In this post, we’re jargon-busting and demystifying the acronyms and terminology behind a few different types of broadband internet connection. There are quite a few options out there, from slower ADSL to super speedy full fibre, but they’re not all available everywhere. Here we’ll guide you through some of the differences so that you’re not baffled by terminology when you’re faced with renewing your broadband contract.

ADSL Broadband

ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, uses the standard copper-wired telephone network to give you access to broadband internet. It’s fast enough to stream video content in Standard Definition, but the speed you’ll experience depends on where your nearest telephone exchange is. The further the journey the wire has to make, the slower your internet speed is likely to be. In rural areas, this can be painfully slow!

Fibre Broadband

Before we cover the two main types of fibre connection (FTTC and FTTP), what actually is fibre?

Fibre or fibre-optic cables are long (really long) lengths of glass that can carry light (i.e. our data) long distances at high speeds with very little signal loss. Fibre optic cables are sometimes made of plastic, but for longer distances, glass is used. Not only is it more suitable for our data-hungry society than copper wiring due to its larger data-carrying capacity, but it’s also far less pricey than copper wiring.

Fibre to the Cabinet Broadband (aka ‘Superfast Broadband’)

With Fibre to the Cabinet broadband, your internet will arrive via fibre optic cable at your local street cabinet (think, green box at the end of your road). However, the signal that arrives at your house will come by copper wire. FTTC is much faster than ADSL as nearly all the journey is by way of optical fibre, but the copper wiring between the cabinet and your house will slow the signal down, though depending on how you use the internet, you may well not notice.

Fibre to the Premises Broadband (aka ‘Ultrafast Broadband’)

The cream of the broadband crop is FTTP or Fibre to the Premises. Unlike FTTC, there is no copper wiring used at all to get the internet to your property; there’s even fibre optic cable between the street cabinet and your front door. Using a completely fibre-optic connection, you won’t experience a reduction in signal speed, making download speeds of 900Mbps possible.

Cable Broadband

Like FTTP, cable broadband isn’t available in all areas of the UK, but it’s a great mid-way point between FTTC and FTTP. Cable technology uses fibre optic cable to the local cabinet, but coaxial cable from there to your home, making it faster than copper wire but slower than full fibre.

At Simpatico, we offer a range of mobile phone, VoIP and broadband services for businesses. To find out more about how we can support your business communications, just drop us a line!