When it comes to choosing your internet service, one of the biggest questions is whether you should use fiber optic or copper cables.
The main differences between the two are the materials used inside the cables and how they transmit data. Copper cables use electricity while fiber optic cables use light. This translates to a major discrepancy that makes fiber optic cables more effective.
While copper cables have been the industry standard for a long time, fiber optic is now a much better option. A fiber optic network will run much better than a standard cable network and provide you with several great benefits.
The main downside to using a fiber optic network is a higher price compared to copper cables. To help you determine if the cost is worth it, we’ll explain the main benefits of using fiber optic internet below.
Table Of Contents
Greater Reliability
One of the best perks of fiber optic internet is greater reliability.
The most important question when it comes to internet service is: how often is it available? If the answer to that is anything other than all the time, then you have a problem.
Copper cables can be useful, but the issue with them is that they aren’t very reliable. They’re prone to outages and disruptions, which will be a major hassle for you.
On the other hand, fiber optic cables are exceptionally reliable. You’ll never need to worry about the internet being out and your team being unable to work.
Making things even more appealing, fiber optic can handle a larger load. Even if you have several users running data-intensive processes, your speed and performance will remain the same.
Fiber optic cables just work better and this is one reason why you need them.
Faster Speeds
Fiber optic internet will also provide much faster internet speed.
As we mentioned above, fiber optic cables transmit data using light. There’s nothing faster than the speed of light, meaning that the performance of fiber optic cables is much speedier than regular copper cables.
This translates to internet speeds that dwarf what copper cables can output. Fiber optic cables are capable of download speeds up to 1000MB per second, while copper cables can only do a fraction of that at 150MB per second.
Your average user won’t need a 1000 MB per second download speed, but you might if you run a larger business.
You don’t want operations to get slowed down by internet speed, which is never a concern with fiber optic.
Larger Bandwidth
You’ll also experience a larger bandwidth.
This means that your business can deal with a larger volume of data using fiber optic cables.
For example, if you need to download and upload several large files every day, then you’ll want a large bandwidth to accommodate this. With copper cables, this won’t be possible and you’ll end up with a bottleneck.
Alternatively, fiber optic cables can handle much more data transferring than copper cables. This means that your performance won’t be affected no matter how much data you’re running through your network.
Bandwidth might not be a concern for you right now, but it will certainly become relevant if you want to grow. This is what makes fiber optic internet a great investment in your future.
Cloud Access
Finally, you can use fiber optic internet for seamless access to cloud services.
If your business uses cloud services, especially for critical functions, then you need access to the cloud at all times. This means reliable internet at fast speeds.
Fiber optic internet is perfect for this because it will always be available. Even in situations like extreme weather, fiber optic cables are resistant to this and will provide internet in scenarios where copper cables would quit.
Another benefit of fiber optic internet is that it tends to be much more secure. This makes it appealing for use with cloud services, as you won’t put your data at risk via your internet connection.
Cloud services are certainly useful, but it requires you to be connected to the internet like it’s part of your body. Fortunately, you can do this with the use of fiber optic internet.
Closing Thoughts
If you have the flexibility of deciding what kind of internet service to use, you should opt for fiber optic internet. This includes cables made of fiber rather than copper, which makes them perform much better.
A few great benefits of fiber optic internet include greater reliability, faster speeds, larger bandwidth, and easier cloud access. These are all significant differences that make up for a higher cost as they lead to more productivity and a better user experience.
When it comes to fiber versus copper, there’s no question as to which cable is the better performer. If you can benefit from the advantages of using fiber optic, then it’s well worth the higher cost.
