Adsl Vs Fibre..what really is the difference?

Thinking about upgrading from your Adsl line to fibre? This is what you need to know...

Before we begin id like to take a moment to read my previous post where I  explain to you what you are actually getting when you sign up for an internet Fibre package (Click here to access the article).

In Summary of the article it was highlighted that Fibre packages have been advertised offering you speeds in terms of "Mb/s". Little do you know is that the term "Mb" is not actually referring to MegaBytes ( like the cell phone operators offer), but it is actually referring to  Megabits! This however is nothing new to what has been done before. Adsl packages for years have been advertised in the same way, in fact all internet packages no matter where you are in the world are advertised in terms of Megabits and not MegaBytes.

So now that we have that clear lets see what you were actually getting when you signed up for your ADSL package in terms of actual MegaBytes VS what you would be getting when you sign up for a fibre line.

ADSL
Current Available lines Speed Advertised
Line Speed Megabits/Second (Mb/s)	Line Speed in terms of Megabytes/Second (MB/s)
1	0.125
2	0.25
4	0.5
8	1
10	1.25
20	2.5
40	5
100 Mb/s line speed not available	100 MB/s line speed not available
1000 Mb/s line speed not available	1000 MB/s line speed not available

                                                                 VS

FIBRE
Current Available lines Speed Advertised
Line Speed Megabits/Second (Mb/s)	Line Speed in terms of Megabytes/Second (MB/s)
1 Mb/s line speed not available	1 MB/s line speed not available
2 Mb/s line speed not available	2 MB/s line speed not available
4	0.5
8	1
10	1.25
20	2.5
50	6.25
100	12.5
1000	125

Looking at the table it shows that not much has changed, Besides that on fibre they start to do away with the lower speeds and introduce much higher speeds.

So if the speeds offered are similar to what hass been offered before what is the big deal?  This part is the most important to read, especially if you need a fast line.

 The following table illustrates the advantages and disadvantages between Adsl and Fibre.

	ADSL	FIBRE
Cost to implement	Need a router	Need a router -Roughly Around R1799
	Telkom uses existing phone line and converts it to make Adsl available for use on the Line	There is a once off cost to connect the cable outside of your house to a CPE device that needs to be installed in your house at a cost of R1799
		Connection fee cost -  R999
Line Speed Delivery	Line speed available is dictated by the capability of the exchange.  If you have signed up for a 4Mb/s Line and your exchange can only handle 2 Mb/s you will only get 2Mb/s, regardless that you are paying for a 4/8/10 Mb/s Line speed.	The speed you pay for is what you get
	The speed that is delivered to your router is highly depended on the distance your house is from the exchange. The Further the exchange is from you, the lower the speed you will get at your router	The line speed is not influenced by the distance of an exchange
Factors that decrease line speed	Using wifi provides a lower speed when compared to when using a Lan cable	Using wifi provides a lower speed when compared to when using a Lan cable
	More than one user using the internet at the same time	More than one user using the internet at the same time
Monthly cost for line speed	Based on the line speed you select line speeds attracts costs as follows
1 Mb/s Line Rental	R 59		No Line Rental*
2 Mb/s Line Rental	R 159		No Line Rental*
4 Mb/s Line Rental	R 279		No Line Rental*
8 Mb/s Line Rental	R 369		No Line Rental*
10 Mb/s Line Rental	R 399		No Line Rental*
20 Mb/s Line Rental	R 425		No Line Rental*
40 Mb/s Line Rental	R 535		No Line Rental*
			*Cost for line from the Infrustructure provider is absorbed by the ISP
Monthly costs from ISP	Costs range depending on capped and uncapped bundles selected		Costs range depend on line speed
	A variety of bundles are available from R50 depending on the package		Estimated cost starts around R500 for an uncapped 4Mb/s Line to R1300 for a 100Mb/s
Overall Value for money	ok		Good, Better option than Adsl

In Summary of the table we can see that there are several advantages for using Fibre. Besides for the initial cost to get it started and the fact that there is no line rental, the most important improvement here would be the actual speeds delivered to your premises. Adsl users will recieve only a fraction of the line speed that they are paying for, while Fibre users will receive close to or rather the actual speed they have signed up for.  Fibre provides significantly less losses and makes available alot more of the speed for you to use when compared to Adsl. If one were to actually look at the speeds that are available to use while using Adsl , one could argue that they are being ripped off as they will never see the true speed of the package that they have signed up for. If you have a 4Mb/s line you might reach 3.6Mb/s but access to this speed could decrease if you are further away from the exchange.


It must be also noted that the cost of the fibre packages are are fairly comparable to Adsl packages but if speed or rather a more smoother experience is what you are looking for then fibre will be a better option for you.

A further comparison between downloading with equivalent Adsl and Fibre lines will be done in the near future.

Please feel free to leave any thoughts or comments below.