光纤互联网(Fiber internet)曾经是一种边缘高速互联网技术(internet technology)，只有大公司或居住(anyone living)在大城市的任何人才能使用。然而，最近，光纤网络正在到达农村地区。事实上，您可能已经接到电话或看到有关您所在地区可用光纤的广告。
但什么是光纤互联网？值得从您信任的有线互联网(cable internet)切换到这种新奇的光纤互联网技术(fiber internet technology)吗？在本文中，您将了解有关宽带光纤互联网(broadband fiber internet)的所有信息，以便您自己做出决定。
DSL 对比 电缆与。纤维
互联网(The internet is)，简单来说，就是通过电线从一台计算机到另一台计算机的信息传输。该信息由非常小的代码片段组成，这些代码片段由 1 和 0（开和关信号）组成。将其视为使用电灯开关 的摩尔斯电码。(morse code)
通过电线传输“代码”是互联网工作的原因。所有不同类型的互联网服务之间的区别仅在于这些 1 和 0 的传输方式。
- 拨号(Dial-Up)：在互联网的早期，互联网通过铜线电话(copper phone)线发送代表数据的音频信号。如果您在家中有人在线时拿起电话，您会听到听起来像静止的声音。那个“静态”是那些 1 和 0 的数据传输的声音。
- DSL（数字用户线）(DSL (Digital Subscriber Line))：虽然电话线上的“声音”是模拟互联网解决方案，但数字解决方案是DSL 互联网(DSL internet)。使用相同的铜线电话(copper wire phone)线，公司想出了如何传输ON 或 OFF(ON or OFF)电信号，以便通过电话线以更快的速度传输网页和其他互联网数据。
- 电缆(Cable)：电缆提供商想出了如何通过他们的大型同轴电缆传输互联网信号，这种技术可以让信息传输得更快。同轴电缆互联网速度(cable internet speed)和DSL 电话(DSL phone)连接之间的差异至少是速度的两倍。
- 光纤(Fiber)：光纤互联网(Fiber internet)改变了游戏规则(game changer)，因为光纤电缆不是铜缆，而是包裹在厚绝缘体（电缆）中的细如发丝的纤维。光纤(Fiber)电缆允许打开和关闭互联网信号(ON and OFF internet signals)以光的形式传输（如我们的电灯开关示例）。但是，由于光以……嗯……光速传播，因此在速度方面没有其他技术可以与之相比。光纤(Fiber)通常比有线互联网(cable internet)快 10 倍。
什么是光纤互联网？
在您跃跃欲试并切换(leap and switch)到宽带光纤互联网提供商(broadband fiber internet provider)之前，您可能希望更好地了解该技术。让我们来看看光纤互联网技术(internet technology)是如何工作的。
光纤(Fiber)网络电缆看起来与普通金属电缆有很大不同。它们由玻璃纤维组成，可以远距离传输光。
虽然同轴电缆等金属电缆难以以 10 Mbps的速度传输信息（比金属“双绞线”电缆(” cable)快 80 倍），但光纤线路可以以高达 2 Gbps的速度传输信息。
从这个角度来看：互联网估计有大约 100 万艾字节的数据。1 艾字节是 10 亿字节。因此，庞大的互联网占用了 100 亿字节。
假设我们做了一个实验，并试图通过同轴电缆而不是光纤电缆(fiber cable)来传输整个互联网。
- 同轴（电缆） ：通过(Coaxial (Cable))电缆(cable line)传输整个互联网需要 2535 亿年。
- 光纤（光）(Fiber (Light))：通过光纤传输整个互联网需要超过 2.535 亿年。
这意味着，当光纤完成整个互联网的传输时，任何拥有电缆的人都将再等待大约 2532 亿年才能赶上。
光纤互联网更适合您吗？
这是一个有趣的思想实验，但这真的会对您的日常生活有益吗？让我们看看常见的活动，看看光纤互联网(fiber internet)能为您服务多少。
- 2 小时高清电影（3 GB）(2 hour HD movie (3 gigabytes))：通过电缆（100 Mbps 连接(Mbps connection)）下载该电影大约需要 5 分钟。光纤(Fiber)（每秒1 Gigabit ）只需要大约 25 秒。(Gigabit)
- 4 分钟歌曲（3 兆字节）(4 minute song (3 megabytes))：电缆需要 0.3 秒，光纤需要 0.03 秒。
- 9 小时有声读物（110 兆字节）(9 hour audiobook (110 megabytes))：电缆需要 9.2 秒，而光纤需要 0.9 秒。
虽然这些快速的速度增加可能对您有用，但请考虑您的互联网带宽(internet bandwidth)最终在您的家庭或社区(household or neighborhood)中被堵塞的其他方式。
- 家里的一个人正在玩在线多人游戏(online multiplayer game)，而其他人正在尝试流式传输电影。
- 在假期期间，一个社区的多个家庭都在尝试播放假期电影。
- 您家中的一台计算机正在尝试下载Windows更新，智能家居设备(home device)正在自动下载新固件，而您正在尝试在Netflix上观看(Netflix)高清电影(HD movie)。
对于大多数互联网用户来说，有许多场景同时存在多个数据流。最终，您的有线互联网带宽(cable internet bandwidth)将远远超过光纤互联网连接(internet connection)的极限。
注意(Note)：高速光纤互联网连接有两个主要好处。一种是你有专门的数据线给互联网服务提供商(Internet Service Provider)。您不会与附近的其他人共享一条电缆线(cable line)，因此您的互联网速度(internet speed)不会受到他们互联网使用(internet use)的影响。第二个是下载速度通常与上传速度相同，这与限制上传的电缆不同。
光纤互联网值得花钱吗？
如果以上所有信息都让您确信光纤互联网将极大地改善您的工作和娱乐体验(work and entertainment experience)，您可能想知道这一切的成本是多少。
值得庆幸的是，近年来光纤互联网(fiber internet)的成本已大幅下降。有线电视市场(cable TV marketplace)以外的公司也加入了这场游戏。如今，AT&T 和电力公司等电话公司正在不同的社区提供光纤互联网(fiber internet)。
