FTTC vs 5G home broadband
Fibre to the cabinet stops at 80 Mbps — and most lines get far less. 5G home broadband often delivers 100–300 Mbps with no engineer visit and no phone line. Enter your postcode to see which wins at your address:
Full per-network 5G speed estimate → · Piggyback SIM checker →
The honest comparison
| FTTC | 5G home broadband | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical download | 30–65 Mbps (80 max) | 100–300 Mbps where mid-band 5G reaches indoors |
| Upload | up to 20 Mbps | often 20–60 Mbps |
| Latency | ~8–15 ms — better for gaming | ~20–35 ms |
| Consistency | very stable, all day | varies with congestion; evening peaks slower |
| Setup | engineer visit, phone line | plug in the router — same day |
| Quirks | speed falls with cabinet distance | router placement matters; usually CGNAT (no port forwarding) |
The 30-second answer
If your FTTC line delivers under ~60 Mbps and a checker shows solid 5G (ideally 5G+) at your address, a 5G router is very likely a big upgrade — often 2–4× the speed for similar money, with a return window to prove it risk-free. If full fibre is available, take that instead. The checker above answers both questions for your exact postcode from Ofcom data.