Who needs Quick FTTC Connectivity ?

Broadband has become more and more important to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use every day that bank 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 on a daily basis.

Smite Hill Broadband Deals For April 2024

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 would like 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 signed on at the same time. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or local business is able to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

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

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to go online , download music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively more than 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 cabled networks including Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does super-fast internet work ?

Unlike most UK broadband connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s fastest internet 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 faster than along the copper pipes used by standard ADSL connectivity .

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 years to come.

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband products 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 broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by subscribing to selected ADSL2+ broadband services from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This kind of connectivity uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL internet connections, but thanks to the software and technology being used it can deliver speeds of up to 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “approximately 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 city or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of to 16Mb or more. This still provides sufficient bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which super-fast 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 of its superfast fibre broadband network.

BT’s Infinity package delivers a maximum speed of 76Mbps and the aforementioned services from Sky, EE and TalkTalk, which use BT’s fibre network and feature headline speeds according to 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 first step is to decide which super-fast internet services are available to you . Check which service are available.

 

Advantages of high bandwidth broadband connections

High speed internet connectivity can let you utilise all the music streaming on offer on the web. You’ll have the capacity to download movies in a within minutes – allowing you view what you like, when you want it , and banishing the hanging around for huge downloads.

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

Reduced latency means better response times delivered by high speed broadband means that when online gaming you gain a competitive advantage over the competition and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.

Disadvantages of fibre broadband

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very near) and rely on things that are out of your control , like the quality of wiring and the distance you live from the cabinet . Even though super fast internet is on offer in your area , these limiting factors may yield little difference in performance for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is  high speed connectivity  for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people streaming music , streaming video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no more 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 sense to subscribe to a fibre internet connectivity service – preferably fibre optic for the greatest service.

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

Smite Hill – Other Areas

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