“I need FTTH if…”

You hear a lot these days about “fibre-to-the-home” or “FTTH,” but you still don’t really understand the hype and why you need this kind of Internet connection speed in your home. Maybe you don’t. Maybe that old cable or DSL connection that has served you well for years still does. But odds are, online habits in your household have changed a lot in recent years. You don’t consume content like you once did. Before you dismiss FTTH as an investment in performance and horsepower you don’t need, consider the following scenarios and how many apply to you:

• Do you stream video from services like CraveTV? One HD movie takes up as much bandwidth as 35,000 web pages. But HD is already second fiddle to 4K Ultra HD, which chews up more bandwidth at four times the resolution of HD.
• Have you switched to cloud-based tools? Many of us have turned from traditional software in a box to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) like Google Docs or Microsoft Office 365 for office productivity apps like word-processing and spreadsheets. We now rely on these tools for personal and household use. The bandwidth requirement is relatively small, but it’s one more thing that adds up.
• Do you use backup or file-sharing services? If you answered “yes” to either or both of the previous two questions, then you do or definitely should. From backing up precious family photos, to transferring large client files or backing up your work laptop against loss, damage or theft, a fast and reliable Internet connection is crucial for peace of mind.
• Do you have bandwidth hogs in your house? The answer is “yes” if you have a gamer who is active with multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery services like XBox Live and PlayStation Network.
• Do you live in a house with many people? You could have a large family or a bunch of roommates. Either way, everyone has their favourite device(s). From connected TVs, to laptops, tablets and smartphones, multiple devices are likely to be active on your network at any one time.

Is it time for FTTH?

There is no one big thing that drives the need to upgrade from an old cable or DSL Internet service. It’s the cumulative effect of many things.

If you find yourself often grinding your teeth because a streaming video freezes, an email with an attachment is slow to send or your web surfing slows to a crawl whenever the gamer in your house is online, it’s time for an upgrade.