HFC
acronymISP & telecomnetworking
Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial: the cable-TV plant architecture - fiber from the headend to neighborhood nodes, coaxial for the final drop - that DOCSIS turned into a shared broadband network.
Why the television cable in the wall can carry gigabit internet.
Hybrid fibre-coaxial runs fibre to a neighbourhood node and coaxial cable for the last stretch, which is how cable operators upgraded without replacing the drop to every home. It is the physical plant DOCSIS runs on.
The characteristic it produces is shared capacity per node. Everyone served by one node contends for the same spectrum, so performance depends on how many subscribers are on that segment and what they are doing, which is why node splits are the standard remedy for congestion. It also means an operator's advertised speed is achievable and not guaranteed, and the difference between the two is a function of local subscriber density rather than of the customer's equipment.
Also known as: hybrid fiber-coaxial