Almost every UK broadband provider advertises "fibre broadband" — but that phrase covers three genuinely different technologies with very different speeds, and in one case, no fibre in your home at all. Knowing which is which matters, because it directly determines what speed you'll actually get and roughly what you should expect to pay.
This guide explains ADSL, FTTC and FTTP in plain English, what speeds are realistic for each, and how to find out what's actually available at your address.
The three connection types
Data travels over the same copper telephone line that's carried landline calls for decades — for the entire journey from the exchange into your home. Copper degrades signal over distance, which is why ADSL is the slowest of the three and gets noticeably slower the further you live from your local telephone exchange.
Fibre optic cable runs from the telephone exchange to the green street cabinet near your home. From the cabinet to your house, it's still the same old copper line — but that final copper stretch is now much shorter (often under a few hundred metres rather than miles), so it's a lot faster than ADSL. This is what most providers actually mean when they simply say "Fibre".
Fibre optic cable runs the entire way from the exchange directly into your home — no copper anywhere in the connection. This removes the distance-sensitivity that limits the other two types, so speeds are far higher and stay consistent regardless of how far you live from the cabinet or exchange.
Typical speeds you can expect
These are broad, realistic ranges rather than guarantees — your actual speed depends on the specific package and your exact address:
| Type | Typical download speed | Distance-sensitive? |
|---|---|---|
| ADSL | Roughly 10-20 Mbps | Very — slows noticeably the further you are from the exchange |
| FTTC | Roughly 30-80 Mbps | Somewhat — depends on the length of copper from cabinet to home |
| FTTP (full fibre) | 150 Mbps to 1000+ Mbps | No — consistent regardless of distance |
Why does the connection type affect the price?
ADSL is usually the cheapest option because it uses infrastructure that's already decades old and largely paid off — though it's also being progressively phased out as the UK moves to full fibre. FTTC sits in the middle, reusing the same street cabinets but with a fibre backbone. FTTP tends to cost more, mainly because building it requires genuinely new civil engineering work — digging trenches, laying ducting and running new fibre cable to individual homes — which is expensive to install even though it's cheap to run once it's built. As more of the country gets full fibre and more providers compete on the same fibre networks, FTTP prices have generally been falling relative to what they cost when it first launched.
How to check what's available at your address
Availability isn't uniform across the UK — it can differ street by street, and sometimes between different houses on the same street, because full fibre is being built out gradually by Openreach and by independent full-fibre providers working area by area. A few things worth knowing before you check:
- →You can't order a connection type that hasn't been built to your address yet, however fast it sounds — availability is checked automatically when you enter your address with any provider.
- →More than one company may have built full fibre to your street, so it's worth checking more than one provider rather than assuming there's only a single full-fibre option.
- →If FTTP isn't available yet, ask when it's expected — many providers and Openreach publish rough rollout timelines by area.
The most reliable way to find out is to enter your postcode directly with any provider you're considering — it will only offer you the connection types that are genuinely buildable at your address.
Where to go next
Frequently asked questions
Is FTTC still called "fibre broadband"?
Yes — and this is genuinely confusing. Most UK providers market FTTC as "Fibre broadband" or "Superfast Fibre" even though the connection into your home is still copper. Only FTTP is fibre for the entire journey. If a deal doesn't specify "full fibre" or "FTTP", it's very likely FTTC rather than a true fibre-optic connection to your door.
Can I get FTTP everywhere in the UK?
Not yet, though coverage is expanding quickly. Full fibre is being rolled out by Openreach and by independent "alt-net" builders (companies like Hyperoptic and Community Fibre, among others) street by street rather than nationally all at once. Two houses on the same road can have different availability if one network has built past one property but not the other. The only way to know for certain is to check your specific address.
Will my ADSL line stop working?
The UK's copper telephone network is being progressively retired as full fibre coverage expands, with BT/Openreach managing an ongoing national switchover. Exact timings vary by exchange area and have shifted before, so rather than relying on a specific date, the practical takeaway is: if you're still on ADSL, it's worth checking whether fibre has reached your address, since you'll eventually need to move off copper regardless.
Does a faster connection type always mean a faster speed in practice?
Not automatically. The connection type sets the ceiling, but your actual speed also depends on the specific package you buy (providers sell multiple speed tiers on the same FTTC or FTTP infrastructure), the quality of your in-home wiring and router, and how many devices are using the connection at once. A cheap FTTC package can still be slower in practice than expected if your copper run from the cabinet is long — always check the estimated speed for your specific address before ordering, not just the connection type's theoretical maximum.
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