What broadband speed will I get?

QBT says it has offered to increase my broadband speed to 52Mbps. My current average is around 8Mbps, though it varies. If everybody in my area except me upgraded to 52Mbps would my speed increase? Or would upgrading to the 52Mbps package definitely improve my speed? Aled Williams A We could devote an entire feature to exploring all the factors involved but, in brief, if literally everyone else in your street moved to the 52Mbps package then your speed might increase a bit; and if you switch to the 52Mbps package it will probably increase a lot.

To understand why you need to know a little about the underlying technology that delivers the broadband internet signal first to your nearest street cabinet and then to your house. Running between your local telephone exchange and street cabinet are old-fashioned copper wires and, in many cases now, fibre-optic cables — dubbed fibre to the cabinet (or FTTC). The much-shorter connection between the cabinet and your house is almost certainly copper, though a few homes have been upgraded with fibre — fibre to the premises (FTTP).

Copper broadband signals deteriorate with distance, and the maximum speed you’d ever be likely to get over an all-copper connection is around 24Mbps. Fibre signals don’t suffer the same problem so with less copper in the way, FTTC means higher speeds. Your cabinet has been upgraded to support FTTC, hence BT’S new offer. You might not see 52Mbps often or at all but, for the reasons explained, it should be better than your all-copper 8Mbps experience.

If everyone but you switched to the 52Mbps FTTC package, your all-copper speeds would probably increase because there’d be less contention for total all-copper bandwidth available from the cabinet.