Who needs Superfast Fibre Internet ?

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 amount of tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops, games consoles and TV’s that everyone has in their homes, seems to increase each day.

Portinscale 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 we all wish 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 turned on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or local business has the capacity to do what they want online– all simultaneously– without any annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband refers to broadband connections of up to 300Mbps in the UK.

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to go online , 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), superfast broadband products deliver speeds of as much as 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic broadband networks like Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does fibre connectivity operate?

Unlike most of UK broadband connections, which use telephony 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 cables used by standard ADSL broadband .

BT also offers a right up to 76Mb fibre service called 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 services of their own.

However, fast internet is not only available 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 broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by joining selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the companies like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

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

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

Which super-fast internet product is the best?

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 thanks to its superfast fibre-optic connectivity network.

BT’s Infinity package offers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the previously mentioned services from Sky, EE and TalkTalk, which use BT’s fibre 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get superfast broadband ?

Your 1st step is to decide which superfast internet services are available to you . Check which service are available.

 

Advantages of high speed broadband

Super-fast broadband lets you enjoy all the entertainment services available on the web. You will manage 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 huge downloads.

Fans of on-demand TV can enjoy their favourite shows on the BBC iPlayer , as well as rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced latency means improved response times delivered by fibre internet means that when playing game online you an one-upmanship over the opposition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC broadband

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very near) and based on things that are not within your control, like the quality of wiring and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Whether high speed internet is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in performance for a much higher annual price.

Who is  fibre internet  for?

The massive growth in the amount of people streaming music , streaming video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no more a typical user of super-fast 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 good sense to join a high speed connectivity deal – preferably fibre for the greatest service.

Super-fast broadband is also ideal for fans of online console usage. This is because faster connectivity eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is often  caused 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 favour a standard ADSL deal .

Portinscale – Other Areas

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