If you can’t tell your FTTC from your FTTP but you know your broadband speeds are driving you mad, then you’ve come to the right place.
Understanding broadband and internet services can be a gigabit (more on that later) hill to climb.
But don’t be mind-boggled by your Mbps, we’re here to help!
In this article we bust the jargon and make the broadband and internet world easier to navigate.
Jargon buster
Let’s bust a few of the infuriating jargons often used in the broadband and internet world.
ISP
You may have seen companies that offer internet services called ISPs, or Internet Service Providers. These are the companies you pay to receive an internet service from – your BTs, Sky, TalkTalk etc.
Most of these companies provide services to you over infrastructure laid by other organisations such as Openreach and City Fibre.
A few companies act as both a broadband infrastructure supplier and an ISP. This includes companies like Wessex Internet, Jurassic Fibre and Virgin Media.
Fibre – full fibre, FTTC and FTTP
Most internet service providers will talk about their ‘fibre’ packages – but don’t be fooled into thinking that this a ‘full fibre’ connection.
Most of these packages are actually only a partial fibre connection and not what we would call ‘full fibre’ (no wonder people get confused!).
There are two main fibre products – FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) and FTTP (fibre to the premises).
At the moment most people receive FTTC broadband. This means your broadband is connected to a nearby cabinet, via your existing phone line.
The cabinet is ‘fibre-enabled.’ which means it is connected to the exchange via fibreoptic cable. This is not a ‘full fibre’ service and the maximum speed you can get on this connection is 80 Mbps download. In some rare cases, a cabinet may have a special add on that can give you speeds up to 330 Mbps.
The closer you live to the cabinet the faster your speeds are likely to be.
FTTP is a ‘full fibre’ service and it brings the fibre optic cable directly into your property. This is known as the next generation of broadband and is capable of very fast speeds. We call this kind of connection ‘gigabit capable’. This means it could give you download speeds of 1,000 Mbps.
Megabits per second – Mbps, download and upload
Broadband speeds are measured by how much data your internet connection can transfer per second – this is megabits per second (Mbps).
The internet speeds you see in Mbps measure the rate at which a provider delivers internet data to and from your home; this is your download speed.
An upload speed refers to how quickly you can send information from your computer to another device or server on the internet. Sending emails, playing live games, video–calling and virtual meetings require good upload speeds.
Speed categories
Sub-Superfast:
These are download broadband speeds of less than 24 Mbps. The further your speed moves towards zero, the more you will struggle to cope with the modern demands of online living.
People who are not connected to a fibre-enabled cabinet and receive their broadband via old copper networks straight from the exchange are likely to be in this category.
Some people who are connected to a fibre cabinet but live some distance from it may also struggle with these low speeds.
Superfast:
This is download speeds over 24 Mbps and 96% of residents and businesses in Dorset can receive a Superfast connection.
Superfast speeds are considered sufficient for most everyday online uses. Live video gamers and uses such as 4k streaming could struggle on speeds at the lower spectrum of Superfast.
If you have a FTTC connection, you are likely to be receiving between 24 Mbps and 80 Mbps. Cable networks could be faster.
Ultrafast:
This is the next generation in connectivity and is anything from 300 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps download speeds. That magic 1,000 number is also known as 1 Gigabit.
The government wants to move to what it calls ‘Gigabit capable’ broadband and you will hear this mentioned in all its subsidised schemes.
Most households will not need ultrafast now, but emerging technologies will make this future-proof for when you do.
FTTP and cable will be the main networks for these speeds and just because you have ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband, you don’t have to take out the most expensive and fastest service on it.
Now you know your broadband speed you can better understand what help might be available to you. Go to this link Connecting Dorset – a guide to broadband support schemes – Digital Dorset (dorsetcouncil.gov.uk) to find out more about the national broadband schemes that are available to help people get better speeds.
Need more advice?
If you have any further questions on any of the above please email us at connectingdorset@dorsetcc.gov.uk
I have worked in communications for 25 years, first as a journalist and then in public and private sector public relations. From Southampton originally, I have lived in beautiful Dorset for the last two decades. My passion for Dorset has also turned into a passion for landscape photography. My other great loves are my family and Southampton Football Club.