Reliable internet connections. Are they a reality in Britain yet?

Most would say no. However, the recent increase in consumer spending on reliable mobile and the domestic internet has led the development of new infrastructure, innovation, and government subsidy. The increased value of fast and affordable internet is no doubt due to the increase in cord-cutting and streaming options available to the consumer.

However, there are still issues in rural broadband areas where internet connections are limited, spotty or oversubscribed and need infrastructure investment in order to improve. The biggest issue could be the degradation and limited ability of domestic subscribers to ensure a reliable connection, many using dated routers, cables and positioning WiFi access points where there are many obstacles such as walls, corners, and doors making the signal weaker and less effective and often situated at one side of their home, rather than in the centre or where the WiFi is being used. Many new routers are combating this problem by using more antennas and user-friendly configuration wizards or combating the problem entirely by using pre-configured settings from the supplier or ISP.

Another problem may be the proximity to the exchange, as most subscribers in rural areas find their connection vastly slower compared to that of locations nearby, once again showing a performance drop that could be improved by moving away from copper to more effective methods of transmission, such as fiber.

It is however clear that the infrastructure as a whole has vastly improved and is much more capable as it was, mobile network connectivity has also improved to handle the data needs of modern apps and streaming websites as per the March report.

The issue as the report outlines is, however, meeting the demand of mobile business subscribers and providing affordable internet options to consumers. In my opinion, the use of ADSL2+ and DOCSIS 3.1 is not as much of a step in the right direction as fiber, even if it means limiting the speed available to the subscriber to segment their pricing structure.

Source, written by me in 2017.