How to make the most of rural broadband

Even though the UK isn’t the largest country in the world, there are still plenty of places that don’t get the best internet coverage (looking at you, Cornish coast). Even the best broadband providers don’t manage to completely cater to the far-reaches of our shores.

Around 17% of the UK’s population live in rural areas but, despite having the right to “decent broadband”, in practice, many of these areas simply don’t have good enough or even any connectivity.

The good news is that this is changing and if you live in a rural part of the country and need better internet access, there are a few good options that can help to improve your broadband access.

We’ll cover why providing internet access to rural parts of the UK can be challenging, what you can do to improve your internet situation and talk about some of the best service providers we’ve reviewed, to give you somewhere to start.

Why are rural broadband speeds so poor?

There’s no single factor that makes rural broadband a challenge but the first and likely most important reason is that the infrastructure is expensive and only makes fiscal sense in densely populated areas.

Fibre broadband is the current gold standard and there’s no lack of it in urban or suburban areas. The cost of putting in a fibre trunk is relatively high but, because thousands of people in houses and buildings full of flats can share the same trunk and pay subscription fees, it makes economic sense.

Whereas in more rural parts of the country, the cost of installing a fibre trunk is no less expensive but there simply aren’t enough subscribers to justify the cost.

The same applies to mobile broadband, which makes use of cellular towers with 4G and 5G technology. These tower networks are expensive and, as the population density goes down, so does the number of towers. So, in a rural area you may only get moderate signal for voice calls and poor to no bandwidth for internet applications.

Finally, rural parts of the country are by definition more lacking in other types of basic infrastructure such as electricity networks and easy-access roadways. Geographical features such as mountains, cliffs, rivers and so on can also make it difficult to install broadband infrastructure.

How to get the most out of rural broadband

Ultimately, you need to look for the best internet service you can get where you are. We regularly review and compare the best broadband deals here at Expert Reviews, so that’s a great place to start. You may not have the full range of options when it comes to ISPs if you’re really in the boonies but it’s still well worth doing some comparison shopping.

How fast the connection needs to be depends on your needs but modern households tend to push many previously separate services through their internet connection these days. So TV, music, telephony and more all work using your internet connection.

As a rule of thumb, we think a typical household of four persons shouldn’t settle for less than 100Mbps downstream and 50Mbps upstream. Ideally, if available and you can afford it, 100Mbps down and 50Mbps up for every person in the household is the sweet spot for a great experience all-round.

Optimising wireless broadband

If you’re using “air fibre” (fibre with long-range Wi-Fi on the last hop to your house) or a fixed 4G/5G broadband solution, there are some things you can do if you aren’t getting the speeds you were promised.

These types of services are sensitive to weather conditions and the placement of your antenna. Most of the time, it’s a good idea to have the antenna installed professionally, so that the installer can make sure you’re getting the strongest, fastest signal possible. However, in some cases – such as having a 5G router inside your house – you can get a better signal by moving the router to a different spot in your home.

If you’re using a fixed 4G or 5G internet service and don’t have an external roof-mounted antenna, it’s worth considering getting one installed to ensure the best possible performance. Especially when the weather is bad.

Optimising your home network

Assuming that your connection to your home is sufficient, you still need to make the most of what you have within your home (or business).

If you have a single router, it’s best to place it in a central location if at all possible. If you have the budget, however, we think that the best overall solution is to have a mesh network system. This is still more expensive than a single router, especially the cheap one that comes from your provider, but the performance and ease of use more make up for it. Best of all, you can start with two or three mesh units and expand your home Wi-Fi later.

If mesh Wi-Fi is a little out of your price range, you can also use Wi-Fi extenders or Powerline Ethernet adapters to more evenly distribute your bandwidth across your home.

What about satellite broadband?

Satellite internet has been the traditional solution to getting internet access in far-flung regions, whether that be the Arctic or the almost equally cold parts of the Scottish Highlands.

The problem is that traditional satellite internet services are slow, expensive and unreliable. So, in general, you’d be better off picking any terrestrial internet option and using these satellite services as a last resort.

However, there’s a new generation of very low orbit satellites, most famously used by Starlink, that look to be a more viable alternative. These satellites have nearly none of the drawbacks of traditional satellite internet and offer an internet service that’s not much different from having a fibre broadband connection.

Starlink has been operational in the UK since 2021 and its coverage map currency encompasses nearly the entire of the UK, with the exception of some far northern reaches of Scotland. As the network expands, this will obviously change and we expect that eventually no part of the UK will be excluded from next-generation satellite broadband, whether from Starlink or another future competitor.

While we still think you should opt for traditional fibre if you can get it where you are, Starlink should definitely be on your list of options. We haven’t reviewed the service as of yet, so can’t comment on its reliability, but the cost is competitive with traditional broadband and the coverage is only getting more comprehensive.

Picking the right ISP

We’ve reviewed an enormous number of internet service providers (ISPs) and they are always vying for the top position, which of course changes over time as some ISPs step up to the challenge and others falter.

At the time of writing, we think Zen Internet is the best ISP in the UK based on its performance, reliability and industry-leading customer service. Likewise, we think Three is the best budget ISP in the UK at the moment and Plusnet offers great customer service, with an efficient call centre. So if you have the option to go with one of these ISPs or any of our top broadband provider picks, we can recommend them wholeheartedly.

However, plenty of people who live in the outskirts of the UK’s borders don’t have the option to choose one of these large mainstream broadband providers. Which means you may have to rely on an ISP such as UltraNetworks which specialises in bringing broadband to underserved areas of Scotland, sometimes with government assistance.

Depending on where in the UK you reside, there’s likely a local provider who can deal with the special challenges of that region.

So while every resident of the UK can’t yet say that they have access to good, affordable broadband, it’s clear that things are heading in the right direction. As the technology improves and the cost of broadband on a macro scale goes down, there’s a near-future world where good broadband access is available, whether you live in central London or Aberdeenshire.