Which is better: Fibre of 5G? This is a burning question for anyone looking to upgrade their connection. We can clearly tell you the difference between 5G and Fibre, but the jury is out on which one is better. We believe it’s down to preference and circumstance, so we’ll help you choose based on common uses and challenges.  

For those about to game 

Since the advent of the 8th generation of gaming consoles, it’s been impossible to play without an Internet connection. Even if you don’t game online, standalone games require constant software updates, which are only available via the Internet.  
 
For downloads, bandwidth is the important factor. According to digitaltrends.com, the theoretic bandwidth for 5G is between 1Gbps and 10Gbps. Meanwhile for fibre, that amount is 1Gbps – although, as highspeedinternet.com points out, that doesn’t represent its full potential.  
 
Online gaming requires a different kind of speed. Latency, which is measured in milliseconds, is the time it takes for data to transfer and action to take place on the game after an instruction. 5G can drop as low as 10 milliseconds according to some sources, which isn’t bad at all, although fibre can go even lower. These speeds are obviously based on ideal conditions.  

Where the location allows 

While both modes of connectivity are being rolled out continuously, 5G is happening quicker. This is because 5G towers are quick to install and, according to lifewire.com, can be up in a few hours. Fibre of course requires digging and laying cables, which can take weeks, and in some cases, months to do before the connections are operational. So, if fibre isn’t available, then super-fast 5G most likely is.    

Is access during load shedding an issue? 

Load shedding won’t be going away anytime soon. Some people are fine with having a break from the Internet for a couple of hours a day but for others who work from home or have small businesses, it affects productivity and costs them money. According to My Broadband, fibre is better suited to handle load shedding, especially during stages five and six.  
 
Fibre providers claim to have ample power to handle outages but 5G providers have a problem; the towers that transmit the 5G signal operate on battery power. These batteries may not have enough time to charge between outages, and are also prone to theft. This means that even if you have a reliable UPS, you may still have no connection during load shedding using 5G because the tower has no power supply.  

Ease of setup and portability 

Fibre requires some manual labour to install while 5G is simpler, just requiring a router, a SIM card and a plug, to get yourself up and running.   
 
On another note, if you want the best possible Wi-Fi coverage, the best advice is to place your router as close to the centre of your home as possible. So, it’s a good idea to tell your fibre installer this when they’re laying out your cable – although the extra cable could cost you. With 5G, the router can be placed virtually anywhere as long as there’s a power supply for it – at no cost and no extra cable.  

Get 5G or fibre with Vodacom 

Now that you have an idea of which connection is best for you, you can get either one with Vodacom. We have great Vodacom 5G or Vodacom Fibre deals online, and if you get the latter, you also receive one month’s free LTE while you wait for our team to complete your installation.