Who needs Superfast Internet ?

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

Upper Town Broadband Deals For December 2020

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 wish 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 all at once. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or company has the ability to do what they want online– all concurrently– without any annoying delays.

What is fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband refers to broadband connections of right 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 above most broadband 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 which includes Virgin Media and BT’s Infinity fibre optic cables.

How does high speed internet work ?

Unlike most of UK broadband connections, which use telephony lines, the UK’s quickest 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 quicker than along the copper cables used by traditional xDSL broadband .

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 homes in in the not too distant 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 broadband is not exclusively on offer 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 distant of your internet provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by getting selected ADSL2+ broadband packages from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This sort of connectivity uses the same cabling and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL phone-line connections, but due to the software and technology used it can deliver speeds of about 24Mbps, however most advertised speeds are around “right 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 dwell in a town or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of more than 16Mb or more. This still provides ample bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which superfast broadband product is the fastest?

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 due to 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 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 superfast broadband ?

Your initial step is to decide which high speed internet services are available to you . Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Advantages of high bandwidth broadband connectivity

High speed broadband empowers you to take advantage of all the video on demand available on the world wide web. You will have the capacity to watch movies in a in a few minutes – allowing you consume what you like, when you like it, and banishing the hanging around for big downloads.

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

Reduced ‘ping’ means move favourable response times delivered by super fast connectivity means that when playing game online you a competitive advantage 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 near) and depend on things that are out of your control , like the quality of wiring and the distance you live from the green box. Even if high speed connectivity is available in your location, these limiting factors may not bring many benefits in performance for a much higher monthly price .

Who is  fibre internet connectivity for?

The massive growth in the quantity of people listening to music, video and watching on demand TV online means that there is no longer a typical user of super fast 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 internet connectivity service – preferably fibre optic for the best service .

Super-fast broadband is also ideal for fans of online gaming . Due to the fact faster connectivity gets rid of the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is referred to as ping,  which is often  caused by slower DSL broadband services . This can seriously ruin your online gaming pleasure.

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 connection.

Upper Town – Other Areas

Chignal St. James

Parkhill

Drury

Coldoch

Lynch Wood

Clachan-Seil

Little Gorsley

Southease

Watermill

Dromore