{"id":2472,"date":"2017-10-27T14:09:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T14:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ecn.co.za\/?p=2472"},"modified":"2017-10-27T14:09:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T14:09:39","slug":"fibre-versus-adsl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/fibre-versus-adsl\/","title":{"rendered":"Fibre versus ADSL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve seen the construction work as fibre optics are laid across the countryside, you\u2019ve heard phrases like \u2018lightning speed connectivity\u2019, \u2018reliability\u2019 and \u2018game changing\u2019 but you don\u2019t actually have a full understanding about what fibre optics means. The best way to explain the impact of fibre optics is to compare it with what most people are already fairly familiar with \u2013 ADSL lines. Here are the differences between the two internet connections.<\/p>\n<h2>ADSL versus Fibre<\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ADSL uses telephone lines to transmit data along copper cables from the nearest telephone exchange available. Although ADSL uses the same telephone lines, it uses a different frequency which allows the user to speak on the telephone while using the internet.<\/p>\n<p>Advantages<br \/>\n\u2022 Currently the biggest advantage of ADSL is the fact that it is available in most areas \u2013 because it\u2019s been around a lot longer.<br \/>\n\u2022 It has fairly competitive pricing options, within South Africa, because it is more established.<\/p>\n<p>Disadvantages<br \/>\n\u2022 The further the user is from the telephone exchange, the slower the internet.<br \/>\n\u2022 Copper cables are affected by bottlenecks when there is too much internet traffic, slowing down the internet speed considerably.<br \/>\n\u2022 ADSL only reaches a maximum speed of around 40Mbps but, because of degradation and location, your speed could be half that.<br \/>\n\u2022 ADSL is susceptible to electrical interference and requires lots of maintenance, making it unreliable.<br \/>\n\u2022 You have to have a landline to use ADSL.<br \/>\n\u2022 There is a big black market for copper which means users are often left with interrupted connectivity when cables are stolen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Fibre Optic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fibre optics actually harness the speed of light by transferring data through glass cabling. These fibre optic cables are currently being laid countrywide, with users able to opt for the fibre to the node (FTTN) option \u2013 where there is a fibre optic connection to the area but the connection to the building is not necessarily fibre optic. Or there is the fibre to the premises (FTTP) connection which is fibre optic cabling directly to the home or business.<\/p>\n<p>Advantages<br \/>\n\u2022 The speed of fibre optic internet is beyond comprehension for ADSL users. Some internet service providers are offering speeds of 1000Mbps which means downloading a gigabyte in 10 seconds.<br \/>\n\u2022 The transference of data isn\u2019t affected by the user\u2019s distance from the exchange.<br \/>\n\u2022 Fibre optic cabling can handle much higher traffic volumes without affecting internet speed.<br \/>\n\u2022 Fibre optic is made of glass which doesn\u2019t conduct electricity, therefore, electrical storms won\u2019t cause interference with the lines.<br \/>\n\u2022 Fibre optic cabling is similar in price to copper, but easier to maintain.<br \/>\n\u2022 There is no need for a landline with fibre optics.<br \/>\n\u2022 There is no street value for fibre optic cables which means they aren\u2019t a target for thieves.<\/p>\n<p>Disadvantages<br \/>\n\u2022 Because fibre optics are relatively new in South Africa, connectivity is currently limited to major cities.<br \/>\n\u2022 It is still quite an expensive option, although this should decrease as availability increases.<\/p>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecn.co.za\/choosing-right-business-fibre\/\">Choosing the right business fibre<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While ADSL is still fairly dominant in the realm of internet supply, just like with dial-up connections, it will eventually become a thing of the past, being overtaken by the much more reliable, speedier fibre optics option.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blog-post-content\">\n<div class=\"blog-post-content\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecn.co.za\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">ECN\u00a0<\/a>is a leading telecommunications and business fibre partner in South Africa. ECN offers a broad set of cost effective voice, data and hosted services to meet our customers ever growing technological needs. Our market leading\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecn.co.za\/business-internet-access-2\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Fibre for business\u00a0<\/a>provides our customers with the option of replacing their existing voice service provider to substantially reduce their monthly telecommunications bill.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecn.co.za\/contact-us\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Contact ECN<\/a>\u00a0today for leading telecommunications solutions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve seen the construction work as fibre optics are laid across the countryside, you\u2019ve heard phrases like \u2018lightning speed connectivity\u2019, \u2018reliability\u2019 and \u2018game changing\u2019 but you don\u2019t actually have a full understanding about what fibre optics means. The best way to explain the impact of fibre optics is to compare it with what most people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-news-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourtestserver2.co.za\/ecnnew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}