Broadband is a high-speed internet connection that allows you to run your business without interruption. When people talk about broadband vs fibre, they are typically referring to choosing standard broadband or fibre optic broadband. If you want a strong, reliable connection, it is important to choose the right broadband that will keep your business running smoothly. 

Types of Broadband 

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) – This is a traditional form of broadband which uses copper phone lines to transmit data. The average data speed for these lines is around 24Mbps and they are prone to signal degradation. ADSL can work for people who don’t rely on quick connectivity, but when running your business, you probably want something that can handle a bit more oomph. 

Fixed Wireless Broadband – This broadband uses radio signals instead of cables to transfer data. It can work well for those in rural areas without easy access to cables, but they are impacted by weather conditions and the speed is variable at about 50Mbps. 

Fibre Broadband – Fibre broadband uses fibre optic internet cables to transmit data as pulses of light, giving you a connection as fast as the speed of light. Literally. Fibre is less susceptible to interference from electric signals and weather conditions, so you can get faster speeds and a more reliable connection.  

Fibre also offers a bigger bandwidth than ADSL, so it works well if you need to transfer large amounts of data. Lastly, fibre provides you with a dedicated line, making your connection safer and more secure.  

Get in touch to learn how we can help you today! 

Types of Fibre Broadband 

Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC)/Cable Broadband – FTTC uses fibre cables to a cabinet on your street, and the rest of the distance is covered by copper wires, so it’s a handy blend of broadband types. You can expect speeds of about 100Mbps. 

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) – Meet the fastest possible broadband. FTTP gives you lightning-fast fibre optic cables directly to your premises, with speeds of up to 1Gbps. 

If you’re ready to upgrade to fibre and enjoy speedy, secure, and reliable internet, call us on 01604 673320 or email discover@dbfb.co.uk. 

Don’t be kept in the dark about dark fibre network connection. With dark fibre, you can have full control over your network and gain speedy connectivity, secure connections, and almost limitless scalability. 

What is dark fibre? 

Dark fibre refers to unused fibre optic cables that aren’t “lit” by network providers. You can buy or lease these to create a private network for your business. You can have point-to-point connections or use Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM). DWDM helps you maximise the number of channels on each fibre thread.   

If you want unlimited control and creativity to design a bespoke fibre network, then dark fibre is a great option for you. No more purchasing a service like Ethernet or Optical Wavelengths – choose whichever services you’d like and manage your network entirely in-house. You can source the right networking equipment, protocols, and specifications to suit your business needs. 

Tell me more about dark fibre solutions for my business! 

Benefits of dark fibre 

As your business grows – so can your bandwidth and data transmission. You can upgrade and improve dark fibre infrastructure as your network needs grow. This helps you get the most from your network.   

No need to compete with other users or businesses for bandwidth. Your dark fibre network is exclusive to you, meaning high-speed connections and ultimate privacy. No other providers or users can access the network – making it ideal for businesses that handle sensitive data. For increased security, you can also implement data encryption. 

Cut the middleman. If any faults occur with your network, you can start fixing them immediately without needing to contact or troubleshoot with network providers. 

Fibre cables can carry a lot of data quickly, and they use less power than copper cables. This makes them a good choice for anyone who needs to transfer data fast.   

If you have the in-house IT resources to manage a private network, dark fibre is an excellent option with many benefits. To learn more about the connectivity options that dbfb offer, call 01604 673320 or email discover@dbfb.co.uk. 

Let’s face it — regular broadband is like public transport during rush hour. It works, but it’s crowded, slow, and you’re stuck with everyone else’s bad timing. 

Enter the leased line — your own private, superfast internet express lane. No sharing, no slowdowns, just smooth, consistent speeds whenever you need them. 

Essentially, it’s like having the internet on speed dial — just for your business. 

What is a Leased Line? 

Leased lines let your business rent a private connection from an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This connection goes directly to your business. Talk about exclusive!

Why Choose a Business Leased Line? Glad You Asked. 

Private and Powerful 

Unlike home broadband, which you share with half the neighbourhood, leased line broadband is all yours. That means no one else hogs your bandwidth. Your speeds stay fast, even when the rest of the world is online.

Equally Fast Both Ways 

Most broadband services are biased — fast downloads, sluggish uploads. But for businesses, that’s not ideal. Leased lines give you symmetrical speeds, meaning uploads and downloads are equally zippy. 

