Nowadays there are many different solutions to get you on the internet. Cable, DSL, LTE, and FTTH to name the most common. But what is the difference between these services and why should you care? Every internet solution has its pros and cons and depending on how you use your internet you should be diligent on your decision.
This post is more about the differences in Wired service versus Wireless service. Wired services are much better at handling high loads during peak times. Wireless service will starve at peak times, causing a very bad experience. And also depending on your tier level makes a huge difference.
Lets start with DSL. Everyone should know what DSL is by now, it is 2017. DSL has been around for decades, but the technology really hasn’t changed that much. Standard ADSL2+ can get you great speeds if you live within its boundaries. vDSL can get you even faster speeds, but then you have to be even closer to the telephone central office. But both of these services when properly configured can be very fast and you will be able to stream, game, check email, download, and do whatever without any issues. Most of the time old home wiring is the biggest culprit in a bad DSL experience or just being on the edge can bring internet woes. But you always have to consider your speed tier package to get the most out of any internet connection.
Now about Cable internet. This is another service that has been around for decades. Cable internet is great for streaming, gaming, etc, but also depends on your tier level, just like with any internet service. Cable internet is capable of speeds far beyond DSL’s capabilities depending on how the cable plant is tuned. In all my years, cable internet has always been my favorite since it can get faster download and upload speeds compared to DSL.
FTTH or fiber to the home. My new love. FTTH is great for anything internet, if you have the right tier. 3Mbps FTTH is the same as 3Mbps DSL and cable or LTE. Just because you have fiber, doesn’t mean its going to be faster. Your latency will be better though compared to any internet service, which is great for streaming and gaming. Kept this short a sweet, because the possibilities are endless from an internet standpoint when you have FTTH.
Lastly LTE. LTE is a wireless service. Wireless services have been hyped up by the big providers and being the savior of all internet services, but is it really? Lets dissect this a little further. Unlike traditional wired services, wireless services have a set spectrum of bandwidth, which controls how fast you can actually get and during peak hours LTE can almost come to a crawl. This is because of how the technology is by design. LTE is fast though, if you are the only one on a sector of a tower. Even the sectors themselves are regulated on how much bandwidth can be put through it. So unlike wired services that provide a dedicated amount of bandwidth that doesn’t change with the amount of users. When multiple users connect to a sector of LTE you are constrained from the amount of spectrum available (think of a pipe with water) and throughput capabilities of the sector itself. It doesn’t matter the provider, LTE networks are very, very saturated and this always leads to a poor user experience. You really wouldn’t want to sign up for a two year contract of LTE if you do a lot of streaming and gaming. That would be a very bad decision. The lack of knowledge from the public sector on this technology leads to over subscription in many, many markets. The reason why the LTE paragraph is longer than the rest, is because people need to be informed on what they are buying.
So lets go over pros and cons.
DSL
Pros: Fast and reliable and doesn’t buckle under the pressure of mutiple users.
Cons: Asymmetrical, which means your download is faster than your upload, with the amount of uploading going on these days, DSL is struggling to keep up. vDSL can give you better upload though and or ADSL with Annex M.
Cable
Pros: Fast and reliable, same as DSL for multiple users. Faster upload speeds.
Cons: Can be very susceptible to interference, but is rare.
FTTH
Pros: The best service you can get, future proof.
Cons: Pricing can vary from market to market and availability is limited.
LTE
Pros: Fast and nice to have a fast connection on your phone or home device
Cons: Well, most are listed above, but if there are 50 people connected to a sector of a tower and they are streaming or just a few are streaming, everyone is affected which leads to a very poor experience. Fixed or mobile.
So when going shopping for your new internet service, keep in mind on how you use your internet. Because picking the right service type can lead to a happy enjoyable experience and picking the wrong one can lead to the ultimate frustration.
TL