Every home internet technology is a different answer to the same question: how do you move data across the last few miles? Fiber sends light through glass; cable and DSL send electricity through copper built for other jobs; fixed wireless and satellite skip the wire entirely and pay for it in physics.
The honest comparison
| Technology | Typical speeds · latency · the catch |
|---|---|
| Fiber (FTTH) | 300 Mbps–10 Gbps symmetrical · 2–10 ms · availability — it has to be built to your street |
| Cable (DOCSIS) | 100 Mbps–2 Gbps down, far less up · 15–30 ms · shared neighborhood capacity; upload lags |
| DSL | 5–100 Mbps · 25–50 ms · speed collapses with distance from the exchange |
| Fixed wireless (5G home) | 50–300 Mbps · 20–50 ms · signal, terrain, and congestion dependent |
| LEO satellite | 50–250 Mbps · 25–60 ms · capacity per cell is finite; weather and obstructions matter |
Why upload speed is the quiet difference
Video calls, cloud backup, security cameras, and remote work all push data up. Fiber is the only mass-market technology built symmetrical — a 1-gig fiber plan uploads at 1 gig, while a 1-gig cable plan may upload at a fortieth of that. Latency tells a similar story: fiber's few milliseconds are what make calls feel instant and games playable.
Where each one honestly wins
Fiber wins wherever it exists. Cable is a strong incumbent where fiber hasn't arrived. Fixed wireless and LEO satellite are genuine lifelines where construction hasn't reached — and satellite is unbeatable truly off-grid. Public policy has largely reached the same conclusion: fiber first where feasible, wireless and satellite for the hardest locations — which is how BEAD state plans are actually allocating funds.