Who needs Superfast 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 daily.

Silver End 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 all 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 turned on simultaneously. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small company has the capacity to do what they want online– all simultaneously– with no annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband describes broadband connections of up to 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 broadband users.

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

How does superfast broadband operate?

Unlike many of UK internet connections, which use telephony 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 comprised of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much faster than along the copper cables used by standard xDSL internet .

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 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-optic 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 services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This sort of connection uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but as a result of the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of as high as 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 in a town or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of up to 16Mb or more. This still provides sufficient bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which superfast internet product is the fastest?

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 because of its super-fast fibre 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 optic network and feature headline speeds in line with BT.

 

 

Alternatively, 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 copper to carry more data.

How do I get fast broadband ?

Your 1st step is to decide which superfast broadband services are available at your exhaage. Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Advantages of high bandwidth broadband

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

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

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

Disadvantages of high speed broadband

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

Who is super-fast connectivity  for?

The massive growth in the range of people streaming music , downloading video and watching TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of fibre connectivity .

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 sign up for a super fast connectivity product – preferably fibre optic for the best service .

Fibre internet is also ideal for fans of online gaming . This is because faster connectivity eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is referred to as ping,  which is often  as a resulted of slower traditionalbroadband 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 take a standard ADSL connection.

Silver End – Other Areas

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