Fibre, Cable, DSL, Satellite and 5G Home Internet Compared
Why the type of connection matters
Two plans with the same advertised speed can feel very different, because the technology behind them changes upload speed, latency, consistency and what happens at busy times. Here is how the main types compare. Speeds vary by provider, area and plan, so treat the ranges as general guides.
Fibre
Light signals travel through glass fibre to your home.
- Speed: usually from 100 Mbps up to several gigabits per second.
- Upload: often the same as download, or close to it.
- Latency: typically low and steady.
- Reliability: generally the most consistent, and not affected by distance in the way DSL is.
- Availability: growing, but not available everywhere.
- Best for: heavy households, remote work, gaming, anything that needs steady upload and low latency.
Cable
Data travels over the same type of coaxial cable used for TV.
- Speed: commonly hundreds of Mbps, and some plans go beyond 1 Gbps.
- Upload: much lower than download on most plans.
- Latency: usually good.
- Reliability: the line is shared with neighbors, so speeds can fall at busy times such as evenings.
- Best for: households that mostly download and stream.
DSL
Data travels over telephone lines.
- Speed: from a few Mbps to roughly 100 Mbps, depending on the technology and your distance from the provider's equipment.
- Upload: low.
- Latency: moderate.
- Reliability: steady, but the speed drops with distance.
- Best for: light use, where nothing faster is available.
Satellite
- Geostationary satellites: very high latency, often several hundred milliseconds, because the signal travels a very long way. Calls and games feel laggy.
- Low-earth-orbit satellites: much lower latency, often reported in the tens of milliseconds, with speeds that can reach well over 100 Mbps, though results vary with location, weather and how busy the network is.
- Best for: rural and remote places with no wired option.
5G and LTE home internet
Your home connects to a mobile network through a gateway.
- Speed: varies a lot with signal strength and how busy the tower is.
- Latency: often good.
- Caveats: speeds can change through the day, and some plans have data limits or reduced speeds after a threshold.
- Best for: places without fibre or cable, and for easy setup.
Fixed wireless
A local provider sends the signal by radio from a tower to an antenna on your roof.
- Speed and latency: can be good, but depend on line of sight and distance.
- Best for: rural areas that fibre has not reached.
How to choose
- See what is available at your address. Many addresses have only one or two choices.
- Look at upload as well as download. Fibre usually wins here.
- Check the latency needs. Gamers and people on frequent video calls should avoid high-latency links.
- Check for data caps and speed reductions in the small print.
- Ask about contract length, installation fees and the price after any promotion ends.
Check what you actually get
Whichever you choose, test the line on a cable. The speed test shows download, upload, ping and latency under load, so you can see how your connection type behaves in real use.