Broadband in Sheffield
A city renowned for its industry, Sheffield has a history steeped in innovation, with examples of the years of developing new ideas for production and manufacture. It was internationally renowned for its influential role in the steel industry, and is also a city synonymous with metallurgy.
More and more businesses are looking at Sheffield as a sound base from which to operate and grow, and as such broadband is improving. Residents are also keen to see faster download speeds and better connectivity.
Superfast broadband connectivity
In recent years, steps have been taken to significantly advance broadband connectivity in the city, so that small businesses can directly benefit. Specifically, superfast broadband is increasingly being seen as essential for a company starting up, so the networks need to be installed in the city.
Areas in the city centre are getting superfast broadband, but further work is needed to ensure that the outskirts can also benefit. A number of locations around the city centre only have a Virgin Media cabling, so if you want superfast you have no choice but to pick this provider.
As always, do a postcode check to see what’s available in your specific street, as it can vary greatly.
Speeds and availability
Virgin Media dominates fibre-optic availability in the city, and whilst you may not get the advertised maximum, you should still be able to achieve around 25Mb on a 50Mb package. Towards the south of S9, Virgin Media offers its full range of broadband packages, and this has led to the postcode getting one of the highest averages in the city.
However, neighbouring areas of the same postcode only offer ADSL, with a maximum of 17Mb, and a realistic download speed of below 10Mb.
S11, south-west of the city centre, has broader fibre-optic coverage, with 38Mb and 76Mb packages offered to a number of streets via different providers. You are more likely to get these speeds if you attach your laptop directly to your hub; otherwise you’ll be using Wi-Fi and this can as much as halve the speed you get.
Broadband providers
For fibre, some areas of Sheffield have Sky, BT, TalkTalk, SSE, Plusnet and BT. Then there is the Virgin Media fibre service which is far more widespread. It is down to your post code which provider you will be able to use, so it can limit your options in terms of comparing broadband deals. If you are in an area which has multiple providers offering fibre, then you can benefit from a range of offers, and choose a good value package that suits your usage.
If you cannot get fibre, then all of those providers, except Virgin Media, offer ADSL broadband in various locations from the city centre to the outskirts. You’ll see much slower speeds, but as fibre becomes available you are likely to hear about it from your provider.
Summary
If you’re moving to Sheffield then there is a good chance your fibre-optic options will be limited to Virgin Media, although this is by no means a bad thing because the provider offers much faster packages than its rivals. The city’s tech is developing, and faster broadband is an ongoing process, but availability is improving.
