What the difference between FTTP, FTTC and ADSL?

There’s a world of difference, but the long and short is that FTTP is the best service for your family’s future.

Broadband speed (measured in Mbps or ‘Megabits per second’) varies across the country, with larger cities and towns having faster and more reliable connections than smaller cities and rural areas.

What we’ve known as ‘broadband’ for the past 15 – 20 years was the natural progression from dial-up, using copper cables to connect your home to the closest street cabinet. From there a fibreoptic cable would connect the cabinet to your local Exchange, from which your data is sent and received across the world.

This will either be an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) or FTTC (‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ – also known as ‘Superfast’ or ‘Fibre’). Download speeds typically max-out around 67Mbps for ADSL, or 150Mbps for FTTC (in certain areas).

Full Fibre broadband, also known as FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) is different. Those copper connections from the street cabinet to your home are replaced with fibreoptic cables, significantly increasing the potential broadband speed up to 2Gig (2,000Mbps)!

Having Full Fibre broadband from start to finish provides a lot of benefits:

  • FTTP speeds can go much higher, meaning a more futureproof connection that can handle more usage.
  • Copper ADSL/FTTC connections are more prone to outages, slowdowns and damage due to weather and other issues, meaning a less-reliable connection.
  • FTTP is more energy efficient and therefore has less of an impact on the environment.

You can also call our team on 0333 311 9911 for a more in-depth walk-through of the differences, and the benefits of Full Fibre broadband.

Related articles

What is a good upload speed?

Just like ‘What is a good download speed’, it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. If you post videos online, and have many devices connected in a household, or many people online

Read More »

Chat to one of our experts