If you’re looking for a new home broadband provider, it can be difficult to know what options are best for you. Here’s our guide to the different types of home broadband connections in the UK – including whether copper or fibre is best, what speeds you can expect and the factors to consider when choosing a WIFI for home
What is home broadband?
Broadband is a type of internet connection that allows you to access the internet at high speeds. There are two main types of home broadband: cable and fibre optic.
Cable broadband uses coaxial cable—the same kind of cable used for cable TV—to connect you with your service provider. The speed of your connection depends on how far away you are from the nearest cable junction box, but generally speaking, it can be up to 100mbps (megabits per second), which is more than enough for most people’s needs.
Fibre optic broadband uses optical fibres instead of cables to carry information from your house to the nearest telephone exchange or cabinet (a smaller version of the junction box).
Fibre optic broadband has much higher download speeds than standard copper cable because light travels through glass faster than electricity travels through metal cables, making it ideal for streaming video services such as Netflix or BBC iPlayer at high definition resolutions without buffering problems or delays in loading pages when browsing websites online
What are the different types of home broadband?
There are four main types of broadband, each with their own pros and cons.
- Fibre optic broadband: This is the fastest type of broadband available in the UK and it uses fibre optic cables to transfer information from your router to the internet. It’s generally very reliable and offers high speeds of up to 1Gbps (1000Mbps).
- Copper broadband: This is also known as ADSL or ADSL2+. It uses your existing copper telephone wires to transmit data, which means you can get decent speeds while not having to pay an expensive installation fee or wait around for weeks on end for engineers to come round and install new wiring in your house.
- Satellite broadband: If you live somewhere remote with no access to a telephone line or cable connection, satellite providers might be able to offer some help – but this type of service costs significantly more than average because it requires special equipment called “terminal adapters” at both ends (you need one installed near where you live so that signals can reach it from space). In addition, satellite connections tend not be great for streaming video due their latency issues (how long it takes for signals travelling through space take before reaching your computer).
- Mobile broadband
Fiber vs copper – what is best and why?
- Fiber is the best option for getting fast broadband.
- Copper is more prone to interference.
- Copper is not as reliable.
- Copper is more expensive than fiber for ISPs. In fact, some of the biggest ISPs in the UK rely on copper infrastructure, but they have plans in place to roll out fiber across their networks over time (at least until they’re forced to stop doing so by law).
Why is superfast broadband so important?
What is superfast broadband?
Superfast broadband is a term used to describe internet speeds that exceed 30 megabytes per second. The average home broadband connection in the UK has an average speed of around 12 megabytes per second, so this would be considered superfast.
Why is it important for your home?
Superfast broadband can help you do more on the internet at once, whether you’re using multiple devices or streaming music or video content. It also means faster access to websites and web applications such as online banking or news sites.
Why is it better than normal broadband?
Normal (also called standard) internet connections usually give speeds between 0-30 Mbps and are suitable for most people’s needs. However, if you want to stream high quality video content or download large files quickly then a superfast connection will be much better suited to your needs
How can I get fast wifi in my whole home?
If you want fast and reliable wifi throughout your whole home, there are a few options.
- A wifi extender can be plugged into an electrical outlet near where you’re experiencing slow or no-signal. This device works by catching the existing signal from your modem, then rebroadcasting.
- You could also get a multi-antenna router if you want more than one band to transmit data. For example, one antenna might be set up for 5 GHz while another is designed for 2.4 GHz. These frequencies are different because they have different ranges—the 5 GHz range is shorter but faster than 2.4 GHz, making it better at connecting devices that are close together (for example: in an apartment building). The nice thing about having multiple antennas and bands is that if one gets blocked by something like furniture or walls (which happen often), there will still be another working frequency ready to go!
What to consider when searching for the right broadband package?
- Your budget: The price or cost of the package is a primary consideration. If you have a small budget, you may be limited to a specific provider that offers affordable plans that meet your needs.
- Speed: The speed or connection will determine how fast your internet connection can be and how many devices can use it at once. It’s also important to note how far from your home the provider’s hub is located as this will affect the strength of your wifi signal.
- Length of contract / termination fees: Most companies provide customers with lengthy contracts and then charge an early termination fee if they want out before the end date. However, some providers offer shorter contracts with no penalties if cancelled after a certain period (usually 30 days).
