Who needs High Speed Fibre Connectivity ?

Broadband has become much more important to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use each day that count on 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 every day.

Ribbleton 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 we all wish to avoid.

 

 

Quite simply, traditional broadband connections often struggle to manage the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances turned on at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or local business has the chance to do what they want online– all concurrently– 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 higher than most internet users.

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

How does superfast broadband work ?

Unlike the majority of UK broadband connections, which use telephone lines, the UK’s quickest 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 quicker than along the copper pipes used by standard DSL internet .

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 residence in in the near future .

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have piggybacked on BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded super fast cable broadband services of their own.

However, fast broadband is not only on offer 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 internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by registering selected ADSL2+ broadband services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This style of connectivity uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL broadband connections, but because of the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of up to 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “up 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 a town or built up location 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 broadband product is the fastest?

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 because its super-fast 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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get fibre connectivity?

Your start is to see which super-fast internet services are available to you . Check which service are available.

 

Benefits of super fast broadband

High speed broadband lets you use all the services on offer online. You’ll have the chance to download movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you consume what you want , when you want it , and getting rid of the days of long waiting times for enormous downloads.

Fans of on-demand programmes will love their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , including rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced ‘ping’ means better response times delivered by super-fast connectivity means that when online gaming you gain an one-upmanship over the opposition and can enjoy a better gaming experience.

Disadvantages of FTTC internet connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and based upon things that are not within your control, like the quality of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the exchange . Wherever super fast broadband is on offer in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in speed for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is super-fast broadband  for?

The massive growth in the range of people downloading music , video and watching on demand 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 connectivity deal – preferably fibre optic for the greatest service.

Fibre connectivity is also ideal for fans of online gaming . Due to the fact a faster connection eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is referred to as ping,  which is often  brought on by slower traditionalbroadband services . This can seriously ruin your gaming experience .

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 .

Ribbleton – Other Areas

Pandy

Whitelee

Hangleton

Mills

Galley Common

Normans Green

Pettinain

Porth Colmon

Catterall

Pentrebach