No, the answer is no, the number of moving parts in a HFC network is considerably greater, the added latency noticeable, and from history the way TCL and now Voda run the network, just no, no, no.

There is more to a good connection than just speed (and price) low latency and jitter are also important, compared to GPON, HFC simply cannot deliver.

Cyril

Oh, and also with fibre you can select from a wide variety of ISPs, on HFC, its one, and only one.

Cyril

God no, it's not worth the hassle of changing to cable just to save a few dollars. Stay with fibre.

I'm on FibreX 200 Mbps plan, uncapped. Costs me $67.99 / mth. Service was a bit patchy a couple of years back, but I have no complaints now since Vodafone upgraded the network. Compared with everybody I know with fibre, I am saving about $12/mth and get a similar service. Oh, and Vodafone gave me a static IP at no cost. What's not to like? Fibre arrived in my street about 4 months back, but I don't see any good reason to change. I don't game, but I stream 1080p video most evenings and it all works very well. Very happy with FibreX.

KiwiTim:

 

I'm on FibreX 200 Mbps plan, uncapped. Costs me $67.99 / mth. Service was a bit patchy a couple of years back, but I have no complaints now since Vodafone upgraded the network. ...

 

I've been on "FibreX" for years. (initially 200/20 Mbps, currently on gigabit)

After a shaky start, it now works well. I have a new HFC node outside my house.

VF are currently advertising FibreX 200 for $82.99/month (24 month term).

Unlimited ADSL / VDSL / Fibre 100 / FibreX 200 are all the same price.

Where did $67.99 come from?

Fibre (UFB/GPON) is a superior technology to FibreX (HFC/Cable). If you already have fibre, going to FibreX is taking a step back in terms of connection quality. As others have noted, you will see higher latency, be locked into Vodafone, and historically there have been some major stability and performance issues with that network. Now if you are happy to live with that to potentially save a few $$$, then maybe consider it, but I certainly wouldn't.

Sideface:

 

Where did $67.99 come from?

 

I've been with Vodafone since 2007, and its the price they now charge me. A few months back it was $64.99. If you press them, threaten to move to another ISP, they give you their 'best price'. If you don't ask you won't get.

We have FibreX 200 and pay $64 per month. We've had it for 3 years and despite some teething problems early on it's pretty good these days. We use a bit of data but are not heavy users in terms of tech requirements. We looked at Fibre but our install is tricky and tbh I don't feel like I need it. Based on price and performance I'm pretty happy.

KiwiTim:

 

Sideface:

 

Where did $67.99 come from?

 

 

I've been with Vodafone since 2007, and its the price they now charge me. A few months back it was $64.99.

 

If you press them, threaten to move to another ISP, they give you their 'best price'. If you don't ask you won't get.

 

In my suburb I have no fibre option (I'd change to UFB and leave VF if I could).

I cannot threaten to move to another ISP, as VF have the cable monopoly.

And I'm on contract.

Sideface:

 

KiwiTim:

 

Sideface:

 

Where did $67.99 come from?

 

 

I've been with Vodafone since 2007, and its the price they now charge me. A few months back it was $64.99.

 

If you press them, threaten to move to another ISP, they give you their 'best price'. If you don't ask you won't get.

 

 

In my suburb I have no fibre option (I'd change to UFB and leave VF if I could).

 

I cannot threaten to move to another ISP, as VF have the cable monopoly.

 

And I'm on contract.

 

So when your contract comes up for renewal you could try saying you are moving to a cheaper VDSL service with another ISP as you no longer feel the extra speed is worth the money. Shake the tree and see what falls to ground.

I am one of the lucky ones, I have both fibre and fibrex cables available in my cabinet so I can swap between the two anytime I like.

I was on fibre (2Degrees 900/400Mbps plan ) for the last year and could not complain about the service at all. Very fast latency, 2ms to Wellington from Kapiti. Excellent download speeds as well as excellent upload speeds. Could not fault the service, apart from maybe the price.

I have a company mobile phone (Vodafone), and now have recently switched back to Vodafone fibrex 200/20. It’s a lot cheaper, and speeds are not noticeably very different. Obviously latency is not quiet as good, average of 15ms to Wellington now. I cant complain about the service but can tell you that back in early 2017 when I was on this same plan the service was really bad. That’s when I went to fibre for the first time.

For an average person/family its difficult for me to fault fibrex. Sure its older technology, but it works. And it’s a lot cheaper. The 2Degrees plan I was really after was the 100/100 but they don’t offer it, other ISP’s may.

cyril7:

 

No, the answer is no, the number of moving parts in a HFC network is considerably greater

FibreX: [OLT] ==== fibre ==== [D-CMTS] ---- co-ax ---- [0 or more amps] --- [cable modem]

GPON:  [OLT] ==== fibre ====  [splitter] ===== [ONT]

They are both shared, polled, time-division multiplexed systems. There are many similarities, because of course PoN borrowed from Cable, just as DOCSIS 3.1 borrowed from cellular techology.