What is Fibre Internet?
The field of fibre optics communications has increased tremendously over the past two decades. Fibre is an built-in part of modern day communication infrastructure and can be found along roads, in buildings, hospitals and is now in South Africa.
What is fibre? The fibre itself is a strand of silica bashed glass. It's dimensions are similar to those of a human hair, surrounded by a transparent cladding. Light can be transmitted along the fibre over great distances at very high data rates providing an ideal medium for the transport of information.
How does it affect you? Below is a list of advantages and disadvantages about fibre.
Advantages
Extremely High Bandwidth:
No other cable-based data transmission medium offers the bandwidth that fibre does. The volume of data that fibre optic cables transmit per unit time is far great than copper cables.
Better Reliability
Fibre is immune to temperature changes, severe weather and moisture, all of which can hamper the connectivity of copper cable. Plus, Fibre does not carry electric current, so it’s not bothered by electromagnetic interference (EMI) that can interrupt data transmission. It also does not present a fire hazard like old or worn copper cables can.
More Flexibility for the Future
Due to the higher speeds that fibre is able to deliver, this technology will be around for many years to come as it is easier for internet providers to upgrade and maintain once installed. Fibre is able to carry several signals at the same time such as voice and DSTV. This improvement is helping developments and estates to link all the units within to a single dish without owners having to install their own on the side of the buildings.
Faster Speeds
Currently, ADSL is only able to offer max speeds of 20MB per second and this is not always guaranteed. Fibre is able to deliver speeds up to 1000MB. What does this mean to the average person? With steaming services like Netflix, Showmax and YouTube becoming more popular, you are able to watch HD videos without the video pausing and buffering and this can be done on several devices at the same time.
Bigger fair usage policy
ADSL customers may sometimes experience slower internet speeds towards the end of the month. Often households with higher internet demands. This is due to FUP (Fair Usage Policy) set by the service provider. They slow customers internet speed down after using a set amount of Internet within a month. Fibre offers a much higher FUP allowing its clients to surf the net and stream live TV without the worry of their speed being slowed down.
VoIP (voice over IP)
Allows users to make phone calls to both nationally and internationally at a much cheaper rate than any current service providers. The “voice line” sends signals over the internet instead of the traditional analogue line which cuts costs dramatically. Companies can cut their call costs down by as much as 50% and can connect different regional branches into a single switchboard. This allows different branches to communicate with each other connecting as if they were in the same building.
Disadvantages
Setup costs
As Fibre is still relevantly new to South Africa, customers are required to pay a once off installation cost. Sometimes this can be a few thousand rand. Depending on your hardware, you may need to upgrade your modem and purchase a newer, faster modem to get the full benefits of Fibre.
Limited Areas
As fibre is still in its early roll out stages, it is currently not available in many areas across the country. Suppliers like VUMA often put out surveys in potential areas to see if the demand is there to install the Fibre infrastructure.
Weak
Fibre Optics cables are weak in nature as they are made of glass. There are more chances of breakage if misused or put it somewhere with where they are moved or pulled.
Overall, Fibre is here to stay. If you are happy with your current network then there is no need to rush over to Fibre but if highspeed is your thing then we say do it, you won’t be disappointed.