Who needs High Speed FTTC Internet?

Broadband has become much more necessary to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use on a daily basis 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 each day.

Patrington 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 most of us would like 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 turned on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small company manages to do what they want online– all simultaneously– with no annoying delays.

What is super-fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband describes broadband connections of 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), superfast broadband products deliver speeds of as much as 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic cabled networks including Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does superfast internet operate?

Unlike the majority of UK broadband connections, which use telephone 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 of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper cables used by traditional xDSL connectivity .

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 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 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 distant of your broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by joining selected ADSL2+ broadband packages from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This form of connection uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but thanks to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of as high as 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “as high as 16Mb”.

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

Which superfast connectivity 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 of its superfast fibre 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 optic 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get fibre optic broadband ?

Your first step is to decide which fast internet services are available to you . Check which products are available.

 

Advantages of fast broadband connectivity

Fast internet enables you to use all the music streaming on offer on the world wide web. You will have the ability to watch movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you consume what you want , when you like it, and getting rid of the hanging around for enormous downloads.

Fans of on-demand show will love their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , besides rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced latency means move favourable response times delivered by super-fast internet means that when online gaming you gain an one-upmanship over the competition and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of super-fast internet connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and depend on things that are not within your control, like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Though super-fast broadband is on offer in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in performance for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is super-fast internet  for?

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

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 super-fast internet connectivity product – preferably fibre optic for the best experience.

Super fast broadband is also ideal for fans of online console usage. Due to the fact a faster connection gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is called ping,  which is commonly as a resulted of slower traditional internet connectivity services . 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 go with a traditional ADSL service .

Patrington – Other Areas

Waterside

Lochyside

Little Holtby

Benfleet

Knotts

Hessle

Bowsden

Langley Vale

Craigneuk

Stratford Toney