What is Cable Broadband?

Cable broadband is a type of internet connection that uses a mix of fibre optic and coaxial cables to provide high-speed broadband straight to your home.  

Virgin Media runs the UK’s largest cable broadband network, originally built on the NTL: Telewest infrastructure, and we were the first to bundle broadband, TV, landline and mobile into one simple package. 

Cable broadband uses fibre-optic cables to carry data from your local exchange to the street cabinet near your home. From there, it connects to your house through a coaxial cable, rather than a traditional copper or fibre-optic line. 

This means you get ultrafast broadband speeds without needing full fibre all the way into your home. It’s one of the reasons we can deliver some of the fastest speeds in the UK. 

Cable broadband works much like fibre broadband, but with one key difference: the final stretch of the connection to your home. 

• Fibre to your street cabinet: Data travels from your provider’s network to a nearby street cabinet using high-speed fibre-optic cables. 

• Coaxial cable to your home: From the cabinet, the connection switches to a coaxial cable, which carries the signal directly into your home. This type of cable has a copper core surrounded by insulation and shielding that protects the signal from interference, 

This combination gives you faster speeds than ADSL and FTTC broadband, which still rely on copper, though it’s not quite as fast as a full fibre (FTTP) connection. Because it uses existing cable networks, cable broadband is more widely accessible than full fibre in many areas. 

Cable broadband isn’t just fast. It’s designed for households that stream, work, and game all at once. Here are some of the main features that make it stand out: 

Both cable and fibre broadband use high-speed technology to bring fast internet into your home. Cable broadband is technically a type of fibre broadband, because it relies on fibre-optic cables, but the main difference comes down to that last stretch of the connection: 

• Cable broadband: Uses coaxial cables for the last part of the connection. This combination of fibre and coax provides ultrafast speeds and strong reliability, perfect for streaming, gaming and working from home. 

• Part-fibre broadband (FTTC): Uses copper phone lines for that final stretch, which can slow speeds down over longer distances. 

• Full fibre broadband (FTTP): Uses fibre cables all the way to your home, giving the fastest and most consistent speeds available. 

Cable broadband sits between FTTC and full fibre, offering faster and more reliable speeds than copper-based services, and more widely available than full fibre, which is still being rolled out across the UK. 

Want to see how your broadband connection is performing? Run a quick speed test to check your download and upload speeds, latency and packet loss. 

With its combination of fibre and coaxial technology, cable broadband can deliver seriously impressive speeds, starting around 125Mbps and going all the way up to a lightning-fast 1Gbps with our Gigabit broadband. 

That means lightning-fast downloads, smooth 4K streaming, and gaming without lag, even when if your whole household is online at once. Keep in mind, actual speeds can vary depending on: 

• Network congestion 

• The number of connected devices you’ve got at home 

• The quality of your router and cables 

• Electrical interference from nearby devices 

• When you’re online – speeds can dip slightly during peak usage hours (usually 6–11pm)

Want to see how those speeds compare? 

Check out our guide to broadband speeds and see what you can do with different connection speeds. 

If Virgin Media cable broadband is available in your area, you might already have a Virgin Media wall socket in or outside your home.  

Whether you’re streaming, gaming or working from home, Virgin Media broadband keeps you connected with ultrafast speeds and rock-solid reliability. 

Ready for ultrafast broadband at home? See our broadband deals to find the right package for your household, and see why millions of homes across the UK trust Virgin Media to keep them connected.