Fibre - how fast do you really need?
Discussion
I am moving house and one property has fibre direct to the house with speeds of 350Mbps.... I currently have around 30Mbps and would probably choose this speed as it's pretty cheap on the fibre connection.
As I don't download films (only stream) would I be mad not to have the full speed? Websites can only load so fast, so I can't see any advantage unless I'm downloading HD films.
As I don't download films (only stream) would I be mad not to have the full speed? Websites can only load so fast, so I can't see any advantage unless I'm downloading HD films.
Hmmm as I thought.
My office was a gigabit connection - browsing PH, Amazon... the usual suspects... was no different to my home connection of 30. And this is when nobody was using it, so full speed.
Unless I get very strong advice to get full speed, I'll stick with a 35Mbps speed, it feels more than enough for Spotify, YouTube and BBC iPlayer - which is 99% of my use.
My office was a gigabit connection - browsing PH, Amazon... the usual suspects... was no different to my home connection of 30. And this is when nobody was using it, so full speed.
Unless I get very strong advice to get full speed, I'll stick with a 35Mbps speed, it feels more than enough for Spotify, YouTube and BBC iPlayer - which is 99% of my use.
My office connection is currently around 220mbps down and around 100mbps up, my home broadband is a rock solid 74mbps (80mbps line). When I'm working from home the corporate VPN overhead drops this speed to around 60mbps, and I can't tell any difference in terms of teleconference/video conferencing quality, moving files around accessing systems, emails etc etc between home and the office.
The only time I would like faster internet at home is if I was doing large off-site backups, or accessing large off-site files. In my last job I would need to access large very high resolution microscope images (GBs in size), which needed a lot of bandwidth, now I'm just an emailing corporate drone, 20mbps would probably suffice..
The only time I would like faster internet at home is if I was doing large off-site backups, or accessing large off-site files. In my last job I would need to access large very high resolution microscope images (GBs in size), which needed a lot of bandwidth, now I'm just an emailing corporate drone, 20mbps would probably suffice..
I upload sporting videos of matches. One match will generate 3 hrs of video, all in HD. It used to be an overnight job. I then went to BT's fastest domestic fibre connection.
The difference in times for upload to an extent and download particularly was startling; better than I expected and probably better than I hoped.
I run two websites as well. The difference there is very noticeable.
In general browsing there's not much difference.
I would not go back to slower speeds.
The difference in times for upload to an extent and download particularly was startling; better than I expected and probably better than I hoped.
I run two websites as well. The difference there is very noticeable.
In general browsing there's not much difference.
I would not go back to slower speeds.
I used to work for a telco where we developed our own FTTP offering with 1Gb up/down speeds - the limiting factor quickly became wifi performance.
Sadly, people like me who get 1-2Mb max and live too far from an exchange for FTTC are still waiting for FTTP to be deployed. My spirits did lift recently when overhead fibre infrastructure was installed by Openreach - now waiting for the project to complete and a provider to offer a retail package and we might be able to browse on more than one device at a time...!
Sadly, people like me who get 1-2Mb max and live too far from an exchange for FTTC are still waiting for FTTP to be deployed. My spirits did lift recently when overhead fibre infrastructure was installed by Openreach - now waiting for the project to complete and a provider to offer a retail package and we might be able to browse on more than one device at a time...!
Id suggest you check the pricing.
I am paying more for 80Mbit (FTTC £49.99 BT) in my new place than I was for 330Mbit FTTP in my old place (£46.99 ppm BT)
Netflix 4k is 15mbit a stream, I'm sure youtube will be similar, so whilst 30mbit will do now, if you have family or plan to stay for a year or so more, I'd always say go for the best pipe you can.
I am paying more for 80Mbit (FTTC £49.99 BT) in my new place than I was for 330Mbit FTTP in my old place (£46.99 ppm BT)
Netflix 4k is 15mbit a stream, I'm sure youtube will be similar, so whilst 30mbit will do now, if you have family or plan to stay for a year or so more, I'd always say go for the best pipe you can.
OMITN said:
I used to work for a telco where we developed our own FTTP offering with 1Gb up/down speeds - the limiting factor quickly became wifi performance.
Sadly, people like me who get 1-2Mb max and live too far from an exchange for FTTC are still waiting for FTTP to be deployed. My spirits did lift recently when overhead fibre infrastructure was installed by Openreach - now waiting for the project to complete and a provider to offer a retail package and we might be able to browse on more than one device at a time...!
Are we in the same village in North Hampshire? We are in exactly the same position......Sadly, people like me who get 1-2Mb max and live too far from an exchange for FTTC are still waiting for FTTP to be deployed. My spirits did lift recently when overhead fibre infrastructure was installed by Openreach - now waiting for the project to complete and a provider to offer a retail package and we might be able to browse on more than one device at a time...!
