Best type of broadband for gaming

If you’re an avid online gamer (or live with one) you’ll know how important a strong and fast connection is! There’s nothing worse than lagging at a key moment, or even being kicked off the server for a high ping. So finding the right gaming broadband is key!

One of the biggest impacts on your speed and connection is the type of broadband you have. In this article we look at the types of broadband most commonly available in the UK, and which we think is the best for your gaming experience!

Types of broadband

Firstly, we’ll have a quick look at the three main types of broadband in the UK:

1. Full-fibre: This is the newest and most reliable broadband technology in the UK, and is currently available to around 57% of homes in the UK. With full-fibre you have your own dedicated full-fibre line installed in your home. This means you don’t share your bandwidth.
2. Part-fibre: This is a combination of full-fibre and the old ADSL lines. You’ll have a full-fibre line connecting the street cabinet to the main network, but the old copper lines running into your home. This is available to around 97% of the UK.
3. ADSL: This stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. It’s now the oldest and slowest type of broadband, since it only runs on copper cables.

So, what is the best type of broadband for gaming?

Full-fibre!

And here’s why:

1. Speed 

To begin with, it provides by far the fastest broadband speeds. Part-fibre, also known as FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet), provides an average speed of around 42Mbps. This could get you by with online gaming, but if anyone else wants to use the broadband you might be in trouble. Full-fibre on the other hand is fast, seriously fast! Our top package is 900Mbps, that’s 21.4x faster than the FTTC average!

2. Contention Ratio

This is something you might not have heard about, but one of the main things that puts full-fibre light years ahead of other broadband types. As we touched on above, ADSL and part-fibre have copper wires leading from the cabinet out into your home.

But did you know, these copper wires branch out to homes all over your neighbourhood? The average contention ratio in the UK is 50! So 49 other homes in your local area might all be sharing the bandwidth between themselves. This is why during peak times, such as early evening when everyone is home from school or work, you might see your speeds drop significantly!

Full-fibre, on the other hand, sees your own fibre line run from the local cabinet straight into your home. This means you get 100% of your bandwidth, 24/7. Your speeds won’t drop out, no matter what your neighbours are up to.

3. Better Router

ost full-fibre providers will use the best routers available to make the most of the new speeds you’re getting. For example, at Truespeed we use the state-of-the-art Linksys MX4200 Tri-Band AX4200 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 Router. This next gen piece of kit delivers unparalleled connectivity to multiple devices on your network.

The Intelligent Mesh™ technology means higher speeds and 4x more capacity for more devices simultaneously connected and is designed to deliver gigabit Wi-Fi speeds to cover every corner of your home. The 1.4 GHz quad-core processor will ensure smoother streaming and gaming!

If you want to switch over to our ultrafast full-fibre you can view our packages or check your postcode to see if you’re on our network.