| Fast broadband packages, plus how to get faster broadband | | Print | |
|
Want superfast broadband? check out our top superfast broadband packages, many offering fibre optic broadband of up to 40Mb and above.
About fibre broadbandUntil quite recently the only home broadband provider offering robust, genuinely superfast broadband was Virgin Media, via their fibre optic cable network. In the last couple of years Virgin Media have started offering broadband up to 50Mb and even 100Mb to some areas of the UK. Virgin Media say that customers typically get 49.54Mb on their up to 50Mb broadband package. Find out more about Virgin Media (up to 50Mb) broadband here, or Virgin Media up to 100Mb broadband (you can see on the Virgin Media site when you click through whether you are in the roll out areas). New fibre broadband providersIf you want more choice, then you are in luck as other broadband providers have stated offering superfast broadband with speeds of up to 40Mb. If you haven't noticed anyone digging up the street outside your front door, that's because this is via fibre to the cabinet - superfast broadband carried over fibre cables up to the phone cabinets you see on street corners. Fibre broadband isn't available to everyone yet, but if you aren't in a Virgin Media cabled area, or you would rather try a different supplier, for many of you that is now an option. Check out BT Infinity Broadband (up to 40Mb) broadband; or PlusNet Fibre Broadband (up to 40Mb). Alternatively, why not try and speed up your existing broadband
speed? Not the advertised "up to" broadband speed, but the speed you get
when you actually go online? Find out why your broadband might be
slower than you expect. About broadband speedsUnfortunately not all of us have access to superfast fibre broadband yet, or you may still be under contract to another broadband supplier.- so if you are stuck on a slower package you may need to take a few steps to speed everything up.There are loads of variables affecting broadband speed - distance from the exchange, line quality, and the contention ratio, for a start. Find out more, below. Broadband speed testNow you can find out what speed your broadband is really doing with our free broadband speed test. With the broadband speed test you can test upload speed and download speed at the click of a button. You can take the broadband speed test as often as you like so you can get a good idea of what broadband speeds you achieve at different times of the day. Broadband speed test results – troubleshooting!Broadband speeds are affected by many things – for ADSL broadband (that is, via your phone line) a big factor is how near you are to your local exchange. You can find that out by searching on your phone number with out broadband availability checker below - on your results page, click Show Map at the top of your results page. A map with your local exchange on will appear. You may simply be on a slower broadband package – many exchanges can now offer up to 20Mb broadband and some go as high as up to 40Mb with fibre broadband, so if you signed up ages ago when fast broadband packages were not so widely available that could result in poor broadband speed test results. Or your slow broadband speed test result could be down to the contention ratio of your broadband package - this refers to how many other subscribers share the network connection between you and the exchange. Contention is a feature of ADSL broadband.If you see a contention ratio of, say, 50:1, this means that 50 subscribers share that bandwidth. The more subscribers sharing the bandwidth then the slower your connection will be. 50:1 is common for a residential package. Business packages often have lower contention ratios, eg of 20:1, or even 10:1, because it is essential to them that they have a continually fast service. The contention ratio certainly isn't the only factor determining download speed but it could be part of the cause of slow speeds, or the main cause, particularly if your sharing subscribers are heavy users. Alternatively your slow broadband speed test result could be down to poor quality wires going into your house. Five ways to turn around a slow broadband speed test result1. If you are simply on a slower package, speak to your current provider about upgrading to a faster broadband package. They may agree to do this free of charge. If you would prefer to change to a different package, use our broadband availability checker (above) to find out what is available in your area. If you are looking at an ADSL broadband package, use the Show Maps feature on the results page to make sure you are near enough to the exchange and can therefore take advantage of faster speeds. If you are looking to switch broadband provider you could also read switching broadband providers. 2. Contact your internet service provider (ISP) and ask them to look into the problem. They can often do various tests there and then over the phone, which might identify the problem. 3. Check your pc – if you have next to no memory left that could slow down your Internet connection. 4. Consider changing your USB to an Ethernet router - these can perform more effectively, giving you faster broadband speeds. 5. Try a product that can speed up your broadband by reducing the size of each webpage making it faster to download, such as ONSPEED.
Check out our FAQsDo you want to know more about broadband in general to help you choose your broadband provider? Are you looking for a definition of contention ratios or an explanation of satellite broadband, cable broadband (sometimes known as cable modem broadband), wireless broadband or ADSL? Then check out our UK Broadband Finder FAQs. Who are UK Broadband Finder?We
are an affiliate site providing information on broadband providers and
broadband packages in the UK. You can find out more about our company
and how we work in About Us.
|
|||