Reliable Enough to Brag About 

Whether you’re hosting a client meeting or pushing big files to the cloud, you need reliable connectivity that won’t flake out. Leased lines offer super reliability, and if something goes wrong, technicians fix them quickly. Priority support means you’re not waiting around. 

Built for Business 

If you rely on VoIP calls, cloud apps, video conferencing, or uploading heaps of content, leased lines are made for you. They give you the speed and stability to keep your business running like clockwork. 

Different Types of Leased Lines 

Full Fibre Cables 

The gold standard. Full fibre delivers top-tier speed and reliability. It takes a bit longer to install, especially if your building isn’t ready. However, once it’s set up, it brings long-term benefits. 

Ethernet over FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) 

A hybrid setup that uses existing copper and fibre infrastructure. Not quite as fast as full fibre, but it’s quicker and cheaper to install — a good middle ground for growing businesses. 

Wireless Leased Lines 

Need an internet connection fast, but can’t wait for cables? Wireless leased lines use radio signals and microwave tech to beam a dedicated link straight to your premises. No digging, no waiting — just a clear line of sight and you’re good to go. 

Ready to Upgrade Your Internet Game? 

If your business depends on reliable, fast, no-fuss internet, a leased line might just be the best decision you make this year. 

Want to discuss options? We’re here to help. 

Email: discover@dbfb.co.uk 

 Call: 01604 673320 

Let’s get you connected — and keep your business moving at full speed. 

dbfb Communications and Iris IoT are delighted to announce our second Connected Care pilot for Technology Enabled Care with West Northamptonshire Council utilising the Genus Care frame. This follows on from the recent pilot announced with neighbouring North Northamptonshire Council.​

The aim of the pilot will be to explore use cases and benefits for the new technology, which provides alarm monitoring, movement analysis and digital support circles to elderly and vulnerable people in the community. In addition, new digital technology offers the potential for embedded IoT, Data Analysis and AI, to support preventative measures and better care outcomes.

​Stuart Smith, Head of Public Sector and Innovation at dbfb Communications commented “Due to improvements in healthcare and wellbeing we are all living longer, and this is increasing the strain on the health and social care sectors. With the elderly population set to double, combined with the 2027 planned PSTN switch off affecting legacy systems, there is a real opportunity to innovate in this space, to support care workers, promote independent living and improve wellbeing for loved ones.”

West Northamptonshire is also leading the way in harnessing Artificial Intelligence to improve peoples lives, as outlined in a recent BBC news article. The Council has also recently announced an exciting growth strategy which includes a key focus on Health and Social Care. ​

Stuart Smith added “We have been working closely with our partners Iris IoT to bring digital innovation to the social care sector. We met the Iris team through the Digital Northants program, which further demonstrates the Council’s commitment to stimulating innovation and collaboration across the region. ​

We are extremely grateful to the team at West Northants Council, together with Iris IoT for enabling this work. We look forward to developing further partnerships and innovation into the future, to improve peoples lives in the region and beyond, whilst stimulating the local economic growth that will help create jobs and opportunities for local people.”​

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We’d like to inform you of a confirmed vulnerability affecting some of the DrayTek products that has been identified by the manufacturer during testing.

The best practice recommendation is to always keep firmware up to date, but DrayTek are highly recommending that you check that affected units are running at least the firmware version in the table below.

If the model is not listed below, it is not affected by this vulnerability.

Recommended actions

1. If you have not already upgraded, update your firmware immediately. Before doing the upgrade, take a backup of your current config in case you need to restore it later (system maintenance -> Config Backup). Do use the .ALL file to upgrade, otherwise you will wipe your router settings. If you are upgrading from a much older firmware then please check the release notes carefully for any upgrading instructions.
2. If you have remote access enabled on your router, disable it if you don’t need it, and use an access control list and 2FA if possible. If your unit is not already running patched firmware (see table above), disable remote access (admin) and SSL VPN. The ACL does not apply to SSL VPN connections (Port 443) so you should also temporarily disable SSL VPN until you have updated the firmware.

