Who needs High Speed FTTC Connectivity ?

Broadband has become much more vital to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use every single day that utilise 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 on a daily basis.

River 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 most of us need 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 logged on at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small company has the capacity to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

Super-fast broadband relates to broadband connections of about 300Mbps in the UK.

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to surf the internet, stream music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively above most internet users.

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

How does fibre connectivity work ?

Unlike most of UK internet connections, which use telephone 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 comprised of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much quicker than along the copper cables used by traditional xDSL connectivity .

BT also offers an as high as 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 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 exclusively on offer to people in a fibre-optic broadband locations. 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 internet by registering selected ADSL2+ broadband packages from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This type of connection uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but due to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of almost 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “up to 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 city or built up location 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 internet 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 as a result of its super-fast fibre-optic broadband network.

BT’s Infinity package offers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the aforementioned services from Sky, EE and TalkTalk, which use BT’s fibre network and feature headline speeds in line 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 superfast connectivity?

Your initial step is to see which fast broadband services are available at your exhaage. Check which products are available.

 

Benefits of high speed broadband connectivity

Super fast broadband can let you take advantage of all the music streaming on offer on-line. You will have the ability to download movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you consume what you want , when you want it , and banishing the days of long waiting times for big downloads.

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

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

Disadvantages of fibre internet connectivity

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very near) and dependent on things that are not within your control, like the quality of wiring and the distance you live from the green box. Wherever fibre broadband is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in speed for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is super-fast internet  for?

The massive growth in the number of people streaming music , downloading video and watching TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super-fast broadband .

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 product – preferably fibre for the best service.

Fibre broadband is also ideal for fans of online console usage. This is because faster connectivity gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is commonly caused by slower ADSL internet products . 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 decide on a traditional ADSL deal .

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