Full Fibre vs 5G and Starlink: Wired or Wireless?
Can 5G home broadband or satellite internet really replace a cable in the ground?
The Cord-Cutter’s Dream
Why dig up the road when we have invisible signals? 5G Home Broadband and Starlink (Low Earth Orbit Satellite) claim to offer fibre-like speeds without the wire. Can they compete?
1. Stability (Packet Loss)
Wireless signals travel through air. Air contains rain, fog, and interference. Buildings block signals. Trees grow leaves in summer and block signals.
Fibre is a shielded glass tunnel underground. It doesn’t care if it’s snowing. It doesn’t care if a bus parks in front of your house.
Winner: Fibre (by a mile).
2. Congestion (Contention)
A 5G mast has a fixed capacity. If 100 people in your neighbourhood all get 5G broadband and start streaming 4K football at 8pm, the speed for everyone crashes. You are fighting your neighbours for airtime.
On Full Fibre, your capacity is dedicated. Your neighbour’s usage has almost zero impact on your line.
Winner: Fibre.
3. Latency
Starlink is a miracle of engineering, getting ping down to 30-40ms. 5G is similar (20-40ms).
CityFibre is 3-8ms. For browsing, wireless is fine. For gaming, Zoom calls, or trading, the jitter and lag spikes of wireless are noticeable.
Winner: Fibre.
Conclusion
5G and Starlink are vital technologies for rural areas, caravans, or places where fibre simply cannot go. They are better than old copper ADSL. But if you have a fibre cable passing your house, choosing wireless is objectively a downgrade in speed, reliability, and latency. Wire is always better than Air.