Why is a wired connection better than wireless for fibre?

To make the most of the higher speeds of fibre-based broadband we think it's best to use a wired connection to your computer. We'll set this up for you as part of the installation process.

Connecting your laptop or games console via Wi-Fi can be convenient and avoid trailing wires. But weak wireless connections may not be fast or reliable enough for certain bandwidth-intensive activities such as watching HD content, or sending or receiving large files.

If you do connect wirelessly, then we suggest using the newer 'N' wireless standard. See: What is Wireless 'N' technology?

A wired connection removes a speed bottleneck that you would get if you used wireless. With wireless, all of the devices connected wirelessly share the approximate equivalent of an Ethernet cable.

Rather than each device getting to use the full speed available when it sends data to the Hub, it has to share the space with data being sent from all the other wireless devices. However, if you connect a computer to your Hub using an Ethernet cable, that computer can send and receive up to the full speed of your fibre-based broadband line.