Cable vs Fiber-Optic for hi-speed internet - Is there any difference?

[Robert.Thompson]

The short:

Are there any differences to be aware of between Cable and Fiber-Optic services for VoIP etc?

The Long:

Now that I have an OBi110, I want to blow out my Bell Canada home phone line. This line costs $80.00 per month and does not include any long-distance calls, that's extra! Including tax, it costs $93.00 per month.

For Hi-Speed, I have two options: Bell Canada Fibe or Videotron Cable.

I have heard that cable quality degrades as more people in your area use it, is that true?

If so, does the same hold true for fiber-optic?

Is one 'preferred' for VoIP usage?

Thanks

[lk96]

I don't believe there is an easy yes/no answer to this.
Even some so called fiber technologies utilize multiplexing on the medium.
So unless you know that your fiber connectivity is point to point from your house
to the head end router, assume that you have some form of "shared "medium.
On top of the above, several providers impose shaping and/or policing that
will slow down (through buffering or dropping traffic) if you exceed some levels
of usage.

The more relevant question would be whether you can find online reports or recommendations
from actual users preferably in your neighborhood or building and compare notes.

In my case I use cable (Comcast) in a relatively suburban area and I normally hit 20Mbps/2mbps (down/up) rates
when the advertised one are 20mbps/4mbps. Even with this data point though I don't think
anyone should base his/her decision on the fact that it works for me.

L.