Cabled broadband is unique because download speeds don't suffer the futher the line is away from the exchange and download and upload speeds are often much faster than conventional
ADSL broadband thanks to the fibre optic network. To receive cable broadband you must live in a cabled area. Use our cable broadband availability checker below to find out if you live in a cabled area.
Cable Broadband is the second most popular way to connect to the internet in the UK, and unlike
ADSL it doesn't operate over copper telephone wires but underground cabling which in the past was used to only supply
television services but has been adapted, like
phone lines, to carry a
high speed internet service as well.
Virgin Media is the largest company operating a cable internet service in the UK, and is the owner of all of the cable internet services preciously owned by NTL and Telewest after a merger and re-branding occurred in 2006.
Cable broadband is available in speeds of between 2Mbps and 50Mbps depending on the type of cabling that is used in the area in which you live, and you can use comparison sites to check what kind of speeds you should expect in your area. Cable broadband can be purchased on its own, but is usually better value when bought as part of a
package including
TV and phone services, all of which will be transmitted to you down the single cable. You may consider it a great convenience to only have to deal with a single monthly payment for all your communication amenities.
Fibre Optic Broadband
Virgin Media are beginning to expand their network of fibre optic cabling so that more and more people can take advantage of their incredibly fast connection that is made possible by
fibre optic technologies. Currently fibre optic cabling is limited to only a few areas of the country, but over the next year this will be extended to include many more large cities and towns.
Compare Fibre Optic Broadband Packages »
Fibre optic cable broadband offers download speeds of 50Mbps, which is blisteringly fast and far superior to the average ADSL
ISPs maximum of around 8Mbps. Also, fibre optic technology allows the speed of your
broadband to be the same no matter how far your are from the main network hub, unlike
ADSL, so you'll be more likely to achieve the maximum advertised speed. Keep your eye out for fibre optic cable broadband coming to an area near you soon, as at the moment around 55% of UK households are in areas with access to
Virgin cable broadband.
Restrictions
Because cable broadband is capable of such fast download speeds and because
Virgin Media want to keep bandwidth availability as equally distributed as possible, heavy users may find their connection artificially throttled if they use it for full speed downloading during peak periods.
Compare Unlimited Broadband Packages »
There is always the restriction of a fair use policy with any broadband service, whether it's cable or ADSL, so unless you're not willing to stick to what is usually a reasonable request then you won't have a problem.
Virgin Media also offer an
ADSL service for those of you who are not currently living in one of their cabled areas, and this service is usually equivalent in value to those offered by other large
ADSL ISPs, but it may not sell itself as well as their cable broadband services.
