Top Tips When Choosing Broadband

When we come to choose our broadband, we can at times get confused by the amount of jargon and information out there. Indeed, there are different technologies to choose as well that can sometimes leave us completely bewildered.

In this article, we’ll look at the different technologies of broadband and then we’ll give you a guide as to how to choose your broadband option.

The Technologies of Broadband

The technologies of broadband can be broadly split in to ADSL, fibre optic broadband, mobile broadband and satellite broadband.

There is of course also Wi-Fi connectivity through Wi-Fi hotspots and so on which may be available in your area if you live essentially in a city location or if you have it available in a apartment block.

ADSL

ADSL is a broadband technology that requires the telephone infrastructure to work. Basically, the internet signals are passed from the telephone exchange through copper cables onto your street level cabinet and then again through copper cables to your devices. It is the technology that was set up really for telephone lines rather than broadband and therefore the cables are not that good at carrying internet signal, and the further you are from the telephone exchange the worse a signal you’re likely to get.

Fibre Optic Broadband

Fibre optic broadband has purpose built cables from glass and plastic that are designed to transfer the internet data at very fast speeds. Whereas, ADSL tops out to run at 24Mbps, fibre optic broadband can go up to 1GBps and even higher. Residential consumers can currently get 120Mbps connections on Virgin Broadband.

ADSL has coverage of around 99% of the UK whereas fibre optic broadband currently covers around 60% of the UK predominantly through the main providers BT Broadband, Infinity, and Virgin Media Broadband.

Mobile Broadband

Mobile broadband is becoming a better option for consumers. The fourth generation of mobile broadband, the Long Term Evolution, has arrived in the UK with Everything Everywhere rolling out connections that seem to be running on average at about 8 to 12MBps. This is a really decent level broadband and comparable with ADSL.

As well as there being better speeds, the technology has also improved in terms of the spectrum so that indoor performance of mobile broadband is superior to how it was in the past. Indeed, we now have indoor and outdoor spectrums that work pretty well and we have devices that enable us to Wi-Fi hotspot our connections in order to get multiple people on the same device.

Satellite Broadband

Satellite broadband is a solution for broadband without a phone line that is available throughout the whole of the British Isles. Because of the technology using satellites, the ability of the signals to be passed is there wherever you are. Indeed, it is the only truly 100% coverage solution in the United Kingdom. However, it is expensive and out of the reach of many. For some though, where they are in a mobile, fibre optic, and ADSL broadband black spot, it really is the only solution to get decent broadband.

Your Usage Profile

Before you start looking at broadband providers and technologies, you should understand what your usage profile is. If you are a high intensive user that streams a lot of movies, plays multiplayer games and so on, then you will be looking for a fast speed and plenty of data.

There are broadband usage calculators that you can access online through a search for that term where you can pop in the details of how much time you spend doing certain activities and find out an estimate of the data that you will consume on a monthly basis. This can be the start of a filtering process for your broadband search.

Broadband Speeds

When you’re looking at broadband speeds it’s important to understand that you don’t necessarily need a super fast fibre optic broadband package. Fibre optic broadband comes at different speeds depending on how much you want to pay. For instance, BT offers an up to 38Mbps package and an up to 76Mbps package.

However, ADSL has got faster with new technologies in the form of ADSL 2 and ADSL 2+ and the 20Mbps connection if you’re close to telephone exchange may suffice without you having to spend extra on fibre optics.

If there are many people in your house that require a decent level of connection though, it’s probably best of that you go for a fibre optic broadband package or a very heavy ADSL package.

Normally, 10Mbps is enough for a small household and 20Mbps is enough for medium to large household. However, if there are multiple people such as in a student home, you may want to go for a 24+Mbps connection which will mean moving on to fibre optic broadband without a phone line in the form of fibre-to-the-home.

Fibre-to-the-Home vs. Fibre-to-the-Cabinet

Fibre-to-the-home is a true broadband without a phone line solution which is great if you’re a student because you won’t have any squabbles over the phone bill. Fibre-to-the-cabinet doesn’t work without a phone line and so you’ll need one installed.

Do a Broadband Post Code Checker

An important tip is to do a broadband post code checker to find out what is actually available in your area. If you read the adverts online and just quickly call them you may well not get the best service possible. There are lots of broadband comparison sites where you can find out exactly who is providing a decent service in your area and you can see the up to speeds advertised.

The up to speeds won’t necessarily be the actual speeds you get, but this is a great way to do a short list of the providers available to you. You could also go to services such as uSwitch and do a post code check on there to look at actual speed test results of consumers in your neighbourhood. This is a way to find out the actual speeds that people are achieving on their broadband connections and is a more reliable way to get a thorough picture of the speeds available to you so that you can short list even more appropriately.

Bear in mind that the speed test that people have done could well be done on wireless, wired, and even damaged connections and therefore if you see slow speeds, they may not be the fault of the provider and may be just do with the set-up of the system that you are seeing the test results from.

Broadband without a Phone Line

These days not many of us use our phone lines and so it can be a good idea to look for broadband solution without a phone line. After all, it is a waste of money for many as most of us don’t use our landline at all, and some don’t even use our landlines for our 0800 and 0845 numbers as here are applications on our smartphones that can make the calls as cheap as on our landlines.

Sam Jones’s son decided broadband without phone line would be his best option in his student accommodation. Phil helped him get a good deal by searching online using price comparison sites like uSwitch.