Three Technologies, One Goal: Keeping Your Business Connected

Choosing the right broadband technology for your business used to be simple — you got a phone line and whatever speed BT could deliver. In 2026, UK businesses have three genuinely viable options: fibre optic broadband, 5G mobile broadband, and Starlink satellite internet.

Each technology has distinct strengths and weaknesses. For businesses across Belfast and Northern Ireland, where connectivity can vary dramatically from one postcode to the next, understanding these differences is essential. At Drakos Systems, we help businesses navigate this decision every day — so let's break it down honestly.

Speed Comparison

Speed is usually the first thing businesses ask about, and the differences are significant:

• Fibre (FTTP): 100Mbps to 1Gbps download, 50-115Mbps upload — the fastest and most consistent option
• 5G Broadband: 100-300Mbps download, 20-50Mbps upload — impressive, but varies with signal strength and congestion
• Starlink: 50-200Mbps download, 10-20Mbps upload — solid, but less consistent than the other two

If raw speed is your priority and full fibre is available at your premises, fibre wins every time. However, many businesses in Northern Ireland — particularly outside Belfast, Lisburn, and Derry — still can't get full fibre. That's where 5G becomes a serious contender.

Latency: Why It Matters for Business

Latency — the delay between sending and receiving data — matters enormously for VoIP phone systems, video conferencing, and real-time applications. Here's how the three compare:

• Fibre: 5-15ms — excellent for all applications
• 5G: 10-30ms — very good, suitable for VoIP and video
• Starlink: 20-40ms — acceptable for most business use, occasional spikes during satellite handovers

For businesses running cloud-based phone systems or video-heavy workflows, fibre and 5G both deliver the low latency you need. Starlink is usable for VoIP, but you may notice the occasional brief interruption. If you're considering how 4G and 5G differ in practice, latency is one of the biggest improvements 5G brings.

Reliability and Uptime

For any business, a dropped connection means lost revenue, missed calls, and frustrated customers. Reliability varies significantly across these three technologies:

• Fibre: Extremely reliable with 99.9%+ uptime on business-grade connections. Physical cable means no interference from weather or congestion
• 5G: Very reliable where signal is strong, but can be affected by network congestion, building materials, and distance from the mast
• Starlink: Generally reliable, but brief dropouts occur during satellite handovers. Heavy rain and snow can temporarily reduce performance

This is exactly why many businesses use a combination of technologies. A fibre primary connection with a 4G/5G or Starlink failover gives you the best of both worlds — speed and reliability with a safety net if your primary line goes down.

Cost Comparison

Budget matters, especially for small businesses. Here's a realistic cost breakdown for 2026:

• Fibre (FTTP): £25-£50/month for residential-grade, £50-£200/month for business-grade with SLA. No hardware costs beyond a router
• 5G Broadband: £30-£60/month for data plans, plus £200-£500 for a quality business router. No line rental or installation fees
• Starlink: £75/month residential or £175/month business, plus £449-£2,100 for the dish hardware. No contracts

Fibre is typically the most cost-effective option where available. 5G offers excellent value with no installation costs. Starlink is the most expensive monthly, but for locations where nothing else works, the cost is justified.

Availability Across Northern Ireland

This is where the real decision often gets made. You can't choose a technology that isn't available at your location:

• Fibre (FTTP): Expanding rapidly but still unavailable in many rural areas. Belfast city centre and surrounding towns have good coverage, but rural County Antrim, Fermanagh, and Tyrone remain underserved
• 5G: Available in Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, and some larger towns. Coverage is growing but remains patchy outside urban centres. 4G is more widely available and still delivers 30-80Mbps
• Starlink: Available everywhere in Northern Ireland with a clear sky view. No infrastructure dependency — if you can see the sky, you can get Starlink

For rural businesses across Northern Ireland, Starlink has been genuinely transformative. Farms, rural offices, and construction sites that previously relied on slow ADSL or patchy 4G now have access to broadband that actually works.

Which Should You Choose?

After helping hundreds of businesses across Belfast and Northern Ireland choose their connectivity, here's our honest recommendation:

• Choose Fibre if: It's available at your premises and you need the fastest, most reliable connection. This is the best option for most urban and suburban businesses
• Choose 5G if: Fibre isn't available but you have good 5G signal, you need a quick setup with no installation wait, or you want a cost-effective primary or backup connection
• Choose Starlink if: You're in a rural or remote location with no fibre and poor mobile signal, you need connectivity at a temporary site, or you want a backup that's completely independent of ground infrastructure

Many of our clients use a combination. A fibre primary with 5G failover is our most popular recommendation for Belfast businesses. For rural clients, we often set up Starlink as the primary connection with 4G as a backup.

The Drakos Systems Approach

We don't push one technology over another — we assess your location, your needs, and your budget, then recommend the right solution. As a technology-agnostic provider, we supply and support fibre, 4G/5G routers, and Starlink installations across Northern Ireland.

Our team will survey your premises, check all available options, and design a connectivity solution that keeps your business online — reliably and affordably.