Difference Between Superfast, Ultrafast, and Hyperfast

What’s superfast broadband?

Superfast is the definition of your typical broadband service and speed. Superfast broadband has download speeds of above 30 Mb/s, and most UK households fall into this bracket of service. In fact, as of September 2020, Ofcom has stated that 95% of premises have access to superfast broadband, with 80% availability in rural areas.   

Anything prior to this 30 Mb/s mark is known as high-speed broadband, however may not be as suitable for modern day life as superfast and other rapidly growing broadband services. 

What’s ultrafast broadband?

Ultrafast is the next generation broadband and it’s becoming increasingly common in built up areas. Ultrafast has a download speed of 100 Mb/s or more, and can range to 1Gb capability in certain areas. This type of speed isn’t achievable with the regular FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) connectivity, and requires additional infrastructure such as steel coaxial cable, fibre optic or FTTP. 

Ultrafast broadband, and connections of over 100 Mb/s, open up many possibilities when it comes to your home network. Streaming 4K quality content is possible across multiple users, online gaming no longer lags and your download speeds will be faster than ever before.

Certain broadband suppliers advertise their ultrafast broadband packages at different speeds. Some suppliers advertise ultrafast at 300 Mb/s, our ultrafast broadband is advertised at 400 Mb/s. However when it comes to a defined term, it’s 100 Mb/s up to 500 Mb/s.

What’s hyperfast (or gigabit) broadband?

Hyperfast and ‘gigabit fast’ are some of the newer broadband types that are being used to describe broadband packages. Hyperfast describes a download speed of 500 Mb/s, ranging up to 1Gb - and when this is surpassed it’s referred to as gigabit capable. This speed is not generally available and is only being installed by a few select suppliers in dense urban areas such as London, where these infrastructure-heavy fibre to the premises connections are feasible.  

As time goes on, we’ll need hyperfast broadband to fulfil online tasks that require heavy download speed, such as multiple users streaming content in 8K, and increased home working households. This is where hyperfast will grow and become more standardised and straightforward.

Superfast vs Ultrafast vs Hyperfast - what are the differences?

Superfast, ultrafast, and hyperfast are the three main broadband types out there, yet there are still lots of different branded variations between providers. When you’re researching your new broadband, or your upgrade, look at these features in particular to understand what you’ll be getting.    

So what broadband type should I get?

Superfast is the standard broadband type available to households across the UK, as it’s fast enough for an internet savvy household and is easily implemented with standard fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) connection. 

You could consider investing in ultrafast if you’re a household of regular gamers, streamers, or are regularly downloading large files. Generally ultrafast isn’t much more expensive compared to superfast, so if you’re suffering from buffering, making the switch to ultrafast might be worth it. However when it comes to hyperfast, we wouldn’t recommend you investing unless you really feel you need it. 

Currently superfast broadband isn’t 100% available in the UK, with rural areas having difficulty getting standard broadband speeds required. Wildanet are helping Cornwall, Devon, and the South West to get connected to superfast broadband.

If you live in rural Cornwall or Devon, check your postcode to see if Wildanet can get you superfast broadband where others can’t.