There’s no denying the fact that the Internet has become a part and parcel of our lives and we can’t imagine life without it. There are two commonly used internet mediums around the world – Cellular and Fibre.
While both the mediums have their advantages and disadvantages, people tend to consider fibre internet a luxury but, is it a Luxury? If yes then what makes it better than cellular internet and if not then why are cellular data connections better? In this article, let’s find out exactly which one’s better.
The Need for Speed
Speed is an area where fibre internet and cellular internet are miles apart. With a maximum available Bandwidth of up to 2GB/s in the US and up to 1GB/s in India, fibre internet is hands down the fastest. On the other hand, even though 5G can deliver speeds higher than fibre connections, millimetre wave is what sets the difference as it is blocked by even a wall. As speeds are directly proportional to signal strength in case of 5G, it struggles to deliver on the promise.
We have also seen an increase in Cloud Apps and Gaming that require significantly higher bandwidth to run smoothly and Cellular data, in this case, is a clear no-no. This is one of the areas where fibre internet has an upper hand. Fibre internet allows users to focus more on work than worrying about the data limits.
If you watch a lot of videos (above 1080p resolution), have online classes scheduled, and browse a lot, 40Mbps of speed should suffice. Speeds also depend on the number of members in your family. If there are more than 4 members in a family a 40Mbps connection might lead to bandwidth choking and a lot of buffering and lag while consuming content. Hence, a connection with minimum 100Mbps speed is recommended.
Nothing is Unlimited: Psst… Read the Terms and Conditions Carefully
Binge-watching your favourite movies and TV shows on cellular data could be a disaster. Carriers don’t offer a lot of cellular data which limits users. Fibre internet on the other hand also has restrictions on the amount of data but, the data limits are rather huge. In fact, they’re so huge that a user might end up not using the entire available data at the end of the billing date.
Hence, Fiber internet is a boon for people who create/consume a lot of data whereas cellular data could be useful for lighter, fewer data consuming tasks like occasionally browsing social media and day-to-day images/documents downloads. Fibre internet has proven to be a boon to the students amidst this global pandemic. Higher speeds and data caps has enabled seamless education experience online.
For example, in Rs 599, Jio offers 1.5GB internet daily for 84 days with unlimited voice calls whereas, in Hyderabad, ACT Fibernet offers 50Mbps fibre internet connection that comes with 500GB of monthly data for Rs 800. Jio’s pack is probably better for those who don’t watch a lot of videos and if their only source of entertainment is their Smartphone. Whereas, a 50Mbps fibre connection would be a better choice if you own a Smart TV and to watch content on it.
Connectivity
The only advantage of using Cellular data is its availability and seamless connectivity across the country you’re living in. It is not feasible to take your router with you while travelling and that’s when Cellular connectivity plays a vital role and helps you stay connected with your loved ones.
One major con of cellular networks is the poor network reception due to distant mobile towers which, in turn, affects the internet speed. Apart from that, places, where a lot of people reside, may also have poor speeds due to congestion, higher network traffic, and a lot of overlapping signals.
Pricing
As you’d expect, fibre internet costs more than double of cellular internet and that is highly justifiable due to the higher bandwidth and data caps. Data prices in India have fallen significantly since Jio’s revolutionary plans stepped in. While Jio’s data packs offer up to 3GB data per day it is still no match for the amount of data that the fibre internet operators provide.
Which one’s better for you?
If you are a normal individual who does a lot of texting, phone calls, social media, and rarely watches movies, considering that your workplace already has a fibre connection and you have access to it, you don’t need a fibre connection.
If you are a content creator or a movie junkie and your work involves a lot of data consumption, fibre connection is a necessity. And you might also end up recharging your mobile plan with the one that costs less. According to my personal experience, as a college student, the only time I use Mobile Data is to browse social media during the commute.
Hence, I end up recharging my number with Jio’s Rs 129 pack that offers 2GB data per month and 1000 minutes of Jio to non-Jio calls and that has always been sufficient for me. For the rest of the day, I end up using Wi-Fi at college and home and it is an absolute necessity for me as I run data demanding apps and watch a lot of YouTube. Now, I believe most of the people ended up with Jio because of the free data that the telco offered when it launched.
You might want to look at other operators if people in your locality have complained about JioFibre or the Jio’s Network quality in general. Airtel revamped its Xstream plans recently perhaps, you can try getting that instead. We have also written an article where we have compared the plans of both JioFibre and Airtel Xstream which you can check out here. On the cellular network side of things, both the telcos offer almost similar prices with more or fewer data. We might also see good offers popping up from Vodafone Idea which is now Vi.
Overall, it is safe to say that fibre internet, especially in this pandemic has become an absolute necessity unless you don’t consume a lot of data and watch a lot of movies.