If you live in a rural or hard-to-reach area in the UK, accessing a broadband internet connection that offers blistering speeds can be a challenge. This is because most internet providers in the country have limited infrastructure in such areas. Another major reason for slow internet connection in hard-to-reach areas is that fiber cables that transmit broadband internet connect and terminate at the nearest street cabinets. This means that homes that are located far from these cabinets experience slow internet speeds.
Also, homes in hard-to-reach areas are often spread out—they're not close together as they’re in cities and towns. This means that one street cabinet covers a wide geographic area even where a single phone number is attached. Due to the distance, the street cabinet line lengths tend to be long, which slows down internet connection speeds. The upgrading of telephone lines in hard-to-reach areas doesn’t happen as regularly as they do in cities and towns. This contributes to low speeds as well.
But this doesn’t mean that if you live in a hard-to-reach area in the UK you can’t enjoy fast broadband internet. Below are several things you can do to overcome this challenge:
1. Install A Satellite Dish
If your home is located far from the nearest internet exchange, you can use a satellite dish to connect your home to broadband internet connection. The beauty of satellite broadband internet is that you can access it without relying on a phone line. Satellite internet connection is also fast and you can find a niche internet provider to provide the service with ease. This broadband connection option is your best pick if you’re running a business that leverages cloud computing for data storage and collaboration.
2. Get An Internet Service Provider That Serves Remote Areas
Even though most internet service providers prefer to serve customers in cities and towns, it’s possible to find a rural broadband provider that specializes in fast internet connection in hard-to-reach areas. This option will work best if you live near a busy city center or town area. This is because even though your home is in a hard-to-reach area, there’ll be exchanges in towns within those areas that will make it possible for you to access fast speeds.
3. Use A Bonded Broadband Connection
A bonded internet connection uses multiple telephone lines to boost your wifi connection and provide faster speeds. This type of internet connection works well in hard-to-reach areas and are offered by specific service providers within the UK. Bonded broadband internet enhances internet speeds in rural areas where high-speed connections are unavailable. However, this kind of connection primarily targets businesses in hard-to-reach areas as opposed to homes.
4. Consider Getting A Dedicated Wireless Fiber Broadband Connection
While large companies may not be able to provide internet connection in hard-to-reach areas due to the pressure to overload their masts, there are smaller broadband companies that specialize in providing dedicated wireless connections in such areas in the UK. You can engage such a provider to connect your home or business with reliable, high-speed internet connect in a hard-to-reach area.
5. Leverage Mobile Broadband Connection
If you’re in an area where getting a BT phone line is a challenge or ADSL is inadequate, a mobile broadband connection provides a viable option. This is because 4G or 3G speeds perform much better compared to fixed lines. Mobile phones also have a broader coverage that’s increasingly becoming available beyond towns and cities. In areas where mobile signals are weak, femtocells can be used to boost signal strength. Femtocells are small modems that are used to route 3G mobile signals through weak broadband lines. This helps in strengthening mobile data connections.
Final Thoughts
Getting fast broadband internet connection in rural areas and other hard-to-reach areas in the UK may be challenging, but not entirely impossible. If you live in an area that is underserved in terms of internet infrastructure, exploring the five options discussed above will provide the solution you need and give you access to fast broadband internet connection that other people and urban areas enjoy.