Solutions for rural broadband
Having a rural property in the UK is great for so many reasons. Unfortunately for most, good broadband is not one of these.
But all is not lost. Read on and you’ll find out about alternative rural broadband solutions that are available to you today.
Rural internet options for UK properties
We won’t bother going into the reasons why your current landline broadband is so slow – you’re probably frustrated enough as it is. Instead, this guide is to let you know about solutions to your slow internet connection, both ones that are available right now and others that are coming soon.
4G Broadband
Only 5 years ago, using 4G to provide rural homes with fast broadband just wasn't an option. But now 4G offers the best rural broadband solution to the vast majority of more remote properties.
If you're in a strong 4G coverage area, all you'll need is a 4G WiFi router together with a suitable monthly broadband plan – and you could be online with much faster broadband within 48 hours.
And don’t worry if your mobile shows next to no 4G signal, since in most cases 4G broadband can still be successfully set up at locations with poor 4G signal by having an external antenna installed.
Yes, 4G broadband can be a bit more costly to set up, when compared to landline broadband. But if you want fibre-like performance in a rural location, it is your best bet by far.
Our parent company National Broadband Ltd, are experts in rural broadband. They choose the best alternate broadband delivery technology to make sure that homes and businesses in more rural areas across the entire UK get the best possible internet connection for their specific location.
Learn more about the improved connections that National Broadband offers here.
Wireless Broadband
Just like 4G, wireless broadband also delivers its services without relying on cables, wires or landlines. Wireless internet service providers (or WISPs) operate their own local networks and look to provide a broadband solution for properties falling within their coverage.
Again like 4G, wireless broadband is very useful for rural properties where fibre-based broadband services either don’t reach or struggle to perform.
However, wireless networks are hard to keep maintained, which means they can become congested if too many users sign up. They’re also small and widely scattered, so aren’t available in most places.
Still, it’s worth checking out if a wireless ISP is active and offering broadband where you live.
Satellite Broadband
This used to be the only option available to rural properties. While it's definitely not the best, it's still a workable solution, if there’s nothing else available.
The good thing about satellite broadband is that it's available to 100% of the UK, so can be installed anywhere. And when compared with slow landline broadband, it could still be a game-changer.
However, both set-up and monthly costs can be expensive. Also, monthly data plans tend to either be capped or get slowed down to avoid congestion. And finally, you’re likely to experience high latency when online (that’s a slowness for webpages to respond).
But if 4G broadband isn’t yet available to you, satellite broadband is an option to consider.
Future Solutions
And there are more developments already in the pipeline to offer improved connectivity to rural properties. 2022 will start to see the rollout of low-band 5G to cover rural areas. This will finally provide a rural internet solution to match even the fastest landline broadband speeds.
As part of their range of alternative technology solutions, our parent company National Broadband Ltd will also be offering low-band 5G broadband as soon as it becomes available.
Find out more about National Broadband's future rural broadband services here.