WHILE many rural businesses in Huntingdonshire are bemoaning the difficulty of getting credible bandwidth for their internet connections, the conference and training centre at Wyboston Lakes has upgraded its site-wide broadband service to 100 MBs.

WHILE many rural businesses in Huntingdonshire are bemoaning the difficulty of getting credible bandwidth for their internet connections, the conference and training centre at Wyboston Lakes has upgraded its site-wide broadband service to 100 MBs.

This is 10 times the speed previously supplied, and is believed to be by some way the fastest speed available within any UK specialist conference venue, the centre said this week.

The enhancement reflects the fact that the 350-acre Wyboston Lakes complex is the country’s largest privately-owned single-site dedicated conference provider, often with several events happening simultaneously across its three separate venues.

Together, the site boasts more than 70 conference and seminar rooms, more than 400 bedrooms and a wide range of relaxation areas including lounges and patios.

“The improved broadband facility means the availability of a completely reliable site-wide service in all working, residential and rest areas, which is free to all conference clients and delegates,” a spokesman said.

“It will provide a sector-leading platform for video-conferencing and the streaming of events. The service will also ensure that ‘internet-hungry’ events - such as particularly large training events and conferences, where delegates need to access the web to download files, run live links, view webcam presentations or network with other groups - can be run with complete confidence, and do not put at risk the service to other clients.

“Our previous capacity of 10Mbs was more than adequate for most situations, but now we have truly immense flexibility,” added Mark Jennings, information and communication systems manager at Wyboston Lakes.

“100Mbs means that we can give our clients the highest quality of service and guaranteed performance levels, with no degradation to the service provided to the other clients on site.”

Wyboston Lakes has spent the last three months identifying a suitable broadband service provider and making the required adjustments to the site’s networking infrastructure, the company added. The service goes live this month.

The venue has retained the option of ‘wired’ internet access in all key areas for clients who require it. It was one of the first registered wi-fi zones in the UK in 2004.