most of us need to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to deal 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 business has the opportunity to do what they want online– all at the same time– with no annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband concerns broadband connections of up to 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 internet users.

While the current average UK broadband connection is around 12Mbps (2014), super-fast 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 superfast connectivity work ?

Unlike many UK internet 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 of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper pipes used by traditional ADSL internet .

BT also offers a right up to 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 used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast broadband 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 range of your broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by registering for selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connection uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL broadband connections, but due to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of around 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “as high as 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 right 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 best?

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 thanks to its super-fast fibre connectivity network.

BT’s Infinity package offers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the aforementioned 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get superfast connectivity?

Your start is to decide which superfast internet services are available at your exhaage. Check which products are available.

 

Benefits of high bandwidth broadband

Fast broadband can let you enjoy all the entertainment services on offer on-line. You will have the opportunity to download movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you like it, and getting rid of the hanging around for enormous downloads.

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

Reduced ‘ping’ means better response times delivered by high speed broadband means that online gamers gain a competitive advantage over the competition and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.

Disadvantages of super-fast connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and dependent on things that are not within your control, like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the exchange . Wherever super-fast internet connectivity is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in speed for a much higher monthly price .

Who is  high speed internet  for?

The massive growth in the amount of people downloading music , streaming video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super fast 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 register for a super fast internet deal – preferably fibre optic for the greatest service.

Super-fast 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 called ping,  which is commonly caused by slower traditional internet 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 prefer a standard ADSL deal .

Olympic Park – Other Areas

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