Who needs Super-fast Broadband Connections ?

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

Pin Green 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 being stuck in commuter traffic, something that all of us wish 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 signed on concurrently. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or business is able to do what they want online– all all at once– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

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

How does super-fast broadband operate?

Unlike the majority of UK broadband connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s fastest broadband 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 pipes used by traditional ADSL broadband .

BT also offers a to 76Mb fibre service called Infinity (you can get 300Mbps in some areas), and plans to make this available to millions more UK homes in years to come.

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have piggybacked on 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 broadband area . Fast broadband is not exclusively on offer to people in a fibre-optic broadband area. If you live within a certain range of your internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by joining selected ADSL2+ internet 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 phone-line connections, but due to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of almost 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 in a town or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of approximately 16Mb or more. This still provides plenty of bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which super-fast broadband product is the quickest ?

Among the UK’s fastest 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 due to its super-fast fibre-optic connectivity network.

BT’s Infinity package delivers 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 in accordance 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get superfast broadband ?

Your 1st step is to see which highspeed internet services are available in your area . Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Benefits of high bandwidth broadband connectivity

Fast broadband lets you utilise all the entertainment services on offer on-line. You’ll be able to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you like it, and banishing the hanging around for enormous downloads.

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

Reduced latency means improved response times delivered by fibre broadband means that when playing game online you a competitive advantage over the opposition and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of high speed connectivity

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) and rely on things that are out of your control , like the quality of wiring and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Whether or not fibre connectivity is available in your location, these limiting factors may yield little difference in performance for a much higher annual cost .

Who is  FTTC internet connectivity for?

The massive growth in the number of people streaming music , video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of fibre internet .

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 subscribe to a super-fast broadband deal – preferably fibre for the best service.

Fibre internet is also ideal for fans of online games . Due to the fact a faster connection gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is called ping,  which is commonly triggered by slower traditional internet products . 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 prefer a traditional ADSL service .

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