Back in December 2013, we created the guide What’s Involved in a Fibre Broadband Customer Installation, which has proved very popular over the years. This was produced when Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) services were first introduced in our local area as part of the Connecting Cambridgeshire roll-out programme. To mark the availability of full-fibre Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) in … Read more
In this article, we show the realistic speeds that Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 achieve in the real world, with real-world devices that are available now. We show how speeds for both Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 are substantially affected by signal level, the channel bandwidth adopted and the MIMO capabilities of devices. In the very … Read more
Mobile broadband has come a long way. We believe that 4G broadband is now the most attractive option for the vast majority of the 5% of UK premises currently without access to superfast fixed broadband services. While the coverage of individual mobile operators may still leave room for improvement for those seeking ubiquitous coverage on … Read more
In this article, we review Ubiquiti’s UniFi Long Range Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Access Point (U6-LR). At the time of writing, these devices are currently like gold dust. Because Ubiquiti has priced its new Wi-Fi Access Points aggressively compared with its Wi-Fi 5 products, we think it’s a no-brainer for anyone looking to purchase a new … Read more
I’ve produced the following FAQ question and answers guide for my local community, which should get FTTP in 2021 as part of an Openreach Community Partnership. Hopefully, many other people across the UK will be find it useful. For more information on FTTP, please read our latest article: What’s Involved in an Openreach FTTP Full-Fibre … Read more
Setting the most reliable and fastest DNS servers in your Xbox is critical to achieving the best gaming experience. This article shows you how to change the DNS settings on your Xbox to the very best settings available. This guide includes the Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Changing DNS settings on … Read more
In this article updated for 2021, we tackle one of the biggest issues facing broadband users today, known as ‘bufferbloat’. The good news is that you can fix it, and we’ll show you how. Affordable routers are now available that can handle all broadband connections up to the very fastest ‘gigabit’ connections. While the term … Read more
If you want to make the broadband connection to your PS4 or PS5 quicker and more reliable, here’s how to manually change the DNS server settings to the best and fastest DNS servers available in your location. Amazingly, there can be 10,000 or more DNS look-ups taking place on a home network every day and … Read more
The start of 2021 provided a great demonstration of ‘the art of the possible’ with the Ultra HD (4k) High Dynamic Range (HDR) format with some exciting new programmes becoming available as part of the BBC’s iPlayer Ultra HD ‘trial’. These are still available through the iPlayer. Two standouts are the incredible ‘A Perfect Planet’ … Read more
In this article, we review the Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine (UDM) Pro, which is now our recommended router for 2021 for ultrafast broadband connections, as shown in our Best Routers for 2021 page. The UDM Pro is a great piece of equipment that seems to provide the ultimate future-proof ‘prosumer’ option for broadband users with … Read more
With the UK Government going back on its election pledge to bring gigabit broadband to every home and business by 2025, a new report from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee from the UK Parliament questions the viability of even the watered-down targets! It’s time for communities to take proactive action and do it … Read more
For set-up help, please visit our Set Up Guide For Sky Q Ultra HD (4k) and HDR. The evolution to Ultra HD programming with High Dynamic Range (HDR) is gathering pace. HDR dramatically improves the picture quality of Ultra HD 4k content. To many viewers, HDR makes more difference than increasing resolution from HD to 4k, by … Read more
In this guide, we help you identify whether it worth upgrading to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (or 10 GbE for short) and the best way of doing so. Currently, Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) is the most widely deployed Ethernet standard in modern electronic devices currently on sale. However, 10 GbE offers the prospect of increasing transmission speeds by a factor of … Read more
This guide provides 15 proven ways to substantially improve video conferencing. Too many people are currently getting a poor experience with video conferencing services like Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting and Microsoft Teams. Low-quality video feeds, which suffer regular interruptions and blips, are often combined with awful sound, which is infected with irritating delays and echoes. The … Read more
There is huge uncertainty over the extent to which full-fibre broadband – also known as Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) or ‘gigabit-capable broadband’ – will be rolled out in the coming years, particularly in rural areas. However, with the recent improvements in the Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and the introduction of ‘top ups’ by local authorities, there’s never … Read more
“What is a good signal level or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for Wi-Fi” is one of the most common questions in online forums. Typical answers are along the lines of “SNRs of 24-40 dB are considered good” but they do not explain the compromise in speeds you are potentially making due to the adaptive modulation and … Read more
Despite Sky Q boxes being equipped with Ethernet ports, many Sky engineers set boxes up to use Wi-Fi even when Ethernet is available. Using Wi-Fi to transport bandwidth-intensive media to fixed devices makes absolutely no sense. Your Sky Q boxes can interfere with your own Wi-Fi network or take away valuable spectrum that your Wi-Fi … Read more
Figure 1: Forecast for Average Monthly Home Internet Use (2013-2025) Over the next five years, average home monthly Internet usage in the UK will triple from its 2019 level, surpassing 1 TB per month by 2025, as shown in our forecast shown above. This growth, which is in line with usage growth predicted for the … Read more