Have questions about fiber optics?
Fiber optic is the future of Internet connectivity. If your enterprise depends on a complex internal infrastructure or has multiple locations, SmartPro Internet has customized solutions for you. Here are some questions and answers that will help you find out what you need to know about fiber optic. We do not expect our Web site has the answer to each one of your questions so please contact one of our expert to learn more about what fiber optic can do for your enterprise.
What is fiber optics?Made of glass or a special plastic fiber, fibre optic cables are the backbone of the fastest and most reliable Internet connectivity technology available.
How does fiber optic compare to DSL?
Depending on the service level, fiber optic can be up to 1000 times faster than DSL. Fiber optics has no practical degradation and fibre optic cables can transmit data over very large distances.
What does full duplex mean?
Fiber optic is always in full duplex mode which means that download and upload operations each have a dedicated channel. DSL operates in half duplex which means that download and upload operations share the same channel.
Is the fiber optic connection shared?
No, contrary to other types of cable connections, you have a dedicated fiber optic connection. Therefore your bandwidth is not shared and the speed of your connection is not affected by the network traffic of other enterprises in your vicinity.
If several employees are connected at the same time, is connection speed impacted?
No, fiber optic connections provided by SmartPro Internet deliver consistently high speed even during peak hours et when many people are using the Internet simultaneously.
Why is it important that my connection be fast when uploading as well as when downloading data?
Today, most of the information we share with business partners, employees and suppliers is either stored in large files or requires large bandwidth. Examples are promotional videos, diagrams and plans, video conference, test results in clinics and hospitals, image transfers, online training and VoIP. If your employees must wait while content is being transferred, you are not operating your enterprise at peak efficiency.
How do download times compare between DSL and fiber optics?
| MEDIA TYPE AND LENGTH | SIZE APPROX | DOWNLOAD TIME | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSL | FIBER OPTICS | ||||||
| 1MBPS | 5MBPS | 10MBPS | 20MBPS | 100MBPS | 1000MBPS (GIGABIT) | ||
| 4-minutes song | 4 MB | 30s | 5s | 3s | 1.5s | 0.3s | 0.03s |
| 5-minutes video | 30 MB | 3m | 40s | 26s | 13s | 2.5s | 0.2s |
| 9-hours audio book | 110 MB | 10m | 2m | 1.5m | 46s | 9.2s | 0.9s |
| 45-minutes TV Episode | 200 MB | 20m | 5m | 3m | 1.5m | 16s | 1.7s |
| 45-minutes HDTV Episode | 600 MB | 1h | 15m | 8.5m | 4m | 50s | 5s |
| 2-hours Movie | 1.0-1.5 GB | 2h | 24m | 21.5m | 10.5m | 1.5m | 8s |
| 2-hours HD Movie | 3.0-4.5 GB | 6h | 72m | 60m | 32m | 4.5m | 25s |
Why choose optic fiber for my business?
Your employees are the key to your enterprise’s productivity. Here is why you should consider switching to a fiber optic Internet connection :
• Higher download and upload speeds for all types of files;
• More responsive interactions with Internet content;
• Large data files transmitted in record time;
• Ability to use multiple bandwidth hungry applications simultaneously;
• Ability to leverage a private cloud;
• Ability to use voice-over-IP (VoIP)
