dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
17690
ryan621
join:2011-06-15
West Bend, WI

ryan621

Member

Fiber vs Cable (Is "slow" fiber better than "fast

Our office currently has Charter Business class cable modem. Our speed for cable is 30Mbps down and 3Mbps up. In terms of general speed this is adequate for our needs. I believe this is an asynchronous product.

However even at "business class" our cable modem service is no where near as reliable as I would like.

So I have been trying to find a fiber option in our area (30 miles north of Milwaukee). Fiber is very limited in our area and the best option seems to be Charter again. However their synchronous fiber costs far more than I had been expecting. 5 Mbps fiber is $600 per month.

I've had multiple people try to tell me that synchronous 5Mpbs fiber will be "faster" than asynchronous 30/3 cable service. Is this accurate? I just can't wrap my brain around 5Mbps fiber (even if it is synchronous & has lower latency) providing a faster internet experience for my users when compared to a 30Mbps cable internet connection.

What am I missing here? Other than Fios!

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

Re: Fiber vs Cable (Is "slow" fiber better than "

Welcome to BBR.

What do you mean by synchronous and asynchronous? Those are not terms commonly applied to high speed Internet access. Are you sure you are not confusing it with symmetric/asymmetric?

What reliable problem are you experiencing: link going down, link is congested, DNS fails, inadequate peering capacity something else?

I assume the fiber quote is for symmetric 5/5 service vs the asymmetrical 30/3 you have with cable. How are you using your connection? If it is primarily for downloading 30/3 service will be faster then 5/5, all else being equal, since most traffic is from the Internet to your office. If on the other hand you run public servers in your office then 5/5 will be faster since most traffic originate within your office.

/tom

drake
Back to back
MVM
join:2002-06-10
Bridgeport, CT

drake to ryan621

MVM

to ryan621
said by ryan621:

However even at "business class" our cable modem service is no where near as reliable as I would like.

In addition to tschmidt See Profile post above-
In the quoted text regarding your service reliability, with whatever issues you're having, at the Business level, have you tried contact Charter tech support? Just for reference there's an Charter HSI forum for member-to-member assistance; then there's the »/fo ··· erdirect forum which provides a private (forum secured) member-to-tech (official Charter techs) assistance.

Give those a try.

TeleServPro
Premium Member
join:2009-08-24

TeleServPro to ryan621

Premium Member

to ryan621
The cost of 5x5 Mbps fiber Internet is higher because of a few reasons: [1] it's "dedicated" just for your use (not split off and shared with others nearby) [2] it's symmetrical (which usually also connotates FULL duplex, instead of half duplex, ie: download and upload can occur simultaneously) [3] bandwidth is truly UNLIMITED, no hidden caps [4] includes a Service Level Agreement (SLA) which guarantees uptime/performance/throughput.

Generally speaking, symmetrical type bandwidth is considered "commercial grade" and tends to be used by the SMB/Enterprise market VS. consumer/residential end users. All because of the reasons I listed above, plus it lends itself to work better in a LAN environment- as the circuit is robust, efficient, and quite reliable, etc. You really get what you pay for. Finally, if you have applications that require real time traffic, such as: VoIP, SIP, and video conferencing + Citrix, VPN, heavy file transfer- commercial bandwidth (T1, DS3, Metro Fiber Ethernet) is essential.