If you would like to discuss this further, or require our assistance in ensuring your equipment is secure, please contact customer services on:

01604 673320 | delight@dbfb.co.uk

You may have heard the buzzword ‘full fibre’, or a host of other terms such as; ultra-fast broadband, get lightning speeds, and FTTP, (we know as we use those terms too 😊). But the truth is, full fibre really does involve speeds that can transform your business, and it makes a difference to how you work with your team and your customers.

If you haven’t made the move to full fibre, we hope this short blog will help you understand more about full fibre and if it’s right for your business.

1. What is full fibre?

Also known as FTTP (Fibre to the Premises), full fibre runs directly into your business. Traditional broadband connections often use copper wires, meaning that the strength of your signal is not always guaranteed and can degrade quickly.

Full fibre doesn’t use copper (and isn’t shared with your business neighbours), so it doesn’t restrict the speeds that networks like CityFibre or Glide can support, meaning that there’s practically limitless capacity. It’s not only fast (a HUGE step up from ADSL), but it’s also consistent.

Plus, the full fibre infrastructure is the best possible platform to deliver business-critical services, so you can provide the assurance and quality that your team expects from your broadband.

2. What can it do for my business? 

There are many benefits for your business, primarily the speed and quality of your connectivity, helping you work faster and smarter.

For example, to download 150GB remote back up using speeds of 76mbps would take 4 hours and 23 minutes. Using 1Gbps full fibre, would take 23 minutes – saving you both a headache and more importantly – time!

Other benefits include:

• Improve productivity by up to 78% – teams can work quickly and without disruption.
• Improve efficiency – it’s up to 100x faster than the UK’s average business broadband.
• Future-proof your business with it being in the cloud, (your bandwidth is no longer a barrier, and you can start connecting your back-office systems in the cloud).
• Stable and reliable connections mean your IT team can spend time on the work they should be, rather than fixing the Wi-Fi router.

3. Does my business really need it? 

The answer is… it depends on how your business operates. We all know that the future is full fibre, but the reality is more businesses need it now.

Since the pandemic, more businesses have moved to hybrid or remote ways of working and had to respond by adapting their operating models.

As many businesses are running and using more digital services, video conferencing or communications platforms, along with cloud back-office systems to manage data (think your HR platforms, payroll etc.) – full fibre can enable you to use these services effectively due to the resilient and powerful connection.

Other reasons why full fibre might be right for you:

• Your internet isn’t keeping up with the pace of your business.
• You want to adopt more cloud-based services or tools.
• You’re ready to future-proof your business.
• Your team are frustrated with poor connectivity slowing them down.

4. Why use dbfb instead of other suppliers directly?

We provide options. We work with various full fibre providers including CityFibre and Glide, so you can choose the right connection for your business.

We’ve hired experts in connectivity so they can come and work with you to understand your business needs. We’ll recommend the right solution for your business, rather than just offer you a ‘one-size-fits-all’ product. Unlike large corporate companies, we don’t connect you to automated systems or read to you off a script, we genuinely listen and try to resolve your problem. Our service provision has market-leading SLAs and always aim for a first-time resolution!

Interested in finding out more? Let’s talk, email us discover@dbfb.co.uk or call us 01604 673320.

Full fibre just got closer.

As an official launch partner of CityFibre, and after a successful rollout of connectivity in Northampton and Milton Keynes – we’re excited to announce that we’ve launched CityFibre in new cities in the East and West Midlands, including Leicester and Coventry.

After a tough few years, many businesses are now back-to-the-office or changing their working models to hybrid working.

We want to help you get back to business and reap the benefits of full fibre! Our exclusive offer gives you up to 9 months free and can save uou up to £2,250*.

With FTTP (Fibre-to-the-premises), being available to more businesses around the country, it’s said that nationwide full fibre network could boost UK productivity by up to £59 billion by 2025. By offering exclusive CityFibre discounts to businesses in these new areas, we hope it opens up more opportunities for local businesses to get on the full fibre ladder and help boost the local economies.

What does this actually mean for your business?

In a nutshell – it means you can work faster and more productively (it’s said up to 98%)! No more waiting around for loading times. You’ll be able to access lightning fast upload and download speeds (up to 1Gbps), that’s 100x faster than the UK’s average business connection!

It’s predicted that every business and everyone will have full fibre in the near future and with technology constantly evolving, moving to the cloud is the best way to future-proof your business. We can help you get started and set up for success.

