Who needs Superfast Broadband Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become increasingly more important to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use every single day that depend on 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 everyday.

Preston Broadband Deals For December 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 most of us would love 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 logged on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small company has the capacity to do what they want online– all concurrently– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

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

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

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

How does superfast connectivity work ?

Unlike many UK broadband connections, which use telephone 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 traditional ADSL broadband .

BT also offers an up to 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 not too distant future.

 

 

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

ADSL2+

This kind of connection uses the same wiring and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL broadband connections, but because of the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of as high as 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “almost 16Mb”.

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

Which super-fast connectivity product is the fastest?

Among the UK’s fastest broadband 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 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 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get fibre optic broadband ?

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

 

Benefits of fast broadband connectivity

High speed broadband can let you enjoy all the music streaming available on the net. You’ll have the capacity to watch movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you consume what you like, when you want it , and banishing the hanging around for enormous downloads.

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

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

Disadvantages of FTTC connectivity

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 copper connectivity and the distance you live from the green box. Whether fibre internet is on offer in your location, these limiting factors may yield little difference in speed for a much higher monthly price .

Who is  high speed connectivity  for?

The massive growth in the range of people streaming music , video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super-fast 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 good sense to join a super fast internet connectivity deal – preferably fibre optic for the greatest service.

Fibre connectivity is also ideal for fans of online gaming . This is because faster connectivity gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is commonly brought on by slower DSL connectivity 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 traditional ADSL service .

Preston – Other Areas

Smeeth

Highams Park

High Wycombe

Culworth

Phillack

Awre

Bath Vale

Buckleaze

Polbathic

Temple Ewell