Installing Internet at home: Optical cable or copper cable?

Nearly a year ago, in major cities, Internet service providers are making major changes in infrastructure when inviting customers to upgrade to their new services. Should customers do that?

Fiber optic Internet (FTTH) to the throne

Internet fiber optic cable is a type of Internet service provider that uses wires made of fiberglass or synthetic fibers and transmits data by light. Therefore, it can transfer data at very high speeds ( up to more than 10 Gb / s ).

During signal transmission, the light signal will be less attenuated, so your transmission will be stable. You will not be affected by weather or electromagnetic impulses. In addition, thanks to the high speed available, operators can provide more convenient services such as television and fixed-line phones. You can independently use these services without affecting other family members who are using the remaining services.

With such advantages, optical cable is an attractive and convenient choice if you have just moved and need to install Internet.

But if you already have the Internet already and just read newspapers, go to Facebook and watch YouTube, is it necessary to switch to optical cable?

First of all we look at the other side of the fiber cable: Deployment time and system installation is long.

First you have to cut the current line and install a new line.

For fiber optic cable, the time is quite long due to the optical connection, the employees have to perform optical welding with separate equipment and the configuration of the modem is quite complicated ( that's why when you report a system failure). Fiber, the operators often ask you not to set up the modem setup part .

Installing Internet at home: Optical cable or copper cable? Picture 1
Optical cord is not as mobile as copper wire.

For convenience, many families often bend copper wires to make them compact. However, when you do this with fiber optic cable, the wire will break at the breaking point and want to reconnect, there must be a specialized tool and the simplest way is to call the vendor's technique.

Currently with Internet providers in Vietnam, fiber cable rates have reached almost the same level as copper cables. The installation is also relatively fast. When customers pay in advance from 6 to 12 months, there are promotional offers or if FPT has a policy of replacing copper cable to optical cable for customers using the service.

Installing Internet at home: Optical cable or copper cable? Picture 2
A price comparison table of fiber optic internet providers. Prices refer to the supplier / consultant homepage of the service.

So switching to fiber optic cable for households is not a waste but also brings more efficiency with a cost not too much difference.

However, the quality of fiber optic Internet is practically as advertised or not is still an open question that many users care about.