Figuring fibre out: What’s all the fuss about?

0
65

Just a decade ago, being able to stream your favourite shows in HD while enjoying endless online gaming sessions with zero lag, or downloading movies in just a few seconds was a pipe dream. But, from the moment fibre arrived this became the new normal for many South African homeowners.

Since Vuma launched Fibre-To-The-Home technology in 2014, access to quick and affordable internet has changed the way people live, work and socialise. That annoying ding-dong-dial-up-code is a thing of the past, and even ADSL and 3G are no longer the in-thing.

Now, if you fall on the sceptical side of the fibre wall or if you just haven’t had the time or patience to figure fibre out, there are two important things you need to know. Firstly, you’ve been missing out! And secondly, it’s not too late to jump on the superfast broadband-wagon. Here’s a simple overview of fibre to help you get to grips with how it works and how it might change your life.

What’s fibre again?

You’d be forgiven for feeling like a fibre dummy sometimes, considering all the technical terms that are often thrown around. You may have seen the pavements in your neighbourhood being uprooted and fibre optic cables being installed. Basically, these cables are used to deliver a lightning-fast internet connection to homes, allowing you to browse, stream, download and upload content more efficiently than other connection types, like ADSL and LTE.  

OK, so what’s the difference between fibre and ADSL?

An ADSL connection uses the same copper cable infrastructure as landlines to deliver an internet connection from an exchange point to your home. (An exchange point is simply a physical structure that connects you to internet services, but not every neighbourhood has one).

The distance between your home and the nearest exchange point determines how fast your internet connection will be – if you’re outside of a five-km radius of this point, an ADSL connection is probably going to be extremely slow and not worth your time.

A good fibre connection, on the other hand, isn’t affected by your home’s distance from an exchange point. While it’s common for ADSL lines to lag during peak hours of the day when there are more ADSL users online, a fibre connection won’t lose steam even when traffic volumes increase.

How will fibre make my life better?

Because of its incredibly speedy download rates, switching to fibre for the home comes with plenty of great benefits. For instance, you and your family’s entertainment needs are pretty much-taken care of with fibre, allowing for multiple devices to be logged into its network at the same time. Stream, download, browse the internet and social media, and game to your heart’s content – the world is your virtual oyster. At the end of the day, this means you’re spending less money on things like movie tickets (and the exorbitant concession snacks), not to mention less time waiting for content to buffer and download.

Fibre connections are also unshaped, unthrottled and can be uncapped. In human terms, that means you won’t have to worry about your line speed dropping or dying on you completely, no matter how much you use it.

Fibre has also become more widely accessible over the years as fibre providers work to extend coverage areas. It’s also more affordable than ever before and you won’t need a landline – just a modem, which many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide free with their fibre packages anyway.

If that’s not enough, having a fibre connection point installed in your home instantly boosts its property value and appeal, as more people consider a home’s connectivity capabilities an important part of their decision to rent or even buy.

There’s a lot to love about fibre, from the endless entertainment made possible by lightning-fast connection and download speeds to the overall value it brings to the home.

Switch to fibre and never look back.

Details: www.vumatel.co.za.

Advertisement