Whether we’re shopping online, video chatting with friends and family, or working from home, we need the internet to be fast and reliable. Luckily, we’ve come a long way since dial-up. Surpassing cable, fiber internet has become wildly popular in the past decade, yet nearly half of Americans don’t have access to fiber infrastructure, primarily in rural areas. CTTC is bridging that divide by offering modern fiber internet connectivity to the communities of Central Texas. However, if you haven’t yet joined the fiber revolution, you may not understand why this technology is truly the superior choice for internet access. Is it really faster? Is it really more reliable? Is it really worth the investment? The simple answer is yes, but let’s dive deeper into why you need fiber internet in your home and business.
Speed
The speed of fiber optic internet is 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). That’s 10 to 20 times faster than the 50 to 100 Mbps cable most of us know now. This is because signals are sent through a thin glass or plastic fiber, immune to the heat friction that occurs in traditional metal cables. After being coded into data packets of zeros and ones, files are sent at the literal speed of light.
Time to download a 2 hour HD movie:
- Fiber – 1 Gbps: 40 seconds
- Cable – 100 Mbps: 7 minutes
- 4G LTE – 35 Mbps: 25 minutes
- DSL – 25Mbps: 30 minutes
Reliability
Cable internet is a shared network so similar to a highway at rush hour, cable wires get jammed during peak traffic hours. You can expect up to a 25 percent reduction in speed during peak-use periods. Because fiber optic cables don’t heat up and are resistant to environmental interference, many people can access the fiber network at the same time without affecting overall performance. In other words, a fiber network provides a reliable, consistent service.
No throttling
Have you ever noticed that sometimes your air conditioning stops working on the hottest of summer days? Everyone maxing out their A/C’s at the same time overloads power lines. The same concept applies to the internet. ISP throttling is when your internet service provider (ISP) deliberately restricts your internet bandwidth or speed without telling you in order to control traffic over their network and reduce congestion. Fiber optic internet speed doesn’t throttle because it’s less susceptible to overload.
Multi-Device Households
Gone are the days of the “household computer.” Now laptops, smartphones, tablets, and a plethora of smart devices fuel our need for fast and reliable data transmissions. On a cable connection, you’ll notice lags typically when the family is home altogether or whenever multiple devices are being used at once. The bandwidth provided by fiber ensures that no matter how many smartwatches, thermostats, televisions, gaming consoles, baby monitors, or home assistants you have in your home, all will operate smoothly.
Higher Quality TV
As technology advances, the internet’s need to keep up grows stronger and stronger. 4K televisions are a major factor driving the demand for the increased bandwidth that fiber provides. As the name suggests, 4K TVs deliver four times as much detail as current 1080p full HD sets. That’s eight million pixels, compared to two million pixels, so pictures will have much better definition and higher quality. Because the majority of content is now streamed through services like Netflix or Hulu, a television’s internet connection determines how crisp the image will be. Better internet will provide clearer picture quality.
Working From Home
Most of us found ourselves working from home in 2020 and many have remained doing so since technology has enabled the same productivity as we’d find in an office. But working remotely comes with its own set of challenges. With fast fiber internet at home, you won’t need to worry about your service cutting out during an important Zoom meeting, not being able to download large files, or having to kick someone in your household off the Wi-Fi because their Netflix habit is interfering with your work.
Upgrade Today
Take it from the thousands of CTTC customers enjoying state-of-the-art internet access. Fiber optic cables make a substantial difference in efficiency, productivity, and quality of usage. With speed about 20 times faster than regular cable internet and 80 times faster than DSL, fiber is the right choice for most internet users. Contact us today to upgrade your internet.