Fiber Optic Broadband in UK

Fast, faster, fastest. And now there is one more in the list - lightning fast. And that is what fibre optic broadband technology promises to be. The Internet world has travelled a long way to become what it is today. After the number of changes that it has come across, it is now time for the Fibre Optic broadband to take over.

Fibre Optic broadband technology functions with a fibre optic wire and is either made of plastic or glass. Usually these wires are even smaller than the hair of human beings and are capable of transmitting digital information to longer distances at higher speeds. They are often believed to be future proof as they are so much advanced.

Fibre Optic Broadband Providers

Here, let us have a brief review on the 3 popular fibre optic broadband providers - BT, Virgin Media and Eclipse.

Virgin Media- At present Virgin Media is the leader in super fast fibre optic broadband. Ofcom, the Telecoms operator, has named it as the fastest UK broadband supplier. Its fibre optic cable covers almost 48% of the nation. With speeds of up to 30Mb, 50Mb and 100Mb at present, Virgin Media's broadband continues to improve and grow the standard of its fibre optic broadband.

BT- Under the name BT infinity the service provider uses the latest innovative technology - fibre optic broadband that delivers ground breaking speeds. BT uses the glass network for data transmission instead of the traditional electric signals. This enables a smoother and faster experience on the net. Offering a download speed of up to 40Mbps BT promises a stable and reliable speed.

Eclipse- The service provider offers FTTC or Fibre to the cabinet which delivers download speeds of up to 40Mbps and 10Mbps of upload speeds. This is 5 times faster than the already existing speeds. Eclipse claims that its super fast fibre service will enable better business with increased services and speeds including VoIP, VPN and video conferencing.

Fibre Optic Broadband Availability

Already Fibre optic Broadband is available in thousands of UK homes. Thus far, the providers of fibre optic broadband have favoured more towards the big cities and towns. Few rural communities have also benefited from this service thanks to the local petitions and the ISPs. In order to check for availability in a particular area, you can use our postcode availability checker built exclusively to identify the best broadband packages in UK. Some services help you in deciding which providers are available and the list of packages you can choose from. Fibre optic programs in UK are working hard on extending its activities. Hence even if your locality is not connected to the service, there is a great chance that it might soon be.

Some of the areas in UK where there is a strong fibre optic availability are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Staffordshire, Trafford, Washington, Stoke-on-Trent and York.

How does Fibre optic Broadband work?

Even though fibre optic broadband works on greater speeds than the usual Internet services, the real speed depends on various other factors. The package you sign up with will be a major decider of your upload and download speeds. Service providers like the BT and Virgin Media use fibre optic broadband to deliver super fast Internet services.

Popularly called as the "last mile", connection between the source and home are generally made of number of different wires of which some offer faster speeds. For example virgin media is able to offer a reliable and speedy connection because of the cables it uses to connect the cabinet and the home.

The coaxial cable hardly loses speed with distance and customers will be benefited with at least 90% of the promised speed.

The Fibre-to-the-home technology

This technology works on a fast fibre optic Internet cable transmitted direct to your home avoiding along-the-street cabinet completely. Again the place where the customer lives plays a huge role in determining whether or not they can access the fibre optic broadband and the type they can use.

Fibre Optic Broadband Speed

As stated above, the speed of your fibre optic broadband connection depends upon a number of factors, of which the area you live in plays a very important part. There are a number of other things you can do to boost up your fibre optic broadband speed.

Here are few ways to know your speed and improve upon them.

1. Install and run any of the digital home support hubs and access the PC toolkit to keep up your computer health.
2. Reboot your system and broadband device whenever you experience slowness.
3. Examine your wireless setup
4. Be careful about what and when you are downloading. The peak time and other times, amount of data download plays a real big factor as well.
5. The Ethernet connection is always preferred instead of a USB.
6. Take advice from the technical experts often.
7. Take advice from the technical experts often.

Advantages of Fibre Optic Broadband

1. It goes without saying that fibre optic broadband is an incredibly super fast broadband.
2. They are capable of transmitting data through amazingly long distances without too much of loss in speed.
3. High bandwidth
4. Easy to collect increasing bandwidth
5. Resistance to electromagnetic interface
6. Easy to detect cable damage
7. It's an exciting invention for any gamer and fun lover as home theatres and gaming systems can transfer data back and forth through the cables of fibre optics.
8. Apt choice for rural home broadband

Fibre optic Broadband Comparison

Virgin Media is by far the most established of the fibre optic providers. It offers packages at speeds of 10Mb, 30Mb, 50Mb and even 100Mb broadband. Its network covers more than 50% of UK homes and offices. Hence the other parts of UK where Virgin Media's reach is not strong, has to have alternatives. Having said that, virgin media is all geared up and has set the first ever 100Mbps broadband till date.

BT broadband which started its fibre optic services using FTTC in 2010 is yet another alternative. It means fibre optic cables carry more data at quicker speeds. BT uses copper wire for its FTTC connection which again loses a little connection speed if the cabinet is too far from home.

Eclipse too, offers its super fast broadband speeds of 40Mbps downloads and 10Mbps uploads. The service provider promises that its users will experience a non-stop 12Mbps broadband speed over a day's period. Eclipse claims that it is one of those few broadband providers that have promised a throughput performance.

Here is a brief comparison chart on the three service providers-

Fibre Optic Broadband Deals

Here is the list of the Top 10 fiber optic broadband deals-

1. Virgin media’s phone and broadband phone deals offers broadband along with a free wireless router and an offer of free unlimited weekend calls. With speeds of up to 10Mb, experience unlimited downloads.
2. Virgin Media’s XL broadband and phone plan offers fibre optic broadband with cost-free wifi N router with unlimited calling facilities during weekends. Users can enjoy speeds of upto 30 MB with unlimited downloads.
3. Virgin Media’s Broadband, TV, and Phone plan offers fibre optic broadband with more than 65 television channels that includes Sky, free wireless router and home phone. Enjoy up to 10Mb speeds with unlimited download facilities.
4. Virgin Media’s Broadband L TV and Phone plan offers fibre optic broadband with 100 digital channels and unlimited weekend calls. With speeds of up to 10Mb, you get unlimited downloading choice.
5. Virgin Media’s XXL Phone and Broadband Plan offers optic broadband with free wireless N router that offers up to 50Mb speed with unlimited downloads.
6. BT’s unlimited Broadband and Calls plan offers free home wireless hub and McAfee security with unlimited calls and free installation. Get up to 40Mb speed and unlimited download.
7. Virgin Media’s XL broadband offers fibre optic broadbandwith free wireless hub featuring 30 Mb broadband speed with unlimited downloads. Also enjoy free installation and a super fast 30Mb phone-less standalone broadband.
8. Virgin Media Broadband and TV offers fibre optic broadband with more than 100 TV channels and free modem and PC guard. Enjoy up to 10Mb speed with unlimited downloads.
9. Eclipse Fibre offers free router, 100MB web space and data backup facilities. With speeds of up to 40 Mb, users can enjoy 100GB downloads.

It goes without saying that the Internet is a constituent part of our lives today. Fibre Optic Broadband technology is yet another welcome invention to the Internet world.