There's a good chance your "fibre broadband" is not actually fibre. At least, not all the way to your home.
Broadband providers have sold FTTC as "fibre" for over a decade. Technically, it's not wrong. Fibre does play a role. But the part of the network that runs into your home is still copper telephone cable. That copper is the bottleneck. It's why your "fibre" broadband tops out at 60 Mbps while your neighbour with genuine full fibre gets 500 Mbps on the same street.
What is FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet)?
FTTC stands for Fibre to the Cabinet. A fibre optic cable runs from the telephone exchange to the green street cabinet you've probably walked past thousands of times without noticing. From the cabinet, the signal travels the final stretch to your home over the original copper telephone line.
That last copper section is usually between 50 metres and 500 metres. The further you are from the cabinet, the slower your connection. At 50 metres, you might get 79 Mbps. At 400 metres, the same technology might give you 30 Mbps. Distance degrades the signal on copper in a way it simply does not on fibre.
FTTC was a massive improvement over ADSL when it rolled out in the early 2010s. Going from 10 Mbps to 80 Mbps felt like magic. In 2026, it's the older technology being phased out. Still decent. Just not the future.
Typical FTTC speeds: 30 to 80 Mbps download. 10 to 20 Mbps upload. Speed varies by your distance from the cabinet.
What is FTTP (Fibre to the Premises)?
FTTP stands for Fibre to the Premises. The fibre optic cable runs all the way from the exchange into your home. No copper anywhere in the chain. The signal travels as pulses of light until it reaches a small box (an ONT, or Optical Network Terminal) fitted inside your property.
Because there's no copper, distance barely affects speed. A home one kilometre from the exchange gets the same speed as a home 50 metres away. Speed degrades so little over fibre that it's essentially flat across the entire network.
FTTP is also more reliable. Copper is affected by moisture, age, and interference from other cables. Fibre is not. Outages on FTTP networks are less frequent than on FTTC networks. When something does go wrong, it's usually a physical damage issue rather than slow degradation.
Typical FTTP speeds: 150 to 900 Mbps download. 50 to 115 Mbps upload. Upload and download speeds are much closer together than on FTTC.
Speed comparison: FTTC vs FTTP
| Technology | Max download | Typical download | Typical upload | Peak-time drop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADSL | ~24 Mbps | 8 to 11 Mbps | 1 to 2 Mbps | High |
| FTTC | ~80 Mbps | 30 to 60 Mbps | 10 to 20 Mbps | Moderate |
| FTTP | 1 Gbps+ | 150 to 500 Mbps | 50 to 115 Mbps | Low |
The upload difference is often overlooked. FTTC gives you 10 to 20 Mbps up. FTTP gives you 50 Mbps or more. If you work from home and spend time on video calls, that difference matters every single day. Our guide on broadband for working from home covers this in more detail.
Cost comparison: FTTC vs FTTP
FTTP used to cost a lot more than FTTC. That gap has almost closed. In April 2026, entry-level FTTP packages start at around £27 to £30 per month. Comparable FTTC packages cost £22 to £28.
The price difference is now a few pounds per month. Over an 18-month contract, that's maybe £50 total. For five to ten times the speed. Honestly, signing a new FTTC contract in 2026 when FTTP is available at your address is just leaving performance on the table.
The catch: FTTP isn't available everywhere. Ofcom's Connected Nations 2025 report shows that 22% of UK premises still can't get it. Rural areas and some older urban housing stock are still waiting. See when Openreach is bringing FTTP to your area.
How to tell which one you currently have
Look at your router. If there's a separate small white box (the ONT) attached to the wall near where the cable enters the house, and your router plugs into that, you have FTTP. The ONT is the giveaway.
If your router plugs straight into the phone socket on the wall, you're on FTTC or ADSL.
You can also check your contract documents. If it says "superfast fibre" without mentioning FTTP or "full fibre", it's almost certainly FTTC. Providers selling genuine FTTP usually call it "full fibre" or "ultrafast fibre" in their marketing.
Check what's available at your postcode using our postcode lookup to see which technologies and providers are live at your address.
Which should you choose?
If FTTP is available at your address, choose it. The speed advantage, upload performance, and reliability improvement are all worth the marginal extra cost. Signing a new FTTC contract in 2026 is locking yourself into ageing technology for 18 or 24 months.
If FTTP is not available yet, FTTC is still a reasonable option. A short contract (12 to 18 months where possible) gives you flexibility to switch when full fibre arrives on your street. Avoid 24-month FTTC contracts unless the price saving is genuinely compelling.
For the current best deals across both technologies, see our April 2026 broadband deals guide.