Full fibre, part fibre, cable: what the labels actually mean
FTTP, FTTC, HFC, ADSL — a jargon-free guide to what's coming into your house and why speed and price vary so much.
Every provider advertises 'fibre broadband'. Not all fibre is equal. There are really only four things behind your router.
ADSL — copper phone line
Old-school. Uses your copper phone line all the way. Max ~24 Mbps, usually much less. Only worth it if nothing else is available at your postcode.
FTTC — 'fibre to the cabinet' (part fibre)
Fibre runs to the green street cabinet, then copper for the last stretch to your house. Sold as 'Superfast'. Typical 40–80 Mbps. Speed drops the further you live from the cabinet.
HFC / cable — Virgin Media
Fibre plus coax cable. Faster than FTTC, up to ~1.1 Gbps download. Upload speeds are usually much slower than download — matters if you upload a lot, stream to Twitch, or work from home.
FTTP — 'fibre to the premises' (full fibre)
Fibre optic cable all the way to your house. No copper. Speeds from 100 Mbps up to 2 Gbps+. Symmetrical or near-symmetrical upload/download. This is the one to hold out for if it's available.
How to check what you can actually get
Openreach and Virgin both run free postcode checkers. Type your postcode into either. On Cheqr we filter deals by what's genuinely available at your address, so a £22 FTTP deal that doesn't reach you never shows up.
Compare it yourself
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