Who needs High Speed Fibre Connections?

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

Pontshill Broadband Deals For April 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 we all would love 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 logged on simultaneously. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or local business has the opportunity to do what they want online– all at the same time– without any annoying delays.

What is quick broadband?

Super-fast broadband refers 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 greater than most broadband users.

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

How does super-fast connectivity work ?

Unlike many UK internet connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s quickest 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 connectivity.

BT also offers an up to 76Mb fibre-optic service called 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 high speed cable broadband services of their own.

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

ADSL2+

This form of connectivity uses the same cabling 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 “about 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 town or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of to 16Mb or more. This still provides more than enough bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which super-fast internet 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 with the help of its superfast fibre-optic broadband 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.

 

 

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 super-fast broadband ?

Your 1st step is to see which super-fast broadband services are available to you . Check which products are available.

 

Advantages of high bandwidth broadband

Fast broadband enables you to make the most of all the video on demand on offer online. You will manage to download movies in a within minutes – allowing you watch what you like, when you want it , and getting rid of the days of long waiting times for astronomical downloads.

Fans of on-demand TV can enjoy their best shows on the Sky Now TV, along with rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced ‘ping’ means better response times delivered by fibre internet means that online gamers gain a competitive advantage over the competition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of high speed connectivity

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very near) and rely on things that are not within your control, like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the cabinet . Even if super fast internet is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in speed for a much higher price .

Who is  fibre broadband  for?

The massive growth in the range of people downloading music , downloading video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of high speed 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 super-fast internet connectivity deal – preferably fibre optic for the best service .

Super-fast broadband is also ideal for fans of online games . This is because faster connectivity eliminates 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 online gaming experience .

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

Pontshill – Other Areas

Bitteswell

Shalden Green

Appleton Wiske

Papermill Bank

Sodom

Penquit

Tyndrum

Ingleby

Upper Ellastone

Newton Le Willows