04 Oct GFast Broadband is the next generation of broadband available for businesses
What exactly is GFast Broadband?
To put it simply, GFast is one of the newest (and fastest) copper based broadband services that is currently available. At its core, it is an improved version of FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) connections and this means that end users can achieve speeds which might be up to four times faster than traditional FTTC broadband, this is a considerable rise. The current maximum speeds are said to be around 80MB for the download with FTTC, however with the addition of G fast UK residents could see a potential of up to 350MB download speeds. Previously, the only way to get your broadband faster was to install Fibre to the property connections, however this type of connection isn’t available in all areas – this is where GFast can help.
GFast enables end users to achieve considerably faster speeds by utilitising the FTTC infrastructure – the way this works is via a fibre cable transmitting broadband from your local exchange to your local BT cabinet, a copper cable is then used to transfer the fibre broadband service to your business or home from the cabinet. GFast is very similar except for the special pod that is fitting into the cabinet which alters the speed frequencies of the connection, this change increases the speed through the copper cable, which results in ultrafast broadband speeds. All GFast users are usually located no more than 500 metres from their local cabinet.
Where is GFast available?
At this current moment in time, GFast is only available in specific locations accross the United Kingdom, if you would like to check to see if you can benefit from GFast you can check here. British Telecomms are aiming to expand GFast to “most of the UK” so that end users in this country can reach speeds of up to 500Mbps – all within the next 10 years. They also aim for over 10 million homes to be supplied with GFast broadband connections before the end of 2020. Today, over one million households (and millions more to come) have benefited from ultrafast broadband speeds with minimal disruption, all because there is no need to insert new cables between buildings.
Am I able to get GFast now?
If you are considering making the move to GFast and would like to see if you can benefit from the higher speed internet you will recieve, you will need to check with openreach, alternatively you could ask 3rd party companies and they should be able to check if GFasr or other services are available in your area.
What are the benefits of GFast broadband for my business?
It’s an already obvious fact that a strong and reliable broadband connection for your business means there is a greater ability to recieve and send data, this will allow files to be downloaded and uploaded from servers much much faster, and emails will send and arrive much quicker than if you were set up on a standard broadband connection. Some of the other benefits of GFast broadband are as follows:
Working remotely
Having access to a faster broadband service allows your workforce more flexibilty for working from home or another office location – the ability to offer your employees this can lead to a significant increase in productivity and employee satisfaction. Not only that, money will be saved in the long term on things such as travel to and from work. There are many organisations in the modern technology age that allow their employees access to their networks through VPNs and in this situation an employees experience at home would be exactly the same as working from the main office.
Cloud computing
One of the most talked about technologies in the ICT industry at the moment is cloud computing. Now, for small businesses there are potentially a lot of massive benefits due to how scalable cloud solutions are. Organisations often pay on a “per user” basis for the resources that are actually needed, this can significantly reduce costs. Issues that are usually critical and lackluster in most businesses are backups, security and upgrading – usually these tasks are tedious and not executed 100% correctly, causing issues later down the line. With cloud solutions, these are all catered for and the data is accessible from anywhere that has access to an internet connection. This results in cloud computing being a potential investment for most businesses that make use of ICT harware and software.
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