Broadband beginners guide

Broadband availability

Updated: Wednesday 28 December, 2011

By Garnet Roach - garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

More than 20 years since the launch of the world wide web, over 17 million people in the UK have broadband access via a network of providers that covers around 90% of the country.

The Government has also promised to deliver speeds of at least 2Mb to every home in the country by 2012 - pushing availability to 100%.

A variety of different technologies are used to deliver broadband to cities and rural areas, ranging from just 512Kb to speeds of up to 100Mb.

ADSL broadband

ADSL broadband is delivered via the BT copper wire network used for telephone lines. However, you don’t have to take BT Broadband's (www.BT.com) internet or home phone services to get an ADSL broadband connection.

The majority of broadband providers use ADSL technology to deliver broadband to your home, but unlike dial-up, which also uses phone lines to access the internet, broadband gives you always-on, high-speed access to the internet while keeping your home phone free to make and receive calls.

ADSL2+ technology now allows ADSL providers to offer speeds of up to 24Mb..

ADSL broadband is available to around 90% of the UK, though the speed that you receive varies depending on how far you are from your local exchange.

Local loop unbundled broadband

While local loop unbundled (LLU) broadband still uses ADSL technology and telephone lines to deliver your broadband, LLU providers like TalkTalk Broadband (www.Talktalk.co.uk) and Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com) have installed their own technology in the local BT telephone exchange allowing them to make savings that they can then pass on to customers through their own broadband packages and bundles.

There are now over 7.5 million LLU lines in the UK and like standard ADSL providers, LLU suppliers can offer speeds of up to 24Mb

Cable broadband

Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) uses its superfast cable network to deliver speeds of up to 100Mb - the UK’s fastest, commercially available broadband package, now matched by BT Infinity's 100Mb package.

Virgin Media also offers two other packages over its cable network, at speeds of up to 10Mb and 30Mb. The ISP upgraded old 4Mb customers to 10Mb in 2009.

Virgin Media’s cable network is currently available to approximately half of the UK population, and further expansion project are planned for 2012.

BT is expanding its fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) network, which uses fibre optic cables - designed for superfast data transfer - to cover the distance between the telephone exchange and the cabinet on your street. BT aims to make its up to 40Mb broadband service available to two-thirds of the population by 2014.

Mobile broadband

Mobile broadband allows you to get online almost anywhere in the UK, without the constraints of wires or landlines as the signal is carried over the airwaves. Higher speed 3G mobile broadband services can, in theory, reach 14.4Mb, however Ofcom speed tests in December 2010 found that the average speed achieved by mobile broadband consumers was significantly slower at 1.5Mb.

In good 3G coverage areas, Ofcom found that average mobile broadband speeds were 2.1Mb. Vodafone mobile broadband (www.Vodafone.co.uk) and O2 mobile broadband (www.O2.co.uk) came out top in the mobile broadband speed survey with average speeds of around 2.5Mb and 2.5-3Mb respectively.

Mobile broadband services are available to more than 97% of the country and customers can get online wherever they can get a mobile phone signal, since mobile phone operators use their networks to deliver broadband to laptops via small, portable USB modem sticks and mobile broadband dongles.

The arrival of 4G mobile connections will shift mobile broadband into a new ball park offering speeds which can match and outpace many fixed line connections - however this is yet to be commercially available.

Satellite broadband

This technology is still rarely used by home internet users because costs can be very high. However, satellite broadband options are occasionally the only choice in the few areas where ADSL, cable or mobile broadband availability is poor or non-existent, and providers like Eutelsat Communications (www.Eutelsat.com) and Tariam Satellite Broadband (www.Tariam.co.uk) are slowly bringing costs down. Some rural communities living in broadband “notspots” have even banded together to set up their own networks.

Wireless hotspots

Free, or paid for, wireless hotspots allow users to get online using a public wifi connection. There are a number of hotspot providers including BT, T-Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) and O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk), each with thousands of hotspots throughout the UK and abroad. You can also find wireless hotspot access in independent coffee shops, hotels and even on trains.

Finding a broadband provider

Finding a broadband provider in your area is simple. Use our free UK broadband comparison service and type in your postcode - it will give you a list of the top suppliers in your area, ranked by first year cost and highlighting any catches or extra benefits such as a fair usage policy or free internet security.

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