As broadband technology has progressed in recent years, Leigh has gone from being one of the left-behind parts of the UK, to being one of the better-connected rural areas in the UK, with several high speed systems running side by side.
Historically, the Leigh area had very poor internet connection because of the location of the nearest telephone exchanges. Homes in the east of the village are connected to Cricklade on the 01793 code, the west of the village is joined to Minety on 01666 and Hillside, Swan Lane and Waterhay are connected to South Cerney on 01285.
All three of these are end-of-line connections, which means Internet speeds over copper phone wires will struggle to reach 1 Mbps. Residents can switch to faster broadband in one of three ways (depending on their location).
Through the UK's Openreach fibre network, through Gigaclear's private fibre network, or through the Voneus wireless line-of-sight network. You can test your broadband speed here. To put this into context the UK average speed is 55 Mbps.
Available now: Full fibre connections
Gigaclear is a government funded scheme bringing full fibre broadband to homes in rural parts of Wiltshire. At the start of 2020, Gigaclear connected up residents on the B4040 and Swan Lane to their fibre-to-the-property (FTTP) network. This is part of a longer term plan to connect 37 rural areas in North Wiltshire with ultrafast fibre cables. The new cables are laid underground, and have connection points at every property. Your Internet speed depends on the tariff you choose, starting at 30 Mbps and topping out at 900 Mbps. The catchment area includes homes from the Leigh Crossroads to Braydon, Swan Lane and Hillside. Later phases are planned to connect other dwellings on the main roads to Minety and Braydon. The Gigaclear network is not part of the Openreach infrastructure, and therefore you cannot choose which internet provider to go with.
Available now: Fibre enabled line
Some homes on the edge of Leigh are now fibre enabled. This is the more common method of connecting to broadband in the UK. The fibre cables are part of the Openreach network. Multiple companies operate on these lines, which means you can shop around for the best deals. Internet speeds will vary based on supplier and tariff. Availability depends on which phone exchange you are connected to, and how far away your nearest cabinet is. Homes which run along the B4040 on the Braydon and Minety ends of the village should be able to connect.
Available now: Community wireless network
For those residents with 01285 and 01666 phone codes, Voneus (previously Cotswold Wireless) has been successfully operating in the area since 2014, and can offer access to wireless internet speeds of approx 15 Mbps. The roof of your property must have direct line of sight with the Charlton water tower and phone mast, or Hillside (where there is a signal relay). Voneus is the only company that offers a wireless service in Leigh. They also have wireless networks covering large parts of the Cotswold Water Park, North Wiltshire and Swindon.
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