Superfast broadband is anything above 24 Mbps and Ultrafast broadband is anything over 100Mbps. There are two options for ultrafast broadband: G Fast and Fibre to the Premise (FTTP.)
What is G Fast?
G Fast is one of the latest broadband technologies. It is a copper-based broadband services. Those who take advantage of G Fast can experience faster speeds than Fibre to the Cabinet (FFTC.)
The current maximum speeds are up to 80MB download, G Fast increases this to up to a potential 350MB download speed. Previously the only way to get faster broadband speeds was to install a Fibre to the Property (FTTP) connection but that isn’t available in all areas, so that is where G Fast comes in.
FTTP requires additional infrastructure whereas G Fast uses existing FTTC infrastructure such as the copper wires but a device is fitted into the fibre cabinet to alter the speed frequencies. The changes increase the speed through the copper cable which results in a more reliable broadband with ultrafast speeds. However, G Fast users are typically located no more than 500 metres from their local BT cabinet because a close range is needed..
Openreach announced last year that they would be rolling out G Fast in 17 locations, and be available in 10 million homes by 2020.
The roll-out did start last year but we are now seeing it picking up steam and being rolled out in more and more locations.
Why do I need G Fast?
- Do you download/upload files? (Especially large files)
- Run video conferencing?
- Experience slowness when you take card payments?
- Utilise unified communications?
- Want to migrate to the cloud but your I.T. infrastructure won’t support it?
- Utilise cloud applications on a regular basis?
- Do you run a hotel, restaurant, golf club or conference centre?
- Own Multiple tenanted offices?
- Work in the creative industry such as developing apps or producing videos?
G Fast will provide a speedier and smoother experience. Think, pressing the button to upload a file and rather than it taking several hours, it takes minutes.
This video from Openreach explains “What is G.Fast?” really well