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How to get the most from your fibre optic broadband

1 Reply Christopher Roberts

While fibre optic internet coverage continues to grow, internet prices are continuing to decrease, meaning it’s never been a better time to upgrade your internet. That being said, if you intend on shelling out on fibre optic, its best you consider how you can ensure you make the most of what you pay for.

Upgrade your wireless router

If your internet supplier has not already provided you with a new wireless router, you may find the need to upgrade to make the most of your new high speed internet. Older routers on the whole tend to be around 50% slower than newer models, meaning investment is paramount if you want to make the most of your fibre optic connection. There is a huge array of routers on the market, with many different features. It’s advised that you go for a dual band router if you have many devices on your network as it will ensure a better connection that is less prone to interference.

Use an Ethernet cable

If you’re after the highest internet and data transferral speeds, connecting via an Ethernet cable is by far your best option. Wireless data is transmitted at a snail pace when compared to a cabled connection, which now has speeds of up to one gigabit on some routers, so really cuts down on the benefit of fibre optic broadband. Though far from practical, having a wired connection will enable you to really make the most of your internet connection.

The end of an Ethernet cable

The end of a red Ethernet cable – the colour has no significance, red just makes for a more vibrant image!

If you own a desktop, setup your router nearby so you can always have a wired connection for your PC. If not consider hiding cables in the wall throughout your home so you can have high speed connectivity throughout your home. If done right, it can even make your home more attractive when it comes to selling it!

Set up a media server

Modern hard drives now have functions which enable them to be used and accessed over your network, meaning you don’t need it to be plugged directly into your computer for it to work. Not only is this highly practical, it also allows multiple users to access information at the same time, without the need of cables.

Splash out on modern technology

Many modern devices now have some form of use for wireless internet, so splashing out on the latest devices will mean you can really make the most of your fibre optic connection. Many consoles such as the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 will allow users to stream content from the internet or computer onto the TV. With a high speed connection, you can have many devices operating at full pelt without feeling like your connection is being throttled.

Google Fiber start laying optical fibre cable

12 Replies Jaime

On the 6th of February, Google announced that the company was “ready to lay fiber” in Kansas City (Kansas and Missouri), and restated the goal of getting customers up and running in the first quarter of 2012. The project is nothing short of revolutionary, both for Google and the broadband industry as a whole.

For Google, this is a major first foray into the consumer ISP and infrastructure side of the tech industry. It’s also an opportunity to offer and refine the company’s core online products – without the restrictions of scaling down to suit users’ limited bandwidth access.

An optical fibre broadband cable

Data can be transported at the speed of light through optical fibre cables

For the ISP industry as a whole, it’s potentially alarming. By the end of the year, many internet service providers may have a much higher standard to live up to, and many restless customers on their hands, due to the new competition. Everything depends on two basic questions: how much more bandwidth will Google be able to offer customers, and how much will they be charged for it?

How much speed can you get from optical fiber cables?

Google promises 1gb/s fiber connections. 1 gigabit per second is the same as 1,000 megabits per second – “more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.”

That’s so impressive that one can’t help being a little suspicious. After all, nearly all of the broadband companies claim a much higher speed than their service actually delivers; due to network overhead, distance from the node, ‘peak time’ traffic, and various other details, your average speed is probably only a fraction of what your ISP promises.

Google Fiber has one active trial in progress, a small community near Stanford University. A user posted a speed test not long ago showing a 151.68 mb/s download speed, giving a good real-world example of what day-to-day users can expect from Google Fiber.

Other fiber companies aren’t even claiming speeds like Google’s (let alone delivering them). The provide in current “fastest internet in the US”, Verizon’s FiOS, tops out at 150 mb/s (if your math skills are sleepy, that makes Google Fiber potentially over 660% faster). The runner-up is AT&T’s U-verse, which has a “Max Turbo” plan of 24 mb/s. In both cases, real-world data shows users getting a wide variety of results, from far worse to sometimes even better than quoted (especially when using the companies’ own speed tests. Hmm…).

How much will Google’s fiber optic speeds cost?

Google’s answer:

“It’s too early to say how much we plan to charge for service, but we do plan to set prices that are competitive to what people are currently paying for broadband access.”

Critically speaking, this could mean anything from around $40 to $200 per month.

