Question Is Fibre FTTP broadband better than Cable?

[Rodion15]

I'm thinking of getting internet for my home in England from either Virgin Media or EE. Only internet, for TV I'll use a ROKU. EE is in fact BT Fibre-to-the-Property (that's what they said) while Virgin Media offers cable. Price is almost the same. I heard Fibre is better than Cable. I'd like 200Mbps down, which both offer (both offer even more speed for my address).

Is Fibre really better?

Any advise much welcome.

 

[SamirD]

Fibre will typically have a much lower ping time, which even at the same bandwidth will translate to a better experience, especially with a roku since that's sensitive to latency.

 

[kanewolf]

I'm thinking of getting internet for my home in England from either Virgin Media or EE. Only internet, for TV I'll use a ROKU. EE is in fact BT Fibre-to-the-Property (that's what they said) while Virgin Media offers cable. Price is almost the same. I heard Fibre is better than Cable. I'd like 200Mbps down, which both offer (both offer even more speed for my address).

Is Fibre really better?

Any advise much welcome.

The biggest difference, is often UPLOAD speed. Fiber can be symmetric up and down. Coax cable is asymmetric, with download speeds typically 10X the upload speed.
If high upload speed is important, then look harder at fiber.

 

[gggplaya]

Kane Nailed it. If you stream to twitch or have corporate/student video meetings at your home, fiber will be much better.

FTTP > Cable > FTTC in that order.

 

[SamirD]

The biggest difference, is often UPLOAD speed. Fiber can be symmetric up and down. Coax cable is asymmetric, with download speeds typically 10X the upload speed.
If high upload speed is important, then look harder at fiber.

Yep, I forgot about this too--symmetrical speeds with lower latency ftw. I remember my 60Mb fibre plan that had 2ms ping to chicago and gave me a sub 40ms to my vpn tunnel endpoint hundreds of miles away. Having that first hop with such a low ping did wonders for latency.

 

[Rodion15]

Thanks for your great answers.
..I can't see how to mark the best answer, I don't see the trophy icons