Fast fibre, or fibre optic broadband, uses light signals instead of electrical signals to transmit data. This is significantly faster and more efficient than traditional copper cables.
How it Works:
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Light Signals: Fibre optic cables transmit data as pulses of light. These light pulses travel through a thin strand of glass or plastic. [Reference: Uswitch, Fibre optic internet uses fibre optic cables to transmit data as light signals]
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High Speed Transmission: Because light travels much faster than electricity, and the signals experience minimal loss, fibre optic cables can handle significantly larger amounts of data at higher speeds than traditional copper cables. [Reference: Uswitch, Fibre-optic broadband is able to provide much faster internet speeds because its cables use pulses of light (hence the word 'optic') to transmit …]
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Reduced Signal Degradation: Unlike copper wires, which suffer signal degradation over long distances, fibre optic cables maintain signal strength over longer distances with minimal loss. [Reference: Fibre optic internet uses fibre optic cables to transmit data as light signals, offering incredibly fast and reliable internet connections. Unlike traditional copper cables, fibre optic cables can handle large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances without significant signal loss.]
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Data Transmission: At your home, an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) converts the light signals from the fibre optic cable into electronic signals, which are then used by your router and devices.
Advantages of Fast Fibre:
- High Speeds: Enables significantly faster download and upload speeds than traditional internet connections. [Reference: Microsoft Answers - although the download speed decreased slightly in speed, the upload speed did infact increase to about 50-60, higher than the download]
- Reliability: Less susceptible to interference and signal loss, resulting in a more stable internet connection.
- Large Data Capacity: Can handle much larger amounts of data simultaneously, ideal for households with multiple devices and high data usage. [Reference: Fibre optic internet uses fibre optic cables to transmit data as light signals, offering incredibly fast and reliable internet connections. Unlike traditional copper cables, fibre optic cables can handle large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances without significant signal loss.]
Example Use Cases:
- Streaming high-definition video content.
- Online gaming with minimal lag.
- Large file transfers.
- Multiple devices using the internet concurrently.
