What is full fibre broadband? We explain as it’s revealed many don’t know what internet they have

If you don’t understand the difference between broadband, fiber, and full-fiber internet, you’re not alone.

Research shows that many Brits don’t know what these terms really mean – although many of us like to pretend.

Regulator Ofcom found that while 73 per cent of internet customers say they understand the jargon around internet connections well, almost half (46 per cent) mistakenly believe they have fast fiber broadband when in fact they don’t.

Confusing – and often misleading – internet service provider advertisements have not helped Britons understand the different types of broadband.

Internet customers will soon be able to get clearer information on this in the plans being drawn up by Ofcom.

But for now, we’ll explain the difference between all types of broadband – and how to determine which type you currently have.

What is the difference between standard, fiber and full fiber broadband?

In short: speed and material. Standard broadband relies on copper wires to carry a signal to your home.

This form of internet connection is called Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, or ADSL for short.

A level above that is fiber optic broadband, which, as the name suggests, uses fiber optic cables to transmit faster broadband to your nearest street box, then copper cables the rest of the way to your home.

Street boxes are the green boxes you can see in your area that are used to distribute the internet to homes.

The fastest form of fiber broadband is known as cable. This uses fiber optic cables to run broadband to street cabinets and then Virgin Media cables to connect to properties.

One level above fiber broadband is full fiber, using fiber optic cables up to your home. This broadband is the fastest of the bunch, and also the most expensive.

At the moment, full-fiber broadband is mainly chosen by households with several residents who stream movies, play games or work from home at the same time.

Fiber optic broadband is sometimes referred to as ‘fiber to the closet’, while full fiber is referred to as ‘fiber to the premises’.

Nearly all homes (99.9 percent) have access to standard ADSL broadband, while 96 percent have access to fiber broadband, according to comparison agency Uswitch. Many of the remaining 4 percent of homes are located in rural areas.

Exactly one third (33 percent) of homes have access to full-fiber broadband. The lower availability of full fiber is because this form of internet depends on being able to get fiber to your door, which is not yet possible everywhere.

You can check if your property can get full fiber optic broadband using a free online tool from Openreach.

There are also two other ways to get broadband worth mentioning: cellular and satellite.

These two forms of broadband are rarely confused with anything else due to their specialist nature.

Mobile broadband requires the user to have a USB dongle that provides web access to the device you connect it to, or a dedicated mobile broadband router.

Meanwhile, satellite broadband – which is extremely rare – requires a satellite dish to be placed in the premises.

What is the confusion with fiber and full fiber?

The main problem is that the terms “fiber” and “full fibre” are used liberally by broadband providers.

Ofcom notes that ‘the term fiber is used inconsistently across the industry’.

That means that some providers mistakenly use “all fiber” in marketing materials when they really mean “fiber optic” since no fiber optic cable is connected directly to a potential customer’s home.

Ofcom Connectivity Director Selina Chadha said: ‘It is vital that customers get the right information to help them choose the best broadband service for them.

“But some of the industry jargon used to describe the underlying technology that underpins their broadband service can be unclear and inconsistent, meaning customers get confused.”

How do I know what kind of broadband I have?

The best way is to talk to your broadband provider and check the literature they sent you.

But there are ways to find out what type of internet you have.

Standard broadband and fiber broadband use routers that plug into a headphone jack on the wall, while full fiber broadband routers connect to a special box in your home called an optical network terminal.

Internet speed is also a sign of what kind of broadband you have.

ADSL broadband normally has speeds of 6 to 25 megabits per second (Mbps)

Fiber optic broadband speeds range from 30 to 80 Mbps.

For cable broadband, these speeds are between 30 and 500 Mbps.

Full-fibre broadband can reach speeds of 1,000 Mbps.

You can check your broadband speed using free online tools.

How do broadband speeds work?

To make things more confusing, many broadband deals aren’t advertised just by type – ADSL, fiber and so on.

Instead, providers use words like “superfast,” “ultrafast,” and “gigabit.”

Superfast broadband has download speeds of 30 Mbps or more, according to Ofcom.

Ultra-fast broadband speeds range from 300 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.

Gigabit broadband has speeds of 1000 Mbps or more – or more than one gigabit.

However, these terms are loose and broadband companies are advertising deals as faster than Ofcom guidelines suggest.

Full fiber deals are generally more expensive, and whether you need it depends on how much you use the internet and what you’re using it for.