Our electrical utilities company just sent out a survey form to fill out and return to them. The survey is about our Internet service: if we have it, do we feel it’s important to our home, do we like what we have, what we do/don’t like most. That sort of thing. The reason for the survey is that they are considering installing fiber-optic cabling for internet. Our current ISP is our cable TV company. I was curious about cable vs. fiber for Internet: is one better than the other?
Our only other choice (besides dial-up) is satellite, and reports state that satellite internet is terrible in areas with lots of trees and atmospheric moisture. We live in a forest in The Great Smoky Mountains: so named because of the clouds that lift off from the mountains each morning. Satellite has never been a viable option for us.
I went looking for answers on the cable vs. fiber question. I found several articles, this one was most helpful, so I re-blogged it here, with my appreciation to The Tech Guy for making it simple and clear.
Cable vs. Fiber
Posted: Mar. 3rd, 2014 | In: Ask The Tech Guy, Fiber, Support Center
Cable and Fiber Internet options are two of the most popular broadband choices available. Each have their pros and cons for industries large and small, so let’s compare them based on availability, speed, and reliability to know which will best suit your needs.
Availability
Availability for cable Internet is one of its biggest advantages over fiber-optics. If you’re in an area where you can receive cable TV, you’ll have the option of getting cable Internet.[1]
A fiber optic connection is available in limited areas–but that’s quickly changing due to the demand of faster speeds. Since fiber utilizes a completely different cable structure than Cable, new cabling is required for service; therefore, it may be a while before it covers the same footprint that Cable provides.[2]
Speed
Cable can provide businesses with speeds all the way from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps down and and 1 to 5 Mbps up, which is more than adequate for most small businesses.[1] Bandwidth is shared with other users in the area, so speeds can slow down during peak, or work, hours. Cable generally has a latency of 100 milliseconds, whereas with fiber, latency is usually not an issue.[3]
Speeds for a fiber optic connection are nothing short of impressive, ranging from 5 Mbps and 100 Gbps for downloads and uploads! Fiber is typically a symetrical connection so you’ll have the same upload and download speed. With an Internet connection like this, multiple users are able to download and upload, share files, and stream audio and video all at the same time with virtually no effect on performance.[2]
Reliability
Cable Internet provides an “always-on” connection: as long as your device is on and cable lines are active and in working order, you’re connected to the Internet.[3] If you’re in an area that experiences a lot of cable TV outages or interruptions, you’ll also experience the same for your Internet, so if you rely heavily on your connection to conduct business, it would be ideal to have a backup connection in place.[1] Typical repair times are 24 to 48 hours depending upon the outage.
Of all of the Internet connections available, fiber is arguably the most reliable and the highest quality. Even in instances of power outages, it is far less likely than cable to be affected. In addition, fiber optic lines use glass as a conductor and therefore experience no interference from high-voltage electrical equipment or nearby power lines, unlike cable, which generates electricity.[2] Typical repair times are 2-12 hours depending upon the outage.
Cost
Cable connections are often bundled with phone and cable TV services, which allows you a good price for your cable Internet; the stand-alone option will cost more, most likely. Installation fees may also apply with this service, but overall, monthly fees can be anywhere between $60 and $300 per month.[4]
The cost for fiber-optic is generally much higher than the cost of cable, ranging from $100 to $5,000+ a month. These prices can vary depending on your location, your desired speed and the terms of your service agreement. Installation fees and activation fees can occur but are typically waived with promotional offers or the signing of a 1, 2, or 3 year agreement.[2]
References:
(1) Business Bee
(2) DSL vs. Fiber-Optic: Which Internet Service is Better for Small Businesses?
(3) Cable Internet vs. DSL: Is One Really Better for Business?
(4) How to choose the best ISP for your small business
* * * * *
In my explorations I also found a technical discussion that compared the strengths and weaknesses of cable vs. fiber and at least one point came into scrutiny:
Unless you have a dedicated fiber to your house from your ISP, you’re still sharing at the node. Residential fiber fiber uses “passive” fiber. This means you receive all the same data that your neighbors receive. So when your neighbor is watching Netflix, your fiber modem will also be receiving their packets, but filters them out.
The upload on passive fiber is also shared via TDMA. While one person on the local node is uploading data, no one else may upload. This is broken into small time slices so you still get reliable pings. But it’s like a bunch of people who want to talk and only one microphone, you just keep passing it around the circle and let each person talk a little at a time.
So really, that 1gb of bandwidth is shared at the node.
I found that interesting. I’m not going to go drooling over fiber yet, because the decision has not yet been made and when it is made it could be years before the service is actually available (if ever) to rural areas of the county like mine. And then there is cost.
But it is something I can hope for.
