Who needs Super-fast Fibre Connections?

Broadband has become increasingly more essential to our everyday lives and the amount of devices that we use per day that utilise broadband connectivity seems to increase. The range of tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops, games consoles and TV’s that each person has in their homes, seems to increase everyday.

Wardhedges Broadband Deals For April 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 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 logged on concurrently. With Superfast fibre broadband though, everyone within a home or company has the capacity to do what they want online– all at the same time– without any annoying delays.

What is high speed broadband?

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

Super-fast broadband connections enable users to go online , stream music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively more than most internet users.

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

How does superfast internet operate?

Unlike the majority of UK broadband connections, which use telephone lines, the UK’s quickest broadband 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 made up of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much quicker than along the copper cables used by traditional DSL broadband .

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 future .

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have used BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded super-fast cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast internet is not only 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 distant of your broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast internet by registering for selected ADSL2+ internet packages from the likes of O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

This kind of connection uses the same cables and telephone exchanges as regular ADSL broadband connections, but because 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 cabling and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you live a city or built up area you can realistically expect speeds of around 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 quickest ?

Among the UK’s fastest 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 its superfast fibre-optic connectivity 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.

 

 

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 cabling to carry more data.

How do I get fibre optic connectivity?

Your initial step is to see which highspeed internet services are available at your exhaage. Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Advantages of high speed internet

Super-fast internet connectivity lets you enjoy all the video on demand on offer on the web. You’ll have the capacity to watch movies in a within minutes – allowing you consume what you like, when you like it, and banishing the hanging around for big downloads.

Fans of on-demand show can enjoy their best shows on the BBC iPlayer , in addition to rival services from ITV and Channel 4, smoothly and without buffering.

Reduced latency means move favourable response times delivered by high speed internet means that online gamers gain a competitive advantage over the opposition and can enjoy a better playing experience.

Disadvantages of fibre internet connectivity

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very near) and based upon things that are out of your control , like the age of wiring and the distance you live from the green box. Regardless of whether high speed connectivity is available in your area , these limiting factors may not bring many improvements in speed for a much higher annual price.

Who is  fibre broadband  for?

The massive growth in the range of people listening to music, video and watching catchup TV online means that there is no more a typical user of fibre internet 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 good sense to enrol for a high speed internet connectivity service – preferably fibre optic for the very best 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 referred to as ping,  which is commonly caused by slower traditionalbroadband services . 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 choose a traditional ADSL deal .

Wardhedges – Other Areas

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