How do we feel about communications?

Three options in my opinion.

Lightspeed intra-system would be the slowest. Messages travel only as fast as the speed of light, and so would take minutes up to hours to reach their destinations. They'd be completely useless for inter-system obviously, so messenger ships would need to physically travel between systems carrying pre-recorded messages.

FTL intra-system is my preferred choice. Messages travel from place to place within  system instantaneously. No delays in communications if you're talking to a ship on the other side of a system. However, any communications outside of the system would again require messenger ships carrying pre-recorded messages.

FTL inter-system would be the fastest. Instantaneous communications between not just planets but also stars, likely because of some kind of comm buoy relay system.