If you’ve ever had an important video call suddenly cut out, or experienced constant buffering when watching your favourite TV show, you’ll know how frustrating a bad internet connection can be. The good news is that Ipswich is one of the few cities in the UK that can now benefit from Zen Internet’s gigabit speed broadband, so you can stream, download and play to your heart’s content with no awkward frozen screens or the dreaded ‘spinning wheel’.
We speak to Paul Sinclair, Head of Marketing at Zen Internet, about what full fibre broadband is and how it can benefit your household.
Q: Firstly, what is full fibre broadband?
Full fibre broadband uses a fibre optic cable to connect to your home without using an old-fashioned copper cable. This means it can offer superior speeds up to 90x faster than the standard.
The Full Fibre 900 Plus broadband from Zen offers a range of benefits, from unlimited usage to fast upload and download speed. Whether you’re working, streaming or gaming, it provides consistent and reliable connectivity for a smooth online experience.
Q: Sounds good, but what does 90x faster actually mean?
Gigabit speed broadband offers one of the fastest internet connections available. A unique feature is that it offers up to 900 megabits (Mbps) of bandwidth when both downloading and uploading, whereas most full fibre broadband deals only offer faster download speeds.
Let’s put that into perspective. The average time to download a HD film with gigabit-speed broadband is less than a minute, whereas with a standard connection the same task would take around 10 minutes. To download the latest Xbox or PlayStation game, it would take just seven minutes compared to the average time of over two hours.
The upload speed is also incredibly fast, which is helpful if you’re adding photos or videos to your devices frequently, for example. The average speed of uploading a 16GB file takes just over two minutes compared to the five hours it could take with a standard connection.
Q: How can full fibre broadband benefit my household?
From connecting all your devices, to staying in touch with loved ones and keeping the whole family connected, there are numerous benefits of having full fibre broadband. The best part is that the high bandwidth means multiple connected devices in the same household won’t compromise anyone’s online activities. For example, you could be remote working while others are simultaneously streaming Disney+, watching the latest blockbuster or hosting online gaming sessions. On top of this, all the other smart devices in your house (speakers, security cameras etc.) will continue to operate perfectly.
Q: Is it available in my area?
The first homes with gigabit speed broadband in Ipswich are now up and running. The rollout of the Full Fibre 900 Plus product will continue with new postcodes going live every week, with the aim of it reaching almost every home and business in the area by 2025. You can check if it’s available in your area by visiting zen.co.uk/ipswich and entering your postcode.
Q: How is it installed?
An engineer will fit the new fibre optic cable, which will usually follow the same path as your old copper phone wire. The cable will enter your home through a small hole made in your wall and connect to a box inside your home, which will then be connected to a new WiFi router. Once everything is set up, an engineer will make sure that your fibre service is working and run a speed test to double-check.
To find out more about gigabit speed broadband and place an order, visit zen.co.uk/ipswich or call 0170 6614 222.
Zen is currently offering a £40 per month contract for Full Fibre 900 Plus broadband, with free activation (usually £29.99) until June 30, 2021. With Zen’s price for life guarantee, this monthly price will continue even after the contract ends.
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