It’s important to stay connected to the internet when you’re a remote worker. In fact, it’s your responsibility to be connected during work hours. In this article, we’ll explore the different types of residential internet connections available and help you decide which are right for you.
Let’s take a look at each type of internet connection and explore what they offer. I’m listing them in order of my personal preference.
This is my favorite of all available internet connections. I’ve had fiber optic connections in 3 different homes and it’s by far the best. I never care what the cost is, if it’s available to me, I’ll pay it.
Fiber Optic
Reliability: Fiber is the most reliable of all internet connection types I’ve ever used. It offers consistent speeds and low latency. It is less likely to suffer from interference and can handle high-demand usage with ease.
Availability: The fastest fiber connections are usually available in larger urban areas such as New York City, London, Seoul, Tokyo, etc. As you get farther away, you will still often find it, but as you venture out toward rural areas, fiber can be limited due to the high cost of installation.
Details: Fiber optic cables use light to transmit data, allowing for incredibly fast speeds. As of 2024, In the US, Google Fiber offers speeds of up to 2 Gbps and South Korea’s SK Broadband offers speeds up to 10 Gbps!
Recommendation: Fiber is ideal for families and heavy internet users. You don’t need the highest speed available. Every time I’ve ever gotten fiber, I’ve always gotten the lowest speed. With other connection types, higher speed tends to mean a better connection. With fiber, you’re getting a more reliable and higher quality connection.
Notes: In the US, you may know fiber by the Verizon brand name, FIOS. Google and AT&T are other national providers that offer fiber as well. Many local ISPs (internet service providers) also offer fiber. Check their websites for more information.
Cellular
As I type this article, I’m actually using T-Mobile’s Home Internet.
Reliability: Generally speaking, reliability is pretty decent. It can be affected by things like signal strength, network congestion, and weather conditions.
Availability: Cellular internet is pretty widely available, especially with the rollout of 5G networks.
Proximity to City Center: Cellular internet is available virtually everywhere there is cell service, making it an excellent option for rural areas where other types of internet might not be available. Urban and suburban areas usually have strong and reliable signals.
Details: Cellular internet connects to the web via cell towers using 4G or 5G technology. It is highly portable and can be used on-the-go with mobile devices or as a home internet solution using a dedicated hotspot device.
Notes: As mentioned earlier, I have actively used T-Mobile’s Home Internet and have been for more than 3 years. I originally got it as a backup because my cable internet service in the rural areas of New York kept getting interrupted. It was embarrassing to be teaching a class and have my connection die. With cellular as a backup, I could switch over and be online within 10 seconds.
After auditing my finances last year, I realized that the cellular was not only cheaper, but it was faster, and more reliable than the cable provider I’d been using the two years prior. I dropped the cable provider and focused on T-Mo as my primary. I always like to have a backup, so I got Verizon’s Home Internet as well. Personally, I find Verizon’s internet to be about 20% as fast as T-Mo and it’s $10 more, but I need to always be available, so it’s a small price to pay for professionalism. These are just my results out where I live though. Don’t take this as a normal evaluation of their available networks.
Cable Internet
Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of cable. I’ll avoid it when possible with the above fiber and cellular options, but I won’t outright refuse it.
Reliability: Cable internet is OK, but my personal experience over the past 20ish years has me questioning its reliability. Speeds can fluctuate during peak usage times when many users in the same area are online simultaneously.
Availability: Cable internet is widely available pretty much everywhere.
Details: Cable internet uses the same coaxial cables that deliver cable television. It offers high-speed internet that is suitable for most online activities, including streaming, gaming, and video conferencing.
Notes: The same cable carries television and internet. This is why peak TV viewing times (think about when people get home from work and turn on the TV) often equate to slow internet access speeds because each person watching TV is actually streaming video, just as if they were watching Netflix or similar.
Cable internet is moderately priced and you can often bundle it with TV services for a discount. It will usually give you higher speeds than DSL.
DSL
Reliability: DSL is generally reliable, though it can be slower than other types of internet connections. The quality and speed of your connection can be affected by the distance from your home to the phone company’s central office.
Availability: DSL is widely available, especially in suburban and urban areas. However, it can be less reliable in rural areas where infrastructure may be older.
Details: DSL uses existing telephone lines to transmit data, which makes it widely accessible but not necessarily the fastest option. It is suitable for basic browsing, email, and standard-definition video streaming.
Notes: DSL is often cheap as it uses the old school POTS (plain old telephone service) lines to transmit data. I haven’t used it in more than 20 years, so I can’t personally rate the technology, but I’d wager that phone companies probably haven’t invested a lot in infrastructure. This means that you can use it if you need to, but I’d look for something more reliable if you have the means.
Satellite
Unfortunately I have very little experience with satellite internet access. I used to work in a call center many, many years ago and worked in an office next to customer service reps that worked for a satellite internet company. They would frequently complain about how bad the service was that they supported. I would like to hope that things have improved in the past couple decades, but I don’t have direct experience.
There’s also the relatively new Starlink service which is politically controversial and a little pricey. Considering how it’s been weaponized, I don’t think I’ll ever have interest in it. I won’t reward a company like that with my money.
Final Thoughts
The internet connection type you ultimately get will be determined by what ISPs are offering in your area, your budget, and your needs.
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