For many tertiary students, settling in for the 2026 academic year means it’s time to sort out the essentials for flat life like deciding who gets which room, who’s responsible for taking the bins out, and most importantly, who’s organising the Wi‑Fi.
If your flat wants internet that keeps up with how you live and study, fibre is the way to go. It can be more affordable than you’d expect, and getting connected is simple.
To get an idea of what it’s really like, we asked two students how fibre has helped their flat run more smoothly.
Louis: “It made a world of difference!”
Louis, a UC student, shares a flat with two others. They stream, study online, game, and spend most of their downtime on the internet, and found their previous connection struggled to keep up. Before fibre, he says they dealt with constant buffering, gaming lag spikes, poor video‑call quality, and connection dropouts whenever more than one person was online.
Switching to fibre changed everything for Louis and his flatmates. He was surprised by how easy the setup was. Fibre was already installed at their flat so all they had to do was sign up. The service was activated remotely with no downtime. Better yet, the upgrade barely cost more than their old plan. The biggest improvement has been reliability. As Louis explained, "Before we switched to fibre, we were encountering pretty consistent hiccups in connection." Now, the difference is night and day. "It made a world of difference! Previous inconsistent connection spikes in video games and quality drops in video calls disappeared, and it was really nice having a reliable internet connection, regardless of how many people were online at once."
His verdict? “Everyone I know is always online nowadays, so I think that trying to make that online experience as good as possible by switching to fibre is a no-brainer."
Isobel: “With fibre, you can't even tell that we're all using our devices.”
Isobel, a second‑year UC student, lives in a flat of five. Think laptops, phones, online lectures, and streaming all happening at the same time. Before fibre, she says they dealt with disrupted classes, slow speeds, and constant “Who’s downloading?” arguments.
After switching, everything changed. "Now we can all enjoy using the internet for whatever we need without worrying that it might impact those of us who are locked-in studying," she says. Setup was simple, the connection is stable, and the upgrade has removed a huge amount of study‑related stress.
Why your flat should consider fibre
There are plenty of reasons to make the switch. Fibre handles everyone being online at once - streaming, downloading lectures, gaming, video calling and more - with ease. It can also be great value, especially when the cost is split between flatmates. Fibre saves you from stressful study moments too - no more hoping the Wi‑Fi stays alive at 11:59 pm. And of course, it ends the classic flatmate argument: “Who’s using all the internet?”
To check if your flat has fibre, look for a small Optical Network Terminal (ONT) box on the wall. If it’s there, your place is fibre‑ready just contact your preferred internet service provider to get connected. If you don’t see one, use our address checker and chat with your landlord about installing fibre in your new flat.
Start the year strong with fibre broadband. Whether your place is full of gamers, serial streamers, or last‑minute assignment uploaders, fibre is a smart choice for flat life - easy setup, ultrafast speeds, and zero regrets.
