What Are Broadband Speeds?
Broadband speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps) and tells you how quickly data can be transferred to and from your home. Download speed affects how fast you can stream videos, browse websites, and download files. Upload speed matters for video calls, uploading photos, and working from home. Providers advertise 'average' speeds, which represent what at least 50% of customers achieve during peak times (8-10pm).
How Much Speed Do You Need?
For basic browsing and email, 10-30Mbps is sufficient for a single user. For streaming HD video, you'll want at least 25-36Mbps. A household of 3-4 people streaming, gaming, and video calling simultaneously should look for 50-100Mbps. For very heavy usage, 4K streaming on multiple devices, or large file downloads, consider ultrafast packages of 150Mbps or above. If you work from home with regular video conferencing, upload speed becomes just as important as download speed.
Types of Broadband Connection
Standard ADSL broadband runs over copper phone lines and offers speeds of 10-17Mbps. Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) uses fibre to your local street cabinet, then copper to your home, delivering 36-80Mbps. Full fibre (FTTP) runs fibre optic cables directly to your home, offering speeds from 100Mbps up to 1Gbps. Cable broadband from Virgin Media uses coaxial cables on their own network, with speeds from 130Mbps to over 1Gbps. Fixed wireless broadband using 4G or 5G is an option where traditional broadband is limited.