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Posted on: November 7, 2022
When it comes to the difference between fibre and standard broadband, there’s lots of confusing words, acronyms and technical jargon to grapple with.
So, here we have tried to give you a much clearer picture of what we mean when we talk about broadband and fibre, or full fibre, internet.
Broadband, or the internet, is the transmission of data over a high-speed cables (that’s your physical internet connection. You can access the internet from your devices because you have broadband connected to your home.
However, there are different types of physical connection that change the way you experience the internet (i.e. through copper networks, satellite connection, wireless connection and fibre connection).
All of these materials will result in you receiving a connection to the internet: if you use copper networks, you can access the internet. If you use satellite connection, you can access the internet. If you use a wireless connection, you can access the internet etc.
General uses of broadband consist of web surfing, streaming videos/films, emailing, gaming and any other day-to-day purposes you use the internet for.
To summarise, broadband is the connection you have to the internet.
Fibre is a material of cable that is used to transmit data. As mentioned above, you can have a fibre broadband. This is because broadband is the connection; fibre is the vehicle that provides the connection.
Fibre (also known as fibre optic cables) carries many benefits over some of the aforementioned broadband counterparts. It is severely faster; it is far more reliable and it is a lot greener for the environment. We won’t go into the details of how this is so in this post, but just know that fibre broadband is superior in many factors over satellite broadband, wireless broadband or FTTC (copper broadband).
Beware however, as you may see the term ‘fibre’ used by companies for connections that aren’t full fibre, they’re in fact only partial fibre. To understand more about this, we have another post dedicated to learning about a full fibre connection.
Firstly, fibre is a type of broadband connection and by having full fibre (or fibre optic cable for your broadband), you’re able to transmit data quicker (have a faster internet connection).
Let’s compare the types of broadband we can receive vs full fibre broadband.
| Fibre | ADSL (Copper) | Wireless | Satellite | |
| Speed | (up to) 1000Mbps | (up to) 60Mbps | 12Mbps | (up to) 30Mbps |
| Price | £30* | £27.99* | N/A (wireless broadband is often used as part of packages through wireless routers | £20-£87** |
| Unique Advantages | No traffic ‘peaks’ | Most accessible | Free range of movement | Greater coverage for rural places |
| Unique Disadvantages | Susceptible to foul play | Outdated technology | Not the fastest of speeds | Patchy connection due to moving satellites |
*Taken from BT prices as of writing
**https://www.comparethemarket.com/broadband/content/satellite-broadband/
From the speeds alone, we can see that fibre broadband Is far superior than its broadband counterparts. With its primary disadvantage coming from external foul play, if left to its devices, fibre optic broadband results in a better performance and better connection.
If you are wanting to learn more about beginner fibre knowledge browse our blogs to find out more. You can also use our postcode checker to see if you are eligible for a full fibre connection and, if you are, find out the progress of your town to see how close we are to completing and finalising your build.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our expert team, and we will reply as soon as we can.
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