Understanding Broadband Internet
Understanding Broadband Internet
The Internet is all around us. It can be found on phones, on almost every computer, and has an influence over most parts of everyday life. In recent years, the advent of broadband Internet has opened up a world of online gaming, the transfer of large files, and now facilitates watching television or listening to the radio via the web. But what is broadband Internet, exactly? And how fast is fast?
Broadband Internet is simply any Internet connection that can deliver more data more quickly than traditional phone-based modems. In general, this ranges from about 1 mbps to a whopping 1 tbps for some major corporations and universities.
To put this in perspective, dial-up Internet can go no faster than 56kbps, meaning even the slowest broadband connection is over 50 times faster than the best dial-up connection. These speeds are achieved by sending the data down a cable that simply has higher capacity, such as fiber-optic phone lines or cable television lines.
The adoption of broadband Internet has often necessitated laying of these types of advanced cables to connect new areas that were previously only connected by phone lines, something that the Australian Government has recently been pouring millions into to help fund.
People like a faster connection because it makes surfing the Web a more real-time or instantaneous experience; lag time is reduced. As a result, the demand for broadband Internet has caused an explosion of internet service providers. Familiar names include ISPs such as BigPond, Optus, TPA and TransAct. Best of all, since much of this cable is owned by the Government and leased to ISPs, they can offer packages which fit their consumer’s needs, as opposed to being just limited to offering DSL or cable or wireless, as is found in the United States or some European countries.
This also means that the broadband can be sold in either unlimited or limited amounts, enabling users to either buy infinite bandwidth, or to simply only pay for what they actually use.
The first type of broadband Internet is what is known as “DSL”. DSL stands for “digital subscriber line” and is built on top of existing phone infrastructure. It was the first form of broadband Internet developed, and allows for bits and bytes to be transmitted over a phone line at lightning speed by quickly tapping in to the almost infinite bandwidth of modern fibre-optic cables. This service leaves plenty of bandwidth left over for landline phone calls, enabling users to continue using their traditional phones. However, many ISPs offer package deals with digital phone services.
Unfortunately, the last leg of the DSL transfer must take place using traditional copper lines, not the fibre-optic cable. This means speed is limited for this last leg of the journey, when not near a fibre-optic line.
Cable Internet gets around this problem by using fibre-optic cable, that many houses already have, namely the cable TV lines. They offer speeds comparable to DSL, but are much better in remote locations, far from the nearest telephone hub. Like DSL, cable internet is often sold in a package deal with digital phone service, but because it comes over the cable line, high-definition digital cable TV is also often part of the package deal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hugh McInnes relies heavily on the internet to do his work. He has a computer science degree and, naturally, prefers broadband internet to dial-up.
Article from articlesbase.com
Massachusetts Broadband Expansion
Image by Office of Governor Patrick
Thursday, July 8th, 2010 — Governor Patrick highlights broadband internet expansion in the Commonwealth at Greenfield Community College.
(Photo credit: Holland Hinman/Governor’s Office)
