BOFFINS IN FINLAND have smashed the record for fibre-optic broadband speed with traffic traveling at over 5TBps.

The Technical University of Denmark (TUD) achieved speeds of 43Tbps, which is roughly equivalent to 5.4TBps.

This technology allows a full movie to be downloaded before you've finished reading the word "sentence" at the end of this sentence.

Best of all, this achievement has been made using a single core of fibre-optic cable, the same cable that is used in residential and business connections, meaning that it has a chance of being recreated outside the lab.

Before we get too excited however, there have been some concessions made to adapt the cables, over and above those that are in the ground outside your premises, to carry multiple streams of traffic.

With the IEEE still embroiled in discussions over a formal standard for 400Gbps internet, the technology is now moving faster than the standards negotiations.

The previous record was held by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which achieved 26Tbps in 2011. Given the specialised equipment involved in TUD's efforts, it could be argued that it still stands.

It is also worth remembering that this speed is for a wired internet connection. Anyone who has tried to connect to a fibre network in a London block of flats will tell you that the need for better WiFi is hugely important in getting any speed.

This week the occupants of London's Tech City complained that the broadband in the area was not fit for purpose. At present, the fastest commerical broadband being offered in the UK comes from Virgin Media, according to a survey by Netflix.