What's the difference between fibre broadband and copper broadband?
What's the difference between fibre broadband and copper broadband?
The main difference between standard ADSL broadband and fibre broadband is the internet speed it provides. Fibre-optic cables transmit much more data in a given time period than the older, copper-based phone lines used for ADSL broadband.
Most ADSL broadband services will offer average download speeds of around 10Mbps — though due to the dated infrastructure it works on and other variables it can be quite inconsistent.
Whether it's the particular line you're connected to, how far you are from your street cabinet or how many people in your neighbourhood are using the internet all at once, many factors can have an effect on the ADSL speed you receive. So in reality, you could receive anything from around 16Mbps to less than 1Mbps, depending on your circumstances.
Most fibre broadband services, on the other hand, start at around 30Mbps — some three times faster. They also use more robust technology that allows for a more consistent connection that doesn't change speed so unexpectedly.
It's also worth noting that fibre broadband packages at their lowest speeds are often the same price, sometimes even cheaper, than many ADSL prices nowadays — especially if you're currently outside your initial fixed-term contract. So that means you could get a much faster broadband deal for even less money.
Fibre broadband deals are offered at a range of speeds up to and beyond 1Gbps (that's 1000Mbps), depending on the type of fibre connection you can get. That's about 100 times faster than copper-based broadband, and it would future-proof your home for decades.
We call fibre broadband 'faster' because downloads complete in a much quicker time. That means that webpages, images and videos load a lot sooner as a result.
But it also means the quality of what you do online significantly improves, because it allows for more detail in the things you watch and listen to online. 4K video, for example, is made possible with superfast fibre speeds.