Who needs Superfast Broadband FTTC Connectivity ?

Broadband has become increasingly more important to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use every day that rely upon 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 each day.

Troutbeck Broadband Deals For October 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 most of us need 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 turned on all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or small business manages to do what they want online– all simultaneously– without any annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband describes broadband connections of approximately 300Mbps in the UK.

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to go online , stream 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 to 300Mbps, through sophisticated fibre-optic broadband networks which include Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does fibre connectivity operate?

Unlike most of UK internet connections, which use telephone lines, the UK’s fastest 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 pipes used by traditional DSL internet .

BT also offers an up to 76Mb fibre-optic 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 used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband services of their own.

However, fast internet is not only 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 broadband by getting selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the companies like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

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

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the wiring and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you live in a city or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of more than 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 quickest ?

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 with the help of its superfast fibre-optic 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 optic 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 optic connectivity?

Your first step is to decide which super-fast broadband services are available to you . Check which products are available.

 

Benefits of high bandwidth broadband

Super-fast internet connectivity empowers you to enjoy all the video on demand on offer on the world wide web. You will have the chance to download movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you watch what you like, when you like it, and banishing the days of long waiting times for very large downloads.

Fans of on-demand show can enjoy their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , along with rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without interruption .

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

Disadvantages of high speed connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and depend on things that are out of your control , like the age of wiring and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Even if high speed broadband is on offer in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in speed for a much higher monthly cost .

Who is  FTTC internet connectivity for?

The massive growth in the amount of people downloading music , streaming video and watching 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 sense to subscribe to a fibre broadband product – preferably fibre optic for the best service.

Super-fast connectivity 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 called ping,  which is often  as a resulted of slower ADSL internet 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 opt for a traditional ADSL service .

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