Currently in a similar position myself, moving to a property with FTTP.
BT are offering 150/30 for £54.99 a month.
Or I can go 300/49 for £59.99 a month.
I absolutely don't need the faster speed but for a fiver it's so tempting.
Or I can get regular fibre - 74/20 for £45.99.
I should add my current flat gets 11/0.5 so the fact I'm even considering 300 is bonkers.
BT are offering 150/30 for £54.99 a month.
Or I can go 300/49 for £59.99 a month.
I absolutely don't need the faster speed but for a fiver it's so tempting.
Or I can get regular fibre - 74/20 for £45.99.
I should add my current flat gets 11/0.5 so the fact I'm even considering 300 is bonkers.
OMITN said:
I My spirits did lift recently when overhead fibre infrastructure was installed by Openreach - now waiting for the project to complete and a provider to offer a retail package and we might be able to browse on more than one device at a time...!
They have just gone live with FTTP in my area and the timeline from installation on poles to offering connections was about 10 weeks so hopefully not too long to wait!I'm on Virgin fibre with just over 100 Mbit down and 6 up, with a full family and lots of connected devices I can't see any reason to upgrade as a home user. Generally with virgin you end up with faster speed increases every other year or so as the base speeds get ever faster (I'm on the 'lowest' speed) and will most likely be on 200 in a year or so as the new lowest speed.
I was told years ago that quite a bit depends on the connection of the website your connecting to? So apple / bbc website will be superfast on 200mb connection but daves diy shop who's on a not so good server yup will see less.
I'm on Virgin 200 and find it perfectly acceptable to run many devices including working form home.
I'm on Virgin 200 and find it perfectly acceptable to run many devices including working form home.
I have BT FTTP at home, downstream is 320, upstream is 50.
Whilst it's absolute overkill for me, when all 4 kids are in the house, I'm wanting to download something and the good lady is attempting to do some work via VPN, it's great to have the headroom to not worry about bandwidth at all.
Whilst it's absolute overkill for me, when all 4 kids are in the house, I'm wanting to download something and the good lady is attempting to do some work via VPN, it's great to have the headroom to not worry about bandwidth at all.
I am a heavy user and I have
22mbps down
1.6mbps up
4k streaming works with no issues at all (Amazon)
Torrents (24Gb 4k) happen overnight
Torrents 8-12Gb take a coupel of hours.
Online gaming is perfect.
Pretty much everything I have is web connected.
Vodafone £24 a month inc line rental and phone.
I don't have a faster choice where I am.
22mbps down
1.6mbps up
4k streaming works with no issues at all (Amazon)
Torrents (24Gb 4k) happen overnight
Torrents 8-12Gb take a coupel of hours.
Online gaming is perfect.
Pretty much everything I have is web connected.
Vodafone £24 a month inc line rental and phone.
I don't have a faster choice where I am.
weeboot said:
I have BT FTTP at home, downstream is 320, upstream is 50.
Whilst it's absolute overkill for me, when all 4 kids are in the house, I'm wanting to download something and the good lady is attempting to do some work via VPN, it's great to have the headroom to not worry about bandwidth at all.
Do they place any restrictions?Whilst it's absolute overkill for me, when all 4 kids are in the house, I'm wanting to download something and the good lady is attempting to do some work via VPN, it's great to have the headroom to not worry about bandwidth at all.
I know some ISP's block torrent sites, or torrents, for example..
Calza said:
Do they place any restrictions?
I know some ISP's block torrent sites, or torrents, for example..
Nope, torrents come down at quite a pace!I know some ISP's block torrent sites, or torrents, for example..
I run my own local DNS (pihole, look it up, it's rather good) so any DNS blocking doesn't work, yify for example..
40Gb downloaded in the last two days. We average about .75Tb a month..
That's a really useful snapshot of general connections and usage. Thanks to all who contributed.
BT have offered me 35Mbps (unlimited) at £29.99 a month. This will be enough - if I need more, I can go right up to 350Mbps (and pay extra), but I really don't think I need more than 35Mbps given my usage.
It is tempting to go full speed - but I suspect it would be a waste of money.
NDA said:
That's a really useful snapshot of general connections and usage. Thanks to all who contributed.
BT have offered me 35Mbps (unlimited) at £29.99 a month. This will be enough - if I need more, I can go right up to 350Mbps (and pay extra), but I really don't think I need more than 35Mbps given my usage.
It is tempting to go full speed - but I suspect it would be a waste of money.
How much more?BT have offered me 35Mbps (unlimited) at £29.99 a month. This will be enough - if I need more, I can go right up to 350Mbps (and pay extra), but I really don't think I need more than 35Mbps given my usage.
It is tempting to go full speed - but I suspect it would be a waste of money.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff