Rural Fibre Broadband in the UK: What can you expect?
Released On 14th Dec 2021
Rural communities have been long neglected by the larger broadband providers, and you may well be asking why is your rural broadband so slow? With low population density and more resources required to install cables, rural fibre-optic broadband has always been a lesser priority, if considered at all.
The good news is that more fibre broadband cables are being laid to reach rural communities now than ever before, and you may also have other options available for WiFi broadband, depending on where you live. Read on to find out what could be best for you.
Rural internet
If you live outside a town or city, then you may have experienced more than your fair share of challenges when it comes to your broadband connection. More often than not, your connection will be via the old copper phone cables, and your Internet speeds will be far slower than you need for modern use: video calls, on-demand TV, movie streaming services, gaming, music, accounting and more.
It’ll be especially bad if you have more than one person in your household trying to do any of the above at the same time. You’ll get frequent drop-outs, disconnection, lag or buffering, just when you’ve got to the most important point. And when you ring up your provider about it, they say it could be months or years before you’ll see superfast or ultrafast broadband, if they have any plans to install fibre lines at all.
So where does this leave you as a domestic or business broadband user, desperate not to miss out on all the films, boxsets, connections to friends and family, games, entertainment, cloud applications, automated business software and other services those living in urban communities take for granted?
There could be other options beyond your mainstream provider who can deliver exactly the service you need, and bring you into the 21st century in days rather than months.
Mobile Broadband
If your cable broadband connection is very slow and you don’t live in too remote a location, then you might find a faster alternative in mobile broadband. This uses the data signal sent over the mobile phone network and accessed via any device that uses a SIM card. It can work well if you have decent mobile coverage and a plan that accommodates the amount of data you’ll need.
There are three effective ways to access mobile broadband: MiFi devices, data-only SIMs and ‘mobile hotspots’.
MiFi devices are small boxes, usually battery-powered but often charged via a USB connection, that act like a personalised broadband router. They don’t have the same range as a home router, but will work well if you’re close to them.
Data-only SIMs are usually used in tablets or laptops equipped with a SIM slot, and do exactly as the name suggests. They allow you to access mobile data and WiFi broadband without the need for a phone number or for you to be tied into bundles for calls and texts. In effect, they replace what used to be known as a ‘dongle’, providing internet access via a mobile connection wherever you are.
If you own a smartphone, then you will no doubt be aware of how you can turn on ‘mobile hotspot’ in your settings and allow your phone to become a local broadband router to anyone with the password. As long as the signal is reliable and you have the data allowance to handle it, this can be a good solution.
