Why Fiber is Vastly Superior to Cable and 5G

Discussion in 'hardware' started by ronjor, Oct 16, 2019.

  1. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    By Bennett Cyphers and Ernesto Falcon October 16, 2019
     
  2. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    What are these guys talking about? In Holland you can already get 1Gbps over cable, so the technology already exists. There is no need to transition the last mile into fiber. I guess these guys never heard of DOCSIS 3.1.
     
  3. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    Appears they don't know what they are talking about. You can get fiber from AT&T here: https://www.att.com/internet/fiber/ . I have had 1GB fiber from AT&T for some time. What I have noticed of late is AT&T is no longer aggressively marketing it as done in the past. So the author may be aware of policy changes that have occurred but not yet implemented.
     
  4. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    No, it's about the difference between fiber and coaxial cable. Over here in Holland, you have got ISP's that can deliver services (internet, TV and phone) via "fiber to the home" connections, but cable companies deliver the last mile of the signal via coaxial cable.

    In practice this means that it's not a full fiber connection, and that's why we call it a cable connection. This usually also means that upload speeds are a bit slower, but who cares about that. I seriously don't even need 1Gbps.

    https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/fiber-to-the-home
     
  5. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    In the U.S., the closest to this is fiber to the CO, then utilizing existing co-ax copper lines from the CO to the endpoint connection. This has been in place for years in the U.S.

    Also the max. speed w/FTTH is:
    You need a direct fiber connection to the premises to get speeds above that. When I received my 1 GB connection from AT&T, they actually had to run a new fiber line from their box that sits at the front of my residential development box directly to my home. That's why 1 GB is only available in select areas; those where existing DSL wiring conduits previously existing.
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2019
  6. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    I think you're misunderstanding. This is an old article, but you can already get speeds up to 1Gbps with FTTH. What you're using is in fact FTTH. If you don't have a FTTH connection this means that you're using cable or DSL (ADSL or VDSL). But what I'm saying is that with cable you can also get speeds up to 1Gbps without having to pull fiber directly to homes. In other words, cable is just as good as FTTH.
     
  7. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    No misunderstanding on my part. Read this: https://www.reviews.org/internet-service/fiber-internet-work/ . There is no way you can get 1 GB speeds over copper wiring.

    Now it is possible that DSL fiber was previously wired into the building from the curb. In that case, FTTH is possible but involves replacing existing outside copper with fiber. However, I previously had AT&T fiber as a result of Uverse service. And AT&T still ran a new fiber line to my house and within the house to the interface box in my basement. All this indicates that existing fiber may not capable of 1 GB speeds.
     
  8. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    I will try to explain it one more time. In Holland (and the US) you can get services via copper, fiber or cable. Via copper you might be able to get speeds up to 50Mbps via VDSL. If you want more speed, you need either fiber or cable.

    The thing is, a so called "cable connection" is in fact for 97% a fiber connection, and only the "last mile" goes via coaxial cable. It's called a "hybrid fiber coaxial network" and it can offer the same download speeds as "full fiber" or FTTH connections. Upload speeds are however way slower.

    But the point is that you don't actually need a fiber connection inside your home. And in the link that you provided you can clearly see that certain ISP's can also deliver 1Gbps via their cable network. I've looked it up and ISP's like Cox, Xfinity and Spectrum all offer Gigabit connections via cable.

    https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/hybrid-fiber-coaxial-network
    https://www.cox.com/residential/internet/gigabit.html
    https://www.xfinity.com/learn/offers?lob=internet|hsd-1000 hsd-2000
     
  9. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    BTW, what I hate about fiber and DSL connections is that TV is delivered via IPTV, this means that for receiving live TV you will have to connect your TV to the DVR and the DVR needs to be connected to the fiber/DSL modem.

    This is retarded, because with cable TV you can plug it directly into wall sockets, because most homes already have coaxial cable inside the walls. So no, fiber isn't superior. The world just keeps getting dumber and dumber. Aren't you bothered with this? Or are you happy with AT&T Fiber?
     
  10. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

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    Just because coaxial is already installed in homes, doesn't make it superior to fibre optics. Not even close. It's just that there's a lag between structured cable installations in home building and fibre optics installations at the industrial level. I remember how many years behind - at least in Canada - home builders were before they finally started installing CAT5 in homes, when it should have happened years earlier.
     
  11. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    Well, I think you know what I mean. The signal that is delivered via DSL and fiber, can't be distributed via copper and coaxial wall sockets that are present in most houses. In other words, they are rendered useless and all services depend on the modem.

    This is stupid, but luckily via cable ISP's you can still receive live TV without the need for any modem connection. The problem is, even cable companies might start to migrate to IPTV. VOIP and IPTV are the dumbest things ever.
     
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