- UK coverage – press coverage & speed tests: You should check whether there are any issues regarding customer service or network stability before signing up for any service provider so make sure that they have good customer reviews online, relevant press coverage and reputable third-party speed tests
Price or cost
When you’re thinking about new broadband, you’ll want to make sure that it’s worth the price. But don’t pay for things you don’t need! Check out these details:
- The cost of broadband will vary depending on where you live and what kind of internet connection your home requires. This information is usually listed on your current provider’s website or on a comparison site such as uSwitch.com or comparethemarket.com. If possible, get an estimate of how much your new internet will cost before signing up for a contract with anyone else—you may be able to negotiate it down if enough competition is involved in providing service in your area (which might happen if there are several local providers).
- Check out any contract length and termination fees associated with different plans; these can vary quite significantly depending on which company offers what options at what price point, so doing some research beforehand could save time later when switching providers becomes necessary due to unforeseen circumstances such as moving homes or changing jobs within city limits (which often happens unexpectedly).
- Also consider whether there are bundled products available (such as phone lines) at lower rates than individual subscriptions would cost separately; this might be worth investigating if it’s important for certain members of household who rely heavily upon voice calls while away from home.”
Speed and connection reliability
Speed is measured in megabytes per second and the higher the speed, the faster you can download or upload content. The faster your download and upload speeds are, the more information will be transferred over your home WiFi connection at once. This means that if you’re trying to stream a high-definition movie on Netflix, or even just send emails with large attachments, then having a fast connection will improve your experience.
A good rule of thumb when it comes to internet speed is that anything above 10 Mbps is considered “fast” while anything below 1Mbps would be considered slow by most standards; however this isn’t always accurate as factors such as distance from an exchange (the place where telephone lines intersect) can impact how fast a service runs.
Length of contract / termination fees.
The length of your contract will affect how much it costs to leave early, so it’s important that you pay attention to this. If your provider offers a 12-month contract for example, but you only need broadband for one year then that could work out more expensive than paying month-by-month and cancelling after 11 months. Some providers offer shorter contracts (ex: Three) or longer ones (ex: BT).
Some providers also let you upgrade or downgrade plans without penalty, although if they don’t specify this in their terms and conditions then they may charge you an early termination fee if you decide to leave before the end of your agreed contract period. It’s always worth checking what happens when times change before signing up with any new service – this way there’ll be no surprises later on!
UK coverage – reputation & speed tests.
When you’re choosing a home wifi provider, make sure to check these things:
- Reputation. You should look at how well-known your provider is and what they do. Is the company new? Do they have a good reputation for customer service or quality of product?
- Customer service. When you have questions about using your home wifi connection, who will you call for help? What happens if there’s an outage or problem with your connection? Does anyone know about that kind of thing other than you (and maybe the kids)? A good home wifi provider will offer 24/7 support via phone or chat (or even just text). They should also have easy-to-navigate online resources where you can learn more about how to set up and use their service.
- Coverage map. You’ll want to know if your provider has coverage in the areas where you need wireless access most—at work, at school/college, or wherever else it would be helpful for you connect via Wi-Fi instead of running cables back into each room individually! In addition to checking its website (wherever possible), look on social media outlets like Twitter; users often complain when companies don’t deliver on promises made during sales pitches so keep an eye out for any red flags here too!
You should research your provider and plan carefully to get the best price, speed and wifi coverage
You should research your provider and plan carefully to get the best price, speed and wifi coverage. Check out what deals and offers are available, as well as the different speeds on offer. You’ll also want to look at customer reviews for a particular provider; this will give you an idea of what people’s experiences have been and how reliable the service has been in real-world situations.
Alternatively, if you’re happy with your current provider but want more information about how it works or whether there are better deals elsewhere – or perhaps just want some peace of mind when making such an important decision – then our guide can help!
Conclusion
Before you sign up for a broadband package, there are several important considerations to keep in mind. It’s not just about the cost of your package; you should also think about the speed and coverage, as well as the contract terms. You want to make sure that you can terminate your contract easily if necessary and without penalty, but without paying too much for the service itself. You should also look into how fast your wifi will be and whether or not it can reach every room in your home. These are all things we’ve covered here today! If this seems like a lot of information to take in at once, don’t worry—we’ll be going through each point so that you know exactly what it means for your broadband plan.