What is 100% Fiber Optic Internet?

Imagine downloading a full-length film in eight seconds or downloading an album in one second. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s the reality of fiber optic internet, the fastest, globally available internet that can run as fast as 1 gigabit. For the moment, you might be more familiar with traditional internet access, like digital subscriber line (DSL) or internet networks using a cable modem.

This type of internet offers incredibly fast speeds. That’s because the fiber-optic cables that provide internet access use tiny glass fibers that use pulses of light to transmit information. 

The internet system that you might be most familiar with — traditional cable infrastructures or DSL internet — uses copper wire to send that information, which is the reason for conventional internet’s slower upload and download speeds.

With 100% fiber internet, you’ll be able to stream as much video and music as you want. You can enjoy heavy gaming without that annoying lag that traditional internet often produces. You’ll also be able to video chat with friends and family and upload and download photos and videos easier than ever.

This type of internet includes a modem and a wireless router and is perfect for families or those looking to connect five or more devices.

Where is 100% Fiber Optic Internet available?

Construction of the basic layout for fiber-optic internet started in 2005 in Greencastle, Indiana. Since then the network has expanded across the Midwest. The contractor teams have been busy constructing the fiber-optic network in 80+ communities throughout Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,  Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio.

How fast is Fiber Internet? 

Although we covered what exactly 100% fiber internet is and that it’s faster than DSL or traditional internet, we haven’t discussed precisely how fast the internet is or what makes its internet speeds so fast.

To understand just how fast fiber internet is, you’ll need to compare it to its predecessors: DSL internet and internet using a cable modem. DSL, at its core, is a wireline transmission technology. This type of internet connection relies on copper telephone lines that are installed in businesses and homes already.

With the internet that uses a cable modem, broadband is provided by cable operators. They use coaxial cables — the types of wires that transmit the sound and video to your television — to provide this broadband. These speeds can be compared to DSL internet, although they can also be a little faster than an average residential DSL connection. The speed of cable modem service can differ based on the cable network, the type of cable modem, and the traffic load.

Now, let’s take a look at fiber optic internet. The speeds differ so drastically between fiber-optic internet and what you might think of as traditional internet because of the transmission of information through the media. Unlike copper wires, fiber optic strands are very thin. They’re so thin in fact that they’re about the diameter of a human hair, according to the FFC. Their thin diameter is actually what makes them able to be bunched into fiber optic trunk cables — essentially just larger cables. 

These multiple thin lines can transmit tons of data, making fiber optic internet much faster than traditional internet. The speed you’ll experience in your home might vary depending on how close the fiber is to your computer and how your provider constructs the service. 

It’s impressive knowing you’ll be able to download videos and albums at unrivaled speeds. This makes 100% fiber internet perfect for technology geeks, gamers who depend on the fastest internet, and people to value high-speed internet and incorporate it into their daily lives.

Internet Speeds Available

Is Fiber Internet good for Netflix Streaming?

The Netflix ISP Speed Index analyzes typical streaming speed per internet service provider (ISP) every month. The index tracks the rate that devices stream content from Netflix, organizes the data by ISP, and then lists the average rates in a ranking and this internet has constantly ranked ahead of all of its competitors for the past year in the market.

Technology Service Fee Structure

The monthly Technology Service Fee is $9.95.

Similar to most ISP providers, there is a technology service fee for hardware if you opt not to purchase your own modem router.