While fibre broadband is offered by many internet service providers to deliver superfast and ultrafast broadband connections, cable broadband is a different type of connection specific to UK provider Virgin Media.
It still uses fibre cables up until a cabinet on your street, but then instead connects to your home via a 'coaxial' cable, as opposed to a copper or fibre-optic one.
Here's what this means in real terms, and how you can tell the difference between these two similar types of broadband.
Cable vs fibre broadband
Fibre broadband is a fairly inclusive term. It means that fibre cables are used at some point throughout the connection from your provider to your home.
Unless you have a full copper ADSL broadband supplied entirely through the original telephone network, you will likely have some sort of fibre broadband.
Run a quick speed test to see what connection you have in your home.
Cable broadband is technically a type of fibre broadband, because it relies on fibre-optic cables between the local broadband exchange and your nearest street cabinet. But it differs in the way the final connection reaches your property.
Instead of a copper phone line or fibre-optic cable, it uses a 'coaxial' cables to connect to your home the cabinet. This offers much faster speeds than an older copper line, but it isn't quite as efficient as a fibre-optic cable.
As a result, it gives you a much faster internet connection than part-fibre & part-copper broadband. But it's not as reliable in the long-term as a full fibre connection all the way to your home. This is what's being rolled out at speed across the UK right now.
What is a coaxial cable?
Coaxial cable consists of a copper wire surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, separated by an insulating material. Also known as coax cable, this type of cable is ideal for carrying high-frequency electrical signals with low losses.
Coaxial cables are an efficient upgrade from traditional copper wires as their shielded design allows the centre conductor wire to transmit data quickly while being protected from external interference or damage.
It used to be much more affordable for providers to install than fibre-optic cabling, but it's an older technology and it can result in signal loss over longer distances. Full fibre connections rarely have this problem, as the technology has much more capacity for data over long distances.
Cable broadband speeds
Because of the improved performance of coaxial cables, cable broadband connections offer significantly faster broadband speeds than those on part-fibre broadband connections that still rely on copper cables. Cable broadband speeds can start from 36Mbps and even exceed 1Gbps on higher-end packages.
To find out more about internet connection speeds and download times, check out our guide to broadband download times to see what you can expect with that level of speed.
Virgin Media broadband
The nation’s cable broadband infrastructure is dominated by Virgin Media, which has operated on its own network since it took over the NTL: Telewest network in 2006. Virgin Media was the UK’s first quadruple-play provider, combining landline, broadband, TV and mobile services in one subscription.
You can find out more about Virgin Media broadband deals at our dedicated page.
Sign up for our latest broadband offers and expert advice
Get more expert insights, browse our latest exclusive offers and find money-saving deals from Uswitch.
How is cable broadband installed?
If cable broadband is available in your area, there should be a dedicated provider socket outside your home — in most cases, this will be from Virgin Media.
Many homes have had it installed previously. In this case, you’ll find a corresponding master socket within your home. Installation in this case is fairly straightforward and simply involves connecting your router to the master socket with the cables provided.
If cable broadband has not been previously installed in your home but is available in your building or nearby, an engineer will need to install a master socket in your home. This usually involves drilling through the exterior wall and feeding a cable through.
The engineer would then connect the main socket to your Wi-Fi hub (and TV if you want Virgin Media cable TV), installing and securing the appropriate cable where needed. At most, the installation can take two or three hours if these steps need to be taken.
Benefits of cable broadband
Cable broadband has some serious benefits, especially if you’re looking to get a higher level of performance from a copper-based broadband connection:
- It's incredibly fast thanks to fibre-optic and coaxial cable technology –– with ultrafast connection speeds as fast as 1Gbps.
- It's much more reliable than connections that still rely on copper wires, like ADSL and part-fibre broadband connections.
- You can bundle services together in order to save more each month, including cable TV, phone and Wi-Fi.
Learn more about ultrafast broadband — including whether you can get it — with Uswitch.
Compare all our fibre and cable deals on our dedicated fibre-optic broadband page and see which service best suits your needs.
Compare our best broadband deals
Search on Uswitch to find the right broadband package for you.
