Broadband Guide

It almost seems implausible that as recently as ten years ago home internet access was a relatively new thing. Back then the internet was dial up, effectively a trickling tap that customers would turn on and off whenever they need to download emails. The idea of downloading a song was an alien concept and would have taken an age at the incredibly slow dial up download speeds. Watching paint dry was an infinitely more enjoyable experience.

Now it has all chNow it has all changed. Since those days, broadband internet has become the default for most home users, enabling a relative torrent of content to be uploaded and downloaded at lightning speeds. Broadband now accounts for the majority of all domestic internet access. Speeds are incrementally increasing all the time and in parallel the type of content that we download is changing. Music, software, games and even films are now being routinely downloaded by millions of people worldwide.

What is broadband?

Broadband is a type of connection to the internet. The other main consumer type being dial-up modem access. With broadband you get an always on fast connection from your computer to the internet.

There are two general types of broadband connection available in the UK . ADSL (" Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line") which works by using your telephone line for both voice and data at the same time. And cable broadband which is supplied by a cable operator (e.g. Virgin Media) who feed a dedicated optical cable to your house capable of delivering telephone, TV and internet services.

Well, how much faster?

also see page about broadband download speeds.

It can get really quite confusing when you start to look at all the numbers and units that are used when describing download speeds. Transfer speeds are measured in kilobits per second and megabits per second , which are not the same as the Kilobytes and Megabytes that are used when talking about files on your computer.

Having said that a 1Mbps broadband connection is about 20 times as fast as a dialup connection and a theoretical maximum speed of a 8Mbps connection would be about 160 times faster.

Today the majority of broadband deals on offer boast a maximum download speed of up to 20/24mbps. However you must bear in mind that the top speed is only achievable to those living generally within a kilometre of the exchange.

A quick look at the graph below is probably more meaningful in the real world as to what you can expect for the different download speeds on offer.

Your telephone line is freed up.

If you have a member of the family who chats for ages on the phone then this is definately a big bonus over a dial up internet connection. Your broadband connection does not tie up your phone line like a dial-up connection does. Although the wires in your phone line are used for the connection it is independent from the telephone's function. So your computer can stay connected to the internet and you can chat on the phone at the same time.

Setting up costs

Some ISP's do charge for the initial setting up of a new broadband account. This would generally cover their administration costs and a modem but could include an engineer coming to your house if a new line is needed.

Many ISP's however do offer free connection and setup, to be as competitive as possible. So check the package you are interested in and if a charge is made weigh that up against how low the ongoing monthly cost will be or any other features that may make it worth paying for.