由于ISP 市场(ISP marketplace)竞争激烈，您很难在网上找到价格。然而，在撰写本文时，与Comcast/Xfinity等公司的 10 Mbps 连接(Mbps connection)可能会以 49 美元/月的“介绍”报价开始，但通常会恢复到 69 美元/月的标准价格。除此之外，您还必须支付大约 5 到 10 美元才能租用路由器。
以几乎相同的价格（包括设备），大多数提供光纤计划的公司将安装光纤路由器(fiber router)并将光纤连接(fiber connection)到光纤调制解调器(fiber modem)上的端口。大多数公司还将为您的家庭网络配备一个 Wi-Fi 路由器。
这意味着对于 10 Mbps 有线(Mbps cable) 互联网订阅(internet subscription)的大致正常价格（不是短期的“优惠”有线电视公司预先提供的） ，您可以通过光纤互联网连接(internet connection)享受 500 Mbps的光纤速度。
如果您愿意为您的互联网接入支付更多费用，您甚至可以拥有 1 Gbps 的光纤(Gbps fiber) 互联网连接(internet connection)。
您应该升级到光纤互联网(Fiber Internet)吗？
至此，您可能已经决定，光纤互联网的好处是物有所值的。然而，如今唯一真正的限制是地理。光纤(Fiber)互联网线路无法在世界各地安装。
许多公司提供光纤互联网计划。了解这些互联网选项是否在您所在地区可用的唯一方法是与每个提供商核实，这可能很乏味。更好的方法是通过highspeedinternet.com进行检查，该网站会为您检查所有主要提供商。
如果您附近有光纤互联网，那么可能是时候进行尝试和转换(plunge and switch)了。如此多的互联网现在都是关于流媒体高清内容(HD content)和高速游戏的。您真的不希望落后于无法跟上的过时同轴电缆互联网连接。(coax cable internet connection)
What Is Fiber Internet and Should You Switch From Cable?
Fiber internet used to be a fringe high-speed internet technolоgy only accessible to big сompanies or anyone living in large cities. Howеvеr, more recently, fiber networks are reaching rural areas. In fact, you might have reсeived phone calls or you’ve seen ads about fiber being avаilable in your area.
But what is fiber internet? Is it worth switching over from your trusted cable internet to this newfangled fiber internet technology? In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about broadband fiber internet so that you can make the decision for yourself.
DSL Vs. Cable Vs. Fiber
The internet is, in very simple terms, the transfer of information over wires from one computer to another. That information is made up of very small snippets of code made up of ones and zeroes (on and off signals). Think of it as morse code using a light switch.
Transferring that “code” over wires is what makes the internet work. The difference between all of the different types of internet services is only how those ones and zeroes get transmitted.
- Dial-Up: In the earliest days of the internet, the internet sent audio signals that represented data, over copper phone lines. If you picked up a phone while someone in your house was online, you would hear what sounded like static. That “static” was the sound of data transmission of those ones and zeros.
- DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): While “sound” over phone wires was the analog internet solution, the digital solution was DSL internet. Using the same copper wire phone lines, companies figured out how to transmit ON or OFF electrical signals to transmit web pages and other internet data over phone lines at faster speeds.
- Cable: Cable providers figured out how to transmit internet signals over their large coaxial cables, a technology that allowed the information to transmit much faster. The difference between a coaxial cable internet speed and a DSL phone connection is at least double the speed.
