Who needs Quick Internet ?

Broadband has become increasingly more essential 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 everyone has in their homes, seems to increase daily.

Roundthorn 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 sitting in commuter traffic, something that most of us 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 at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or business is able to do what they want online– all simultaneously– without any annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

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

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to connect to the internet , download 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), high speed internet 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 high speed broadband work ?

Unlike many 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 composed of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper cables used by traditional ADSL connectivity .

BT also offers an as much as 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 not too distant future.

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have resold BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast internet is not exclusively available 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 internet by registering for selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This kind of connectivity uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL internet connections, but due to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of as high as 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “to 16Mb”.

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

Which superfast connectivity product is the quickest ?

Among the UK’s quickest 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 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 superfast connectivity?

Your first step is to see which superfast broadband services are available to you . Check which products are available.

 

Advantages of super-fast broadband connectivity

Fast internet lets you take advantage of all the entertainment available on the net. You’ll have the chance to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you watch what you want , when you like it, and getting rid of the days of long waiting times for very large downloads.

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

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

Disadvantages of fibre internet

Speeds are never guaranteed as advertised (although are often very close ) and dependent on things that are not within your control, like the age of copper connectivity and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Despite the fact that high speed internet is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in performance for a much higher cost .

Who is  high speed broadband  for?

The massive growth in the amount of people downloading music , streaming video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of fibre 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 sense to join a super fast internet service – preferably fibre 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 referred to as ping,  which is commonly triggered by slower traditional internet connectivity services . 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 decide on a standard ADSL deal .

Roundthorn – Other Areas

Thornton-le-Street

Tyrells End

Ashburton

Thrintoft

Mambeg

Aber-banc

Mavis Enderby

Owlsmoor

Little Bedwyn

Sharpthorne