What affects your broadband speed & how to go faster

By Anthony Harrison - 24 February 2023

What is broadband speed?

Broadband speed is how quickly or slowly your internet can download or upload data. Your speed can also be synonymous with your bandwidth, which is the amount of data your broadband connection can transmit in a fixed amount of time. It’s usually expressed in megabits per second (Mbps), so the higher the number, the greater your bandwidth, and the faster your broadband speed is. The main benefit of having high broadband bandwidth is that more devices can be connected at the same time without compromising speed, connectivity or quality.

broadband connected to the router

What is the difference between wired and wireless internet?

Wired connections are ones where your personal technology device is plugged directly your router with an Ethernet cable. These connections are the fastest and most reliable because of the uninterrupted and clear physical path for broadband to travel through.

Wireless connections (also called WiFi) can be slightly slower on your device due to several factors like your device’s distance from the router, wall thickness, and even interference from other objects or devices. However, wireless connections allowing you to move freely around your home or office with your device, making it much more convenient than wired connections.

If you want to increase the effectiveness of wireless connections, invest in technology which will extend your signal so speeds can be faster despite distance or other factors. At Community Fibre, we offer an unbeatable Premium WiFi that brings you London’s fastest speeds and the strongest connection as part of our 1Gpbs and 3Gpbs service packages. No compromise.

What affects your broadband speed

There are a lot of things which can affect your internet speed:

Using a wired vs wireless internet connection

As mentioned before, wireless speeds are often slower and more prone to instability than their wired counterparts. Try to use wired connections whenever possible, especially when undertaking internet-heavy tasks like downloading large files or playing online multiplayer video games.

Your broadband bandwidth

The broadband package you choose ends up being distributed between all your online-connected devices. As such, if everyone in your household is watching Amazon Prime Video or TikTok at 8pm, the internet might struggle to keep up, kind of like when there is a traffic jam that slows everything down. Congestion often occurs on public WiFi when internet users compete for a shared broadband connection. Avoid slow speeds and potential connection dropouts at home by choosing an appropriate broadband package, as higher package speeds will have greater bandwidth for your household to share.

Router issues

An old, outdated router just can’t keep up with modern speeds. Make sure your internet service provider offers a modern router with correctly configured WiFi for your needs.

Your router locations

The further away your device is from your router, the weaker your wireless signal will be. Quicken your WiFi by keeping your router close to where you'll use the internet most and lessening the obstacles (like walls, doors and wardrobes) between your device and your router.

WiFi compatibility

A device slowing down might give the impression that your broadband is slow, but it could be an issue with the device itself. Computers lag if they run out of RAM so avoid running lots of programs at once and excessive web browser add-ons. Sometimes the device’s age also has an affect. For example, an 8-year-old PlayStation 4 can reach WiFi speeds up to 450 Mbps, whereas its’ 1-year-old upgrade, the PlayStation 5, can go up to 1.2 Gbps on 5 GHz WiFi.

Server issues

Your internet service provider’s server for you could be perfect, but if the quality of the servers you’re downloading from aren’t up to scratch, you will still experience issues. For example, if you’re in the UK and experience slowness when downloading something from a website in the US, it may not be because the US website has a slow connection or the data is being slowed down at one of the routers in between the UK and US locations.

Throttle

While we don’t do this at Community Fibre, some internet service providers may slow down (also known as “throttle”) certain types of online activities. Even if they advertise “unlimited” usage, they may slow down your connection for the rest of the month after you hit a certain amount of data downloaded so be sure to check.

Your broadband type

The type of broadband you have available can massively impact the speeds you get. If your broadband keeps dropping out or speeds keep fluctuating, you likely have traditional copper wiring. Most broadband providers still use a combination of fibre optic cable and the old copper phone wires to reach homes with what they sneakily call 'superfast fibre broadband'. Fibre optic cable runs from the data centre to the street cabinet. But from there broadband is delivered via the old copper phone wires into the home, which is why it is called Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC). When broadband is delivered directly into your home using only fibre optic cable it is called Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH). If you want a broadband connection which is fast and reliable, search for 100% full fibre or FTTH.

While it can be hard to know exactly which of these factors are causing problems with your internet connection, there are a few ways to feel certain you are getting the best broadband speed possible.

How to improve your broadband speed

Try to use wired connections whenever possible, especially when undertaking internet-heavy tasks like downloading large files or playing online multiplayer video games.
Keep your WiFi router away from thick walls, windows, bulky bodies of water and devices that emit interference.
Make sure your internet service provider offers a modern router with correctly configured WiFi for your needs.
Make sure your devices are compatible with your WiFi technology.
Choose a reliable broadband provider with high uptime reliability.
Switch to a 100% full fibre broadband connection.
Upgrade to an appropriate broadband package with more bandwidth for your household to share.
Check your internet speed.
This shows you how quick or slow your device’s connection is. When you know your current speed, you'll know which strategies in this blog can help you to get faster internet.

How much broadband speed do I actually need?

This depends on individual factors like:

How many internet users reside in your household?

How many devices are connected in your home?

What is the level of uploading or downloading that those devices do?

To help, we’ve included a breakdown of Community Fibre’s current packages below, and who it is best for based on the above factors.

3 Gbps is ideal for multi-user households with lots of devices performing a high-level of uploading and downloading. If your home has multiple people uploading UHD videos to Twitch and YouTube, in constant WFH video calls, and streaming high-quality movies or TV, then this package is perfect. Broadband is divided and shared between all connected devices so the more bandwidth available, the more it can be distributed without risking sluggish speeds or unreliable quality.
1 Gbps is ideal for consistent heavy internet use across multiple devices. It'll let you stream in 4K, play lag-free gaming, and have access to faster WiFi speeds. While the 920 Mbps advertised speed is for wired (Ethernet) connections, wireless connections can achieve 400-600 Mbps depending on the house infrastructure.
300 Mbps is ideal for moderate internet users that need to upload and download large files, whether it’s to work efficiently from home or routinely watch online-hosted TV in the evenings.
150 Mbps is ideal for light internet users on a few devices. You can stream HD TV, browse the web with unlimited data, and video or voice call without any issues.

20 Mbps is ideal for very light internet users, such as a small household using one or two devices at the same time to browse the internet, tackle bills online, and stay in touch with loved ones over sites like Zoom or Skype.

Your actual speed may differ from your provider’s advertised speeds so look out for offers of “up to” a certain number which won’t guarantee the speed you need. Also be sure to check if the advertised speed is for wired or wireless connection.

What is the difference between upload vs download speeds?

Download speeds are the most common speed talked about. It refers to how fast data can be transferred from the internet to your device. Loading web pages, saving digital files, opening images, listening to music, and streaming video all use up your download speed. If you experience a lot of video buffering, images that won’t appear, or slow-loading web pages that typically indicates an issue with your download speed.

Upload speeds work in the opposite direction, referring to how fast data can transfer from your device to the internet. Sending emails, uploading files, sharing photos, playing multiplayer games online with others, and having a stable video call all require a quick, strong and reliable upload speed.

The easiest way to get fast, high-quality broadband without breaking the bank

As things become more digital with work from home, online learning, digital calls, etc, online connectivity increases in importance, regardless of whether you are downloading, uploading, connected wirelessly, or using an Ethernet cable.

Full fibre broadband should give you a fast, reliable and future-proof connection. Aside from achieving the best broadband speeds with symmetrical download and upload rates, fibre can also save households money as it becomes cheaper than copper-based alternatives.