by In order to understand what broadband is, we need to look at how the internet has evolved.
Originally meant for government use, the internet as we know it today has resulted from networks such as ARPANET which adopted a standard communication protocol. What this means is that computers were able to speak to and understand each other because they were all speaking the same language.
This adoption of a standard communication protocol meant that instead of having computers grouped together in local area networks as they previously did not speak the same language, they could now connect together in larger groups.
Being able to speak to other computers across vast distances also meant that it could be used for more than just government.
Up until this point, people had been using fax to transmit messages across distances, the ability to use the same telephone line used for both a fax machine and a computer suddenly opened up a whole new world of communication that was previously not possible.
Over the space of many decades, the internet has evolved and become more accessible than ever before. These days, there are multiple ways to connect to the internet, from a mobile connection to desktop or PC access.
When it comes to choosing the best type of internet to get for your home or office, most people choose broadband, but what is broadband exactly?
Broadband is defined as a high bandwidth connection to the internet, meaning that it’s easier and faster to use than the previous telephone/ modem combination.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the most common types of broadband internet available
ADSL – this is a type of DSL (digital subscriber line) technology. It provides faster connection speeds over copper telephone lines than those possible with a conventional modem.
VDSL – despite the fancy acronym, VDSL is just a faster type of ADSL. VDSL maxes out at 40mbps download speed while ADSL maxes out at 20mbps.
Fibre – any type of DSL connection requires the use of a copper telephone line. Because this type of internet connection utilises fibre optics and not copper telephone lines, it does not fall prey to the same issues that ADSL or VDSL does. Fibre internet can run up to 1gbps (1000mbps or 1 gigabyte per second).
Satellite – this utilises low earth orbit satellites to provide you with an internet connection. Because this does not utilize telephone lines, you do not encounter the same issues as you would with connections which do. One of the restrictions is that satellite internet is not available in as many locations as more traditional internet connections.
When it comes to internet speeds, the higher the MBps number, the faster your connection should be.
What does MBps mean though? Simply put, it stands for megabit per second. This is used to measure data transfer speeds of high bandwidth connections.
