Last Updated on March 20, 2022 by
Whenever you move, whether it’s to a new apartment or a new house, there is a long list of things you need to do to make your new home. An increasingly necessary item on that list is setting up your Internet service.
With remote work and online side hustles so common, it’s a flat-out necessity for many people.
Depending on where you live, though, you may end up with a choice between fiber technology and more traditional broadband. Are you wondering what fiber internet is and what it means for internet service providers?
Keep reading for a quick look at fiber and its implications.
Table of Contents
What Is Fiber Internet?
Traditional internet relies on copper cables that run the cable system and ran the telephone system before most people ditched that for smartphones. This traditional system sends signals down the cables, but it’s limited. The cable can only carry so many signals and the cable itself imposes limits on how fast those signals can move.
Fiber inter uses glass strands or fibers instead of copper. These fibers can carry more signals and move them at far higher speeds because they use light instead of electricity. You can head over here to learn more about fiber.
With that basic explanation out of the way, what does it mean for ISPs and consumers?
Speed
One of the biggest changes between cable internet and fiber is the speed of fiber internet. Consumers can enjoy much higher bandwidth in terms of downloading and uploading. For example, common download bandwidth for consumers typically falls somewhere around 25 megabits per second and upload speeds under 15 megabits per second.
Fiber offers fast internet and it’s much faster internet access. Average speeds are often in the 1 gigabit per second range.
More Reliability
Since the total capacity of fiber internet systems is so much higher, it also means that consumers get far more reliable internet access. Given that one of the most common complaints about ISPs is that the service gets slow or drops out, improved reliability is a boon for ISPs’ customer service departments.
It also means consumers get what they want. Internet that doesn’t lose speed all the time.
Future-Proofing
A big benefit for ISPs is that fiber serves as future-proofing. The higher speeds and expanded capacity sets up ISPs as reliable internet providers for years to come. That protects their business from going obsolete courtesy of advancing technology.
Fiber Technology, ISPs, and You
Fiber technology isn’t available everywhere yet, but it is the future for both ISPs and consumers. The improved speeds, better reliability, and higher capacity work in favor of both you and internet service providers. You get faster, better access and the companies get happier customers.
Fiber is also a future-proofing effort on the part of ISPs. It helps them meet the higher-bandwidth demands of websites and consumers and will as we all move forward.
Looking for more tech insights or tips? Take a look at some of the other posts over in our Tech section.
Read More: Bandwidth vs Internet Speed What’s the Difference