- Fiber: Fiber internet was a game changer because instead of copper cables, fiber cables are hair-thin fibers encased in a thick insulator (cable). Fiber-optic cables allow ON and OFF internet signals to be transmitted literally as light (like our light switch example). However, since light travels at…well…the speed of light, no other technology can compare to it in terms of speed. Fiber is usually up to 10 times faster than cable internet.
What Is Fiber Internet?
Before you take the leap and switch over to a broadband fiber internet provider, you may want to understand the technology a little better. Let’s take a look at how fiber internet technology works.
Fiber optic network cables look very different than regular metallic cables. They’re made up of glass fibers that can transmit light over very long distances.
While metal cables like cable coaxial struggle to transmit information at 10 Mbps (80 times faster than a metal “twisted-pair” cable), fiber lines can transmit information at up to 2 Gbps.
Putting that into perspective: The internet is estimated to be about 1 million exabytes of data. 1 exabyte is 1 billion billion bytes. So the vast internet takes up 1 million billion, billion bytes.
Let’s say we did an experiment and tried to transmit the entire internet over a coaxial cable, versus a fiber cable.
- Coaxial (Cable): It would take just over 253.5 billion years to transfer the entire internet over a cable line.
- Fiber (Light): It would take just over 253.5 million years to transfer the entire internet over fiber.
That means, when fiber is finished transferring the entire internet, anyone with cable would be waiting around another 253.2 billion years before catching up.
Is Fiber Internet Better for You?
This is a fun thought experiment, but will this actually benefit you in your normal daily life? Let’s look at common activities and see how much better fiber internet will serve you.
- 2 hour HD movie (3 gigabytes): Cable (a 100 Mbps connection) would take about 5 minutes to download that movie. Fiber (at 1 Gigabit per second) would only take about 25 seconds.
- 4 minute song (3 megabytes): Cable would take 0.3 seconds, and fiber would take 0.03 seconds.
- 9 hour audiobook (110 megabytes): Cable would take 9.2 seconds, while fiber would take 0.9 seconds.
While these fast speed increases may be useful for you, think about the other ways your internet bandwidth eventually gets clogged up in your household or neighborhood.
- One person in the household is playing an online multiplayer game, while someone else is trying to stream a movie.
- During holidays, multiple households in one neighborhood are all trying to stream holiday movies.
- One computer in your house is attempting to download Windows updates, a smart home device is automatically downloading new firmware, and you’re trying to watch an HD movie on Netflix.
There are many scenarios for most internet users where multiple streams of data are going on at once. Eventually, your cable internet bandwidth will hit its limit far before a fiber internet connection ever would.
Note: There are two major benefits of a fiber internet connection with higher speeds. One is that you have a dedicated line of data to the Internet Service Provider. You aren’t sharing a single cable line with others in your neighborhood, so your internet speed won’t be influenced by their internet use. The second is that download speeds are typically the same as upload speeds, unlike cable which throttles back uploads.
Is Fiber Internet Worth the Cost?
If all of the information above has you convinced that fiber optic internet would be a huge improvement for your work and entertainment experience, you might be wondering how much it all costs.
Thankfully, the cost of fiber internet has dropped significantly in recent years. Companies outside of the cable TV marketplace have entered the game. These days, telephone companies like AT&T and power companies are offering fiber internet in different neighborhoods.
Because the ISP marketplace is so competitive, you’ll be hard-pressed to find prices online. However, as of this writing, a 10 Mbps connection with a company like Comcast/Xfinity may start with an “intro” offer at $49/mo, but typically will revert to a standard price of $69/mo. You will also have to pay roughly $5 to $10 on top of that to rent the router.
For just about the same price (with equipment included) most companies offering fiber plans will install the fiber router and run the fiber connection to the port on the fiber modem. Most companies will also include a Wi-Fi router for your in-home network.
This means for roughly the normal (not the short-lived “offers” cable companies offer up-front) price of a 10 Mbps cable internet subscription, you could enjoy fiber speeds of 500 Mbps with a fiber internet connection.
If you’re willing to pay a little more for your internet access, you could even have a 1 Gbps fiber internet connection.
Should You Upgrade to Fiber Internet?
By this point, you’ve probably made the decision that the benefits of fiber internet are well worth the cost. However, the only real limitation these days is geography. Fiber internet lines are not available for installation everywhere in the world.
Many companies offer fiber internet plans. The only way to know if these internet options are available yet in your area is to check with each provider, which can be tedious. A better approach is to check with highspeedinternet.com, which checks with all of the major providers for you.
If fiber internet is available in your neighborhood, it’s probably about time to make the plunge and switch. So much of the internet is now all about streaming HD content and high-speed gaming. You really don’t want to be left behind with an outdated coax cable internet connection that can’t keep up.
