Survey on connections: Cable Internet more susceptible to interference than DSL or fiber optics

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Fiber-optic expansion in Cottbus: Internet outages are a tiresome topic

Photo: Rainer Weisflog / IMAGO

In a comparison of different types of Internet connection for residential customers, cable Internet is the most susceptible to interference, according to a survey. 69 percent of the cable customers surveyed reported at least one complete failure in the past twelve months, as the online portal Verivox announced on Friday. In the case of DSL and fibre optic connections, the failure rate was reported to be slightly lower. Above all, however, cable Internet experienced longer and repeated outages more frequently.

According to the survey results, 58 percent of DSL customers complained about at least one outage in the previous year, compared to 62 percent of fiber-optic customers. However, especially in the case of fiber-optic connections, the outages often occurred only once and were comparatively short with a duration of less than an hour, Verivox explained. Cable Internet, on the other hand, also records the most multiple disruptions.

According to Verivox, the opinion research institute Innofact surveyed a total of 2023 people aged 1022 to 18 online in May 79 for the survey.

The results are difficult to generalize

"It is almost impossible to prevent a short-term malfunction," said Verivox telecommunications expert Jörg Schamberg, commenting on the results of the survey. »No provider guarantees 100 percent availability of the Internet connection.« However, longer and frequent outages are "very annoying".

According to the survey, there are regional differences, which may be due to the differences in connections: According to the survey, network failures are least common in the north of Germany. "In the states of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, fiber-optic connections are the best developed in Germany," explained Schamberg.

Basically, the results are difficult to generalize, as there are many causes of Internet disruptions. Depending on the region, not all connection types are likely to be available as alternatives for private customers locally. Of course, prices also play a role in consumers' decision on certain tariffs: On average, fiber-optic Internet is more expensive than, for example, cable Internet. (You can read more about fiber optic internet here.)

People for whom the Internet regularly does not work, or at least does not work at the promised speed, should check whether they are entitled to a so-called reduction – this may at least save them money. How exactly this works is explained here on Verbraucherzentrale.de. At the same time, consumers should be careful when representatives promise them a remedy for their problems on behalf of providers without being asked: In the area of doorstep sales, there are always attempts at deception and questionable advice in the area of Internet contracts, you can read more about this here .

mbö/AFP