We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. If you’re looking to boost your business with ultrafast connectivity – get in touch with us and we can spend some time understanding your needs and creating a solution that’s fit for purpose and will work with and for you.

Remote working capabilities are essential to business continuity.

In light of yesterday’s announcement by the Government, we are fully committed to providing uninterrupted service to our customers and providing a safe working environment for all employees.

As you would expect from a technology company, we have flexible working capabilities in place, as standard.  We fully understand the difficulties that will be experienced by companies, large and small.

Short Term Support

If anyone needs short term support with remote working, we have a wide range of solutions that can be put into place quickly to help you with your service provision and remote working over these tricky times.

If you are an existing dbfb cloud voice customer, we can provide the Collaborate UC Client free of charge for all of your users. This will allow you to work from any location, on any device and your ability to service your customers will not be affected.

Mobilising your workforce will be seamless, we will remotely configure and provide training – free of charge.

If you are not an existing dbfb cloud voice customers, we can still help you, although there will be a negligible license cost.

Need advice?

Whatever your circumstances, please get in touch. We are happy to provide advice on what to do next.

In 2016, dbfb proudly introduced CityFibre to Milton Keynes. At that time, it was the third worst connected city in the UK and in desperate need of investment. Now, just four years on, our partnership with one of the UK’s leading providers of wholesale connectivity has facilitated £80 million of inward investment into both Milton Keynes and neighbouring Northampton, connecting more than 170 businesses to date.

An ultra- fast, reliable and secure internet connection has become increasingly important to everyone’s day to day working lives, enabling us all to communicate effectively, promote business growth and provide a better service to customers. Working with CityFibre enables dbfb to offer businesses across the UK access to a world-class fibre network.

With an appreciation for how business-critical a full-fibre network is in today’s world, dbfb have been pioneering full-fibre ever since it took the decision to launch CityFibre in Northampton and Milton Keynes. A carefully designed 24/7 monitoring facility is also in place, to ensure the best possible service levels, with real-time data analysis, performance and service availability.

Pete Winkleman, Chairman of MK Dons, who was one of the first to reap the benefits of full-fibre connectivity in Milton Keynes explains: “A lot of businesses now have the chance to tap into ultra-fast and reliable connectivity, at an affordable price.

“The benefits of full-fibre to businesses is clear, enhancing the ways they operate day to day using their own systems and so that they can connect better with their customers. This is today’s technology and it is where Milton Keynes needed to be.”

Simon Pickering, Managing Director at dbfb Communications tells us, “We often get asked by businesses what is full fibre? Because my current provider tells us we’re on a fibre connection, but it’s not particularly fast or reliable! The term “fibre” is widely used and often misleads customers in terms of what they expect versus what is delivered. Many internet service providers describe their service as fibre but will be relying on the copper installation at a business premises for the final leg of the journey.

“CityFibre only invest in full-fibre, which means fibre at every point in the network. With no reliance on Victorian-age copper infrastructure, your business benefits from ultra-fast speeds of up to 1Gbps with optimum performance and reliability.”

Find out more about how dbfb can simplify your technology solutions, follow us @dbfb communications on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram or get in touch at discover@dbfb.co.uk

We understand that the COVID 19 outbreak, brings uncertain and challenging time for businesses, and without wishing to unduly panic anyone, we are seeking to reassure you of our COVID-19 Business Continuity Practice.

We are fully committed to providing uninterrupted service to our customers. As you would expect from a technology company, we have remote working capabilities in place, as standard. All employees are issued with, a laptop, mobile phone and secure internet connection. Our cloud-based telephony platform allows our staff to seamlessly take calls at home as if they were in the office.  To keep our employees fully up to date, we have sent out a link to a video on how to reduce the risk of the virus spreading and what to do if they are showing symptoms.

We understand why some customers are restricting access to their site, please rest assured that our staff will be available by phone or video-conferencing.

If anyone needs short term support, we have a range of solutions that can be put into place quickly to help you with your service provision and remote working over these tricky times. This could be in the form of monthly mobile SIM cards, mobile phones and configured laptops, or video conferencing facilities.

First and foremost, our priority remains the safety of our employees, customers and partners, and we will keep you informed if anything changes.

Should you have any further questions, or require any short term support from us, please contact us on either 01604 673320 or discover@dbfb.co.uk