Connectivity Glossary | SignalSolved

Internet types

Fiber internet (FTTH/FTTP): Internet delivered over optical fiber all the way to the home. Generally the fastest and most reliable option, often with symmetric (equal up/down) speeds. Availability is highly address-specific — fiber on your street does not guarantee fiber to your unit.
Cable internet (DOCSIS/HFC): Internet over the coaxial cable-TV network using the DOCSIS standard. Widely available in served areas with fast downloads, but uploads are usually much slower than downloads, and speeds can dip when a neighborhood is busy.
DSL: Internet over legacy copper telephone lines. Slower than cable or fiber and being retired by many telephone companies. Often the only wired option in some rural areas — for now.
Fixed wireless (FWA): Home internet beamed from a nearby tower to an antenna at your home, including carrier 5G home internet and local WISPs. Performance depends on distance, line of sight, weather, and how busy the tower is.
5G home internet: Fixed wireless home internet running over a carrier’s 5G network (e.g. T-Mobile, Verizon). Availability is capacity-gated: being in coverage does not guarantee a slot, and speeds vary with how loaded the local cell is.
Satellite internet (LEO vs GEO): Internet from orbit. Low-Earth-orbit (LEO, e.g. Starlink) has much lower latency and works well in rural areas. Geostationary (GEO, e.g. HughesNet, Viasat) is available almost everywhere but has high latency that hurts video calls and gaming.

MVNO: A Mobile Virtual Network Operator — a phone brand that resells one of the big carriers’ networks (Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile) instead of owning its own, usually at a lower price.
Deprioritization: When a cell site is congested, the carrier may serve its own postpaid customers first, slowing prepaid or MVNO traffic temporarily. It explains why a cheaper plan on the same network can feel slower at peak times.
5G bands: low-band, mid-band, mmWave: Low-band 5G travels far and penetrates buildings but is only modestly faster than LTE. Mid-band balances speed and range (the “real” 5G most people notice). mmWave is extremely fast but reaches only a short distance with little obstruction tolerance.
Modeled coverage: Carrier and FCC mobile coverage maps are computer-modeled estimates of outdoor signal, not measurements of your living room. Real-world results vary with terrain, buildings, and your specific phone.

ZIP code vs. address: A ZIP code is a USPS mail-delivery route construct, not a precise service boundary. Home internet availability is address-specific, so two neighbors in the same ZIP can have different options. Use ZIP/area results to explore, then verify your exact address.
ZCTA: A ZIP Code Tabulation Area — the Census Bureau’s area-based approximation of a USPS ZIP code. It’s useful for area summaries but is an approximation, not an exact ZIP boundary.
Broadband Serviceable Location (the “Fabric”): The FCC’s national dataset of locations where fixed broadband can be installed, used as the denominator for the National Broadband Map. The underlying location data is licensed, which affects how non-providers may use it.

Availability vs. coverage: “Coverage” means a network’s signal reaches an area (common for cell service). “Availability” means you can actually order and get service at a specific location (common for home internet). A street can be “covered” yet a particular home not “serviceable.”
Latency: The delay (in milliseconds) for data to make a round trip. Low latency matters for video calls, gaming, and responsiveness — often more noticeable day-to-day than raw download speed.
Symmetric speed: When upload speed equals download speed — common on fiber. Helpful for video calls, large uploads, and working from home. Cable and most wireless options are asymmetric (slower up).
BEAD: The federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program — a multi-billion-dollar effort to fund broadband expansion through state programs. Useful context for where service may improve, not a guarantee of availability at your address today.

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