Cable vs Fiber Internet
Fiber delivers light pulses down glass strands - Cable uses coaxial copper shared with your neighbors. The performance difference is real and measurable. Here's what to expect from each technology.
Quick Recommendation
Fiber is best if you can get it
Choose fiber for gaming, creators, remote work, video calls, and households with heavy upload use.
Cable is still strong for downloads
Choose cable when fiber is unavailable, especially if your main use is streaming, browsing, and downloads.
Connection Type Comparison
| Type | Max speed | Typical latency | Symmetric? | Congestion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTTP Fiber | 100 Mbps–10 Gbps | 2–8 ms | Yes | Very low |
| Cable (DOCSIS 3.1) | 100 Mbps–2 Gbps | 8–20 ms | Asymmetric | Moderate (shared node) |
| FTTC/VDSL Fiber | 40–330 Mbps | 5–15 ms | Asymmetric | Low |
| ADSL/DSL | Up to 24 Mbps down | 10–40 ms | Highly asymmetric | Low |
| 5G Home Internet | 100–500 Mbps typical | 10–30 ms | Near-symmetric | Variable (cell load) |
| Satellite (Starlink) | 50–250 Mbps | 20–50 ms (LEO) | Asymmetric | Variable (beam load) |
FTTP - Fiber to the Premises
Full fiber (FTTP or FTTH - Fiber to the Premises/Home) runs a glass fiber optic cable from the street all the way to your home. There is no copper anywhere in the last mile. This is the fastest and most reliable broadband technology available to consumers, and it has no congestion at the node level - Each subscriber gets a dedicated fiber strand.
FTTP connections are typically symmetric - Your upload speed equals your download speed. This is highly valuable for working from home, video calling, cloud backup, and home servers, where upload speed often matters as much as download speed.
Latency on FTTP is exceptionally low - 2–8 ms to the ISP's network edge, significantly below cable or DSL. This makes it the best choice for gaming, live streaming, and any latency-sensitive application.
Cable - DOCSIS
Cable internet uses the same coaxial cable that carries cable TV signals. DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) defines how data travels over this medium. The critical technical detail is that cable infrastructure is shared - Multiple households in the same neighborhood share bandwidth on the same cable node.
In practice, this means cable speeds are fast during off-peak hours but can slow noticeably in the evenings when everyone is simultaneously streaming and gaming. The number of households sharing a node varies - In dense urban areas, a single node may serve 200–500 homes. Rural nodes may serve only 50.
DOCSIS 3.1 (the current standard) supports up to 10 Gbps downstream in theory, with gigabit plans widely available in practice. Upload speeds are significantly lower - A 1 Gbps download plan typically offers 35–50 Mbps upload. DOCSIS 3.1 with OFDM can offer higher upload, but most ISPs haven't enabled it.
FTTC - Fiber to the Cabinet
FTTC (Fiber to the Cabinet, also called VDSL) runs fiber from the exchange to a street cabinet, then uses existing copper telephone lines for the last connection to the premises. Speed depends on how far you are from the street cabinet - Close properties get near-FTTP speeds; those half a mile or more away may see 40–80 Mbps.
FTTC is widely deployed in countries like the UK and Australia where it was used as a lower-cost rollout strategy. It's being progressively replaced by FTTP but will remain the technology in many areas for years.
DSL - The Old Copper Standard
ADSL and ADSL2+ use telephone lines for broadband. Maximum speeds are around 24 Mbps download and 3.5 Mbps upload, and real-world speeds are heavily distance-dependent. DSL is effectively obsolete for new installations but remains the only option in some rural and remote areas where no fiber or cable infrastructure exists.
The main limitation of DSL for modern households is not just speed - It's the extremely low upload speeds, which make video calls, cloud storage, and working from home difficult for multiple simultaneous users.
5G Home Internet
Fixed 5G internet uses a 5G antenna installed at your home to connect to nearby 5G base stations, replacing a physical cable into the property entirely. Download speeds typically range from 100 to 500 Mbps, with latency of 10–30 ms - Significantly better than 4G home internet but below FTTP fiber. The main advantage is installation speed (hours vs weeks for fiber) and availability in areas where fiber deployment is years away.
Limitations: speeds are shared with mobile 5G users in the area, and can degrade significantly during peak mobile network usage. It's not the right choice where fiber is available - See our full fiber vs 5G home internet comparison for the details.
Which Should You Choose?
| Priority | Best choice |
|---|---|
| Lowest latency for gaming | FTTP fiber, always |
| Maximum download speed | FTTP fiber or cable (both offer 1 Gbps+) |
| Best upload speed (WFH, streaming) | FTTP fiber (symmetric upload) |
| Most consistent speeds (no congestion) | FTTP fiber |
| No fiber available, need best available | Cable (DOCSIS 3.1) |
| No cable or fiber, rural area | 5G home internet or Starlink |
How to Compare Plans Correctly
Do not compare only the headline download number. Check upload speed, data caps, equipment fees, contract length, and whether the advertised price changes after the promotional period. You can compare the providers available in your area in our ISP directory, which ranks them by real-world test results rather than advertised speeds.
After installation, run a wired broadband speed test and compare the result to your plan. If a cable connection tests well in the morning but poorly at 8 PM, you're seeing shared-node congestion - The strongest practical argument for switching to fiber when it reaches your address.