Fiber Internet popularity continues to grow with both consumers and businesses. Fiber Internet is often referred to as Fiber-optic Internet or simply fiber. It is a broadband connection that can transmit data at up to 940 Mbps (Megabits per second). Fiber technology can send data as fast as 70% of the speed of light. The amount and speed of data transmitted were unimaginable a few decades ago.
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Fiber Technology
Fiber technology data is transmitted via cables containing thin strands of glass and plastic fibers. Each strand is about as thick as one strand of hair. Light beams are transmitted from one end and received at the other end. These light beams are sent using varying pulses to correspond with the data that is being transmitted. Since the data travels at close to the speed of light, other technologies cannot compete when it comes to speed. The cables carrying the strands are covered with a special sheath called cladding to keep the beam of light within each strand.
Fiber cables are run on the ground, under the ground, and underwater. Keeping the underwater fiber cables safe and operational is very important for communications and business. Occasionally, a cable can snap or inadvertently cut. This has caused serious disruptions across impacted areas for days. Repairing underwater cables is not a simple task. Therefore, most areas have multiple redundancies built-in and no region or country wants to have a single point of failure. Comcast Internet is a leader in this space providing leading technology combined with dependable customer service. By providing automatic failover and redundancies, Comcast Internet ensures a high level of uptime.
Speed
Speed has to do with how much data is transmitted from one end to another. Fiber-optic Internet speed is generally around 1Gbps. That is much faster than copper-based cable Internet which has speeds of 10 Mbps to 100Mbps. The list below for comparative purposes shows how long it takes to download an average-length HD movie. A fiber-optic Internet will take about 40 seconds. The same movie will take seven minutes on the second-best option. That is a substantial difference. This is especially true for businesses that deal with large files (for example, youtube videos and high fidelity images).
- Fiber-optic Internet takes 40 seconds.
- Cable Internet takes 7 minutes.
- DSL takes 30 minutes.
- 4G LTE takes 25 minutes.
Latency
Latency has to do with how long it takes to get information from one end to another. When downloading a movie, it does not matter if the information being sent takes several seconds to reach the user. However, if you are having a video conversation on the Internet, it is important that both video and sound get to you as fast as possible. If there is a delay then the parties having the conversation will start speaking over each other. For good video/audio conversation it is important that it takes a fraction of a second to transmit the information. A mere second is a very long delay. It is recommended that a latency of fewer than 40 milliseconds is desirable. This is where fiber technology really shines and can provide latency much below 40 milliseconds. As more and more consumers and businesses rely on remote work, Internet fiber is increasingly becoming the preferred technology.
Internet Fiber Providers
There are several Internet service providers. When making a decision keep in mind both technical competency and quality of customer service. Here is a list of some of the major providers:
- Comcast Internet: Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Comcast is a division of Comcast Corporation. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA and founded in 1981.
- Verizon Internet: Verizon is a telecommunications operator previously operated under the name of Verizon Wireless. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in New York, New York.
- AT&T Internet: AT&T Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate. It is the largest provider of mobile telephone services in the U.S. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas and founded in in 1983.
- Spectrum Internet. Spectrum is the trade name of Charter Communications. The brand was introduced in 2014 and was called Charter before that. Headquartered in Stamford, CT.
Conclusion
Fiber Internet is a preferred choice for businesses and consumers for two main reasons:
- The speed at which a large amount of data can be transmitted. This allows for fast downloading and uploading speeds.
- How quickly information can move from origination point to termination point. This allows high-quality video calls as latency is very low with fiber technology.
