Who needs Quick Fibre Connectivity ?

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

Westerdale Broadband Deals For March 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 sitting in commuter traffic, something that we all wish 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 local business manages 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 connect to the internet , download music & video and stream television at speeds that are massively greater than most broadband users.

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

How does superfast broadband operate?

Unlike most 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 composed of glass and plastic, which allows data to move much quicker than along the copper pipes used by standard 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 not too distant future.

 

 

The likes of TalkTalk, Sky and EE have piggybacked on BT’s Infinity service to launch rebranded high speed cable broadband products of their own.

However, fast internet is not exclusively available to people in a fibre 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 broadband provider’s exchange you can still get fast broadband by registering for selected ADSL2+ internet services from the providers like O2, Sky, Orange and TalkTalk.

ADSL2+

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

Your speed depends, as always, on the quality of the copper and the distance you are from the exchange, but if you reside in a city or built up location you can realistically expect speeds of approximately 16Mb or more. This still provides ample bandwidth for heavy internet users, and at a smaller cost than cable.

Which high speed internet product is the best?

Among the UK’s quickest internet 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 thanks to its super-fast 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 optic connectivity?

Your start is to see which superfast internet services are available at your exhaage. Check which types of connectivity are available.

 

Advantages of fast broadband

Fast broadband empowers you to enjoy all the entertainment services available on the world wide web. You’ll have the capacity to watch movies in a matter of minutes – allowing you view what you want , when you demand it , and getting rid of the hanging around for astronomical downloads.

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

Reduced ‘ping’ means better response times delivered by fibre connectivity means that when playing game online you an one-upmanship over the opponents and can enjoy a better more enjoyable experience.

Disadvantages of fibre broadband

Speeds are never 100% as advertised (although are often very close ) and based on things that are out of your control , like the quality of wiring and the distance you live from the BT exchange . Whether super-fast internet connectivity is available in your area , these limiting factors may yield little difference in performance for a much higher monthly price .

Who is  high speed internet  for?

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

Super fast internet connectivity is also ideal for fans of online console usage. This is because a faster connection eliminates the delays to in-game responsiveness. This is known as ping,  which is commonly brought on by slower DSL internet connectivity services . 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 traditional ADSL deal .

Westerdale – Other Areas

Cross Lanes

Fairwater

Buttsash

Tredegar

Newton

East Somerton

Blank Bank

Blencow

Tanglwst

Birley Edge