Fiber Optic (FTTH/FTTP)

Medium: Glass/plastic fiber strands | Technology: Light pulses (photonics)

Download: 100 Mbps - 10 Gbps (symmetric typically available) | Upload: 100 Mbps - 10 Gbps | Latency: 1-5 ms

EMF Emissions: None from the fiber itself

Reliability: Excellent - immune to electromagnetic interference, lightning, crosstalk

The gold standard. Light travels through glass via total internal reflection. No electromagnetic radiation leaks from the fiber. The ONLY EM source is the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) box in your home, which has WiFi/Ethernet.

Cable (DOCSIS)

Medium: Coaxial cable (copper core, insulated) | Technology: RF signals over coax (DOCSIS 3.0/3.1/4.0)

Download: 100 Mbps - 1.2 Gbps (DOCSIS 3.1), 10 Gbps (DOCSIS 4.0) | Upload: 10-50 Mbps (DOCSIS 3.1), 6 Gbps (DOCSIS 4.0) | Latency: 10-30 ms

EMF Emissions: Minimal (shielded coax)

Reliability: Good, but shared neighborhood node means congestion during peak hours

Coaxial cable is well-shielded, so RF leakage is minimal. Uses frequencies from 5 MHz to 1.8 GHz over the cable. DOCSIS 4.0 (Full Duplex + Extended Spectrum) enables multi-gigabit symmetric speeds.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

Medium: Copper telephone lines (twisted pair) | Technology: DMT modulation over phone wires

Download: 1-100 Mbps (VDSL2), 1 Gbps (G.fast) | Upload: 0.5-40 Mbps | Latency: 20-45 ms

EMF Emissions: Very low (twisted pair reduces radiation)

Reliability: Dedicated line (no sharing), but speed degrades sharply with distance

Uses existing phone infrastructure. Speed is entirely dependent on distance from the DSLAM (multiplexer). At 5 km, you might get 5 Mbps; at 300m, 500+ Mbps with G.fast. Being phased out in favor of fiber.

Fixed Wireless (FWA)

Medium: Radio waves (point-to-multipoint) | Technology: 4G LTE / 5G NR / proprietary

Download: 25-300 Mbps (5G FWA: up to 1 Gbps) | Upload: 5-50 Mbps | Latency: 20-50 ms

EMF Emissions: Same as cellular (see Cellular page)

Reliability: Weather-dependent, line-of-sight preferred, shared spectrum

Uses cellular infrastructure with an outdoor antenna or indoor receiver. T-Mobile and Verizon offer 5G Home Internet. Good for underserved areas where fiber/cable is unavailable.

Satellite

Medium: Radio waves (space-to-ground) | Technology: LEO (Starlink) or GEO (HughesNet, Viasat)

Download: 25-200 Mbps (LEO), 25-100 Mbps (GEO) | Upload: 5-25 Mbps (LEO), 3-5 Mbps (GEO) | Latency: 25-60 ms (LEO), 550-700 ms (GEO)

EMF Emissions: User terminal transmits ~2W uplink (see Satellites page)

Reliability: Weather-sensitive (rain fade), data caps common on GEO

Only option for truly remote locations. Starlink has dramatically improved satellite internet from the GEO era. GEO latency makes video calls and gaming difficult.

Fiber optic internet produces no electromagnetic radiation

Verdict:

Fiber uses light confined within glass. No RF emission from the cable itself. The ONT and WiFi router at the endpoints produce normal WiFi/Ethernet signals.

Coaxial cable internet produces negligible EMF leakage

Verdict:

Coaxial cable is specifically designed to contain RF fields within its shielding. Well-maintained coax leaks virtually no signal. FCC requires cable operators to fix signal leakage above certain thresholds.

DSL produces negligible electromagnetic radiation

Verdict:

Twisted-pair design inherently cancels electromagnetic fields (each twist reverses the field). DSL frequencies (up to 212 MHz for VDSL2) are low-power and well-contained in the wire pair.

Wired internet is EMF-free in your home

Verdict:

The wired connection itself emits negligible EMF. However, the WiFi router connected to it is the actual source of RF in your home. If you are concerned about RF exposure, using Ethernet cables to devices and disabling WiFi eliminates in-home RF from your internet connection.