Standard fibre (FTTC) uses fibre to the street cabinet, then copper phone lines into your home.
Full fibre (FTTP) uses fibre all the way into your home.
If you can get full fibre and the price is similar, it’s usually the better option.
The type of fibre available at your address determines:
Two homes on the same street can have very different experiences — simply because one has full fibre and the other doesn’t.
Standard fibre, FTTC, is still the most common type of fibre broadband in the UK.
Standard fibre broadband is usually called FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet). It uses fibre cables from the exchange to a street cabinet, then relies on copper phone lines for the final connection into your home.
Because copper is slower and more sensitive to interference, performance depends heavily on how far your home is from the cabinet and how busy the network is at peak times.
In practice, this means:
FTTC is widely available across the UK and works well for:
Full fibre broadband is usually referred to as FTTP (Fibre to the Premises). Unlike standard fibre, fibre-optic cables run all the way into your home, with no copper phone lines involved at any point.
Because the entire connection is fibre, speeds are faster, uploads are stronger, and performance is far more consistent — regardless of how far you live from the exchange or how busy the network is.
In practice, this means:
Full fibre is ideal for:
Full fibre availability is expanding rapidly across the UK, but not all areas can access it yet. Rollout depends on local infrastructure and provider investment, which is why availability can vary even between neighbouring streets.
Yes, and the difference is often noticeable in everyday use.
Standard fibre speeds can vary depending on distance from the cabinet and how congested the network is at busy times. This can lead to slower downloads, weaker uploads, and less consistent performance in the evenings.
Full fibre delivers more stable speeds because the entire connection is fibre-optic.
In real-world terms:
Sometimes, but not always.
Wi-Fi affects how broadband performs inside your home, while full fibre affects the connection coming into your home. They’re related, but they’re not the same thing.
If your Wi-Fi setup is weak, switching to full fibre won’t magically fix poor coverage in certain rooms. However, full fibre still gives you a stronger, more consistent connection at the point it enters your home.
This matters because:
In short, full fibre improves the quality of the connection you’re working with — but good Wi-Fi is still important to make the most of it.
Whether you can get full fibre depends entirely on your exact address — not just your town or postcode area.
The most reliable way to check is to enter your postcode or full address into a broadband checker. This will show:
Availability can vary street by street, so checking by address is always more accurate than checking by area.
When comparing options, look beyond advertised “up to” speeds and pay attention to average speeds and minimum guaranteed speeds.
If both options are available at your address, the right choice comes down to how you use the internet and how many people are online at the same time.
If you’re unsure whether faster broadband will actually make a difference, our guide on what broadband speed you need breaks it down by household size and everyday usage.
Standard fibre (FTTC) is usually suitable if:
Full fibre (FTTP) is usually the better choice if:
If full fibre costs significantly more, it’s worth weighing up whether you’ll actually benefit from the extra speed and stability.
If you’re unsure, comparing available deals at your address is the easiest way to see whether full fibre offers real value for your household.
If upgrading or changing provider is part of your decision, it helps to understand how switching broadband works before you commit.
Full fibre is usually worth it for busy households, remote work, online gaming, and heavy streaming. For lighter usage, standard fibre can still be perfectly adequate.
Yes. Many UK homes run perfectly well on FTTC for browsing, HD streaming, and video calls – as long as the connection is stable.
Full fibre rollout is highly localised. Even homes on the same street can have different availability depending on when and how the network was installed.
Full fibre doesn’t automatically reduce ping, but it does provide more stable performance, faster downloads, and better upload speeds – all of which help with online gaming.
Yes. Because full fibre doesn’t rely on copper phone lines, it’s less affected by interference, distance, and peak-time congestion, making it generally more reliable than standard fibre.