The 150 mb/s FiOS plan mentioned above will currently set you back about $200 each month, while AT&T’s 24 mb/s is listed on the web site at $63. To be fair, the closest FiOS plan, at 25 mb/s, would cost about $70/month.

However, the most recent figures for US consumers put the average monthly cost for broadband at around $40. Admittedly, there’s a lack of up-to-date statistics in this area, but if there is a difference, our average cost is most likely a little higher now than in 2010-2011.

The Bottom Line

While Google Fiber looks incredible promising, it’s is still an unknown factor; the actual results and pricing plans are months away.

However, we know for a fact that higher speeds and lower costs go hand-in-hand else where in the world. We know that Google’s effect on the Kansas City tech industry and economy in general has been and will be very positive; and we know that – for whatever reason – many companies and media organizations have suddenly been much more interested than ever in pointing out Google’s flaws and changing public perception of the company.

Why does superfast broadband matter?

3 Replies Christopher Roberts

Technology Blogger has had many articles about broadband speeds, superfast internet connections, and how the general trend is that global internet speeds are on the rise, but the question is, why is that important? Why do superfast speeds matter?

Download and Upload

There are two types of internet speed, your download speed, and your upload speed. Your download speed is how fast you can receive data from the internet – how fast you can stream media, receive emails, load websites etc. Your upload speed refers to how fast you can send information to the internet – how fast you can send emails, upload media, update your status etc.

When people talk about broadband speeds on the rise, they are usually referring to download speeds, as most of us get a lot more from the internet than we upload. Both upload and download speeds are on the rise, but upload speeds are usually only around 10% of download speeds – depending upon your location.


So superfast broadband means that we can do things faster, we can download and upload content quicker than we used to be able to. But that does that mean?

More Going On

Faster internet speeds mean that you can be doing more things at once on the internet, with less lag or jitter. You can be on an online game, whilst streaming the radio, and in the background sending emails, all at the same time! You can have more internet hungry applications running at the same time, and the speed of your activities (providing you have adequate processing power) should be the same as if you just had one activity going on.

Improved Internet Call Quality

Faster internet speeds will allow for smother internet calling, with less lag and better quality. You will be able to chat with friend across the globe and stage a conversation as though they were there in the room with you. VoIP will be significantly improved, as faster speeds meant that the media you are sending out is of higher quality, and the stream you are receiving is better too.

Such improvements could significantly benefit businesses, as VoIP can significantly lower the cost of holding meetings with fellow colleges based in different locations, thanks to better, more affordable online conference calling.

Furthermore, improvements in internet call quality can make remote working more viable, meaning that employees can spend more time working and less time commuting, thanks to them being connected all the time. This can save time, money and office space, as more employees are able to work off-site.

Improvements in Healthcare and Education

As Rashed suggested in his recent article (Five changes in video conferencing for the next decade) improvements in internet calls could lead to an improvement in the provision of telemedicine, meaning that the best doctors can help patients from across the world.

There is also similar potential for education. The best lecturers and teachers will be able to educate far greater numbers of individuals from across the world, thanks to faster broadband speeds. Improvements in such technology could be very beneficial for those living in isolated communities.

Cloud Computing Becomes More Viable

Cloud computing has huge potential to cut costs, improve efficiency and improve data security, and superfast broadband makes it more viable! With faster broadband, more and bigger files can be stored in the cloud, meaning that files are less likely to be lost if one device fails, and are more likely to be accessible from any location.

Media Streaming

Streaming media from across the internet is smother, faster and more seamless with faster internet connections. You can watch online videos with less buffering, or even in high definition.

Furthermore, internet TV and other similar services become more viable than ever before. In the last quarter of 2011, Virgin Media reported profits of £48 million, which it is believed is mainly down to faster broadband speeds encouraging more users to user its TV and internet services.

Virgin Media's logo

More People Online

Every day thousands of new people around the world make the leap and go online. For every extra person on the internet demanding resources, the whole system slows down a little. However with superfast broadband, more people can be online with less of an effect on speeds. In large offices, more employees can be connected, with less of an effect on the speeds received. This is also true in households, more people can be downloading media, whilst it not affecting others on online games.

Your Speed

Superfast broadband is very important and is revolutionising the way we do business and live our lives. The question is, how fast is your broadband speed? Are you likely to benefit from the things I mentioned above, or do you need to think about switching provider? Try testing your broadband speed and comparing it to what you are paying for; could you be getting a better deal elsewhere?