Who needs Quick FTTC ?

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

Pentwyn Broadband Deals For January 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 come to grips with the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances signed on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small business manages to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband relates to broadband connections of approximately 300Mbps in the UK.

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to go online , stream music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively higher than most internet users.

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

How does fibre broadband work ?

Unlike many of UK broadband connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s quickest 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 of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper cables used by traditional xDSL internet .

BT also offers a more than 76Mb fibre 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 super fast cable broadband products of their own.

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

ADSL2+

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

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the copper and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you reside in a town or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of more than 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 connectivity 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 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 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 high speed broadband ?

Your first step is to see which superfast broadband services are available in your area . Check which service are available.

 

Advantages of fast broadband

Super-fast internet lets you make the most of all the entertainment available on the web. You’ll be able to download movies in a within minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you demand it , and getting rid of the days of long waiting times for enormous downloads.

Fans of on-demand show can enjoy their favourite shows on the BBC iPlayer , together with rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without interruption .

Reduced ‘ping’ means improved response times delivered by super-fast connectivity means that online gamers gain a competitive advantage over the opposition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC broadband

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) 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 . Even though high speed broadband is on offer in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in speed for a much higher monthly price .

Who is  fibre internet  for?

The massive growth in the range of people listening to music, downloading video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super fast internet connectivity.

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 internet connectivity service – preferably fibre optic for the best service .

Super-fast internet connectivity 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 referred to as ping,  which is commonly caused by slower traditionalbroadband products . This can seriously ruin your gaming pleasure.

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.

Pentwyn – Other Areas

South Milford

Cinder Hill

Carlton Colville

High Hurstwood

Vale, The

Orgreave

Smallrice

Wolverley

Malden Rushett

Mamble