The fastest fibre broadband deals in Ireland are:
Fibre broadband connections provide internet access to homes through a network of fibre-optic cables,
which allow customers to achieve speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps in some cases. It is the fastest and most
reliable type of broadband available in Ireland.
Within fibre broadband, there are a number of different types of fibre connection, depending on how a
network is structured.
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Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband connections can deliver the fastest speeds - as much as 1,000 Mbps in
certain areas - due to the fact that the fibre-optic cables run directly into your home. SIRO and Open
eir deliver fibre-to-the-home broadband in Ireland, and each is currently expanding its network into new
areas.
Cellnet, Digiweb, Pure Telecom, Rural Wifi, Sky Ireland, and Vodafone
each sell broadband packages on SIRO’s network.
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Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband connections are made up of fibre-optic cables that run as far as a
home’s local telephone exchange, from where data is delivered to your home through copper wires. These
copper wires can’t deliver speeds as high as fibre-optic cables, so fibre-to-the-cabinet connections are
usually slower than fibre-to-the-home connections. However, FTTC connections are still capable of
delivering speeds of up to 360 Mbps, which is very fast.
Virgin Media
delivers speeds of 240 Mbps and 360 Mbps across its own fibre network, while
Cellnet, Digiweb, Eir, IFA Telecom, Pure Telecom, Rural Wifi, Sky Ireland, and Vodafone
deliver broadband on eir’s fibre network.
The best provider is subjective and depends on your preferences and your location.
The cheapest fibre optic broadband is
Pure Telecom Instant Speed 1000MB
which has download speed up to 1Gb/s and costs
€40 per month for the first 12 months and €70 per month thereafter.
The fastest fibre optic broadband is
Pure Telecom Instant Speed 1000MB
which has download speed up to
1Gb/s
and costs
€40 per month for the first 12 months and €70 per month thereafter.
Getting fibre broadband depends on a number of factors, the most important of which is where you live.
Your available broadband deals are largely determined by your location, how far you are from your local exchange,
the availability of cable broadband, telephone line broadband or satellite broadband.
Using our
broadband comparison tool
finder you can specify where you live so you are shown only the fibre broadband deals that are available to your home.
By selecting speed as your preference you will be shown the fastest fibre broadband deals available in your area.
If you live in a rural area, your choice of broadband providers may be restricted, particularly if telephone line
based services are limited. This is often due to a lack of infrastructure or a long distance from the local exchange.
In that case, wireless or satellite broadband may be the best options available.
Regardless of who you choose are your telephone line broadband provider, the network is operated by openeir -
the wholesale division of eir.
The rural broadband network is constantly being improved with a
network expansion planned by openeir to the benefit of rural broadband customers.
There are two types of fibre broadband, both of which offer improved download speeds over previous technologies.
The first is fibre-to-the-cabinet, or FTTC, which delivers fibre-optic cables to the kerbside of your home and then
uses copper cables to bring the signal into your home. This is the widely available type of fibre broadband in Ireland
at present and delivers speeds up to 360Mbps to households. The second type of fibre broadband is fibre-to-the-home,
or FTTH, which delivers a fibre optic cable directly into your home. This type of fibre broadband is not as common as
FTTC but it delivers speeds up to 1,000Mbps. The availability of FTTH is far less than FTTC as specialist installers
are required to enter your home and fit special equipment. As of 2017 there are approximately 8,000 homes
with FTTH broadband available
(source: ComReg, March 2017).