A permanent connection to the Internet without tying up your phone line.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth refers to how fast data flows through the path that it travels to your computer. It is usually measured in kilobits, megabits or gigabits per second.
Bit
A ‘bit’ is a basic unit of information in computing, essentially a ‘1’ or ‘0’. Bits per second (bps) is a common measure for data transmission speed. The speed in bps is equal to the number of bits transmitted or received each second. Larger units are often used to denote high data speeds: kbps (kilobits per second) being one thousand bits per second; mbps (megabits per second) being one million bits per second; and gbps (gigabits per second) being one thousand million bits per second.
Broadband
Broadband comes from the words “broad bandwidth”. It is used to describe a high capacity, two way link between end users and access network suppliers. It is capable of supporting a variety of voice and data applications like pay TV, voice telephony, Internet access and multimedia services.
Bundling
Some ISPs offer combined phone and Internet packages at discounted rates. The most common bundled packages involve a landline and broadband service. However, bundled packages including mobile phone and Pay TV services are also available.
Byte
Unit of storage measurement. A byte is made up of 8 bits. All information is stored as bits and bytes, which determine the size of the document, picture, video clip etc that you may wish to download or send via email.
Cable
Cable Internet uses the Pay TV cable network to bring you broadband Internet access. If cable has already been brought into your street, you can use this.
CPE
Customer Premises Equipment e.g. The computer, modem and wiring at a customer’s premises.
Download
A Download is any activity that transfers data to your computer from another one. Viewing a web page is downloading, because all the words, pictures and links on that page have to be transferred to your computer and contributes to any download limits placed on your account by your Internet service provider. Other activities like retrieving emails, listening to music, watching a video or chatting online are also downloads.
DSL
Digital subscriber line (DSL) refers to a group of technologies, the most common being ADSL or asymmetric digital subscriber line. DSL uses your existing telephone line to deliver high-speed Internet access. It allows voice communication and high-speed data transmission on the same line at the same time.
DSLAM
Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) is a device that is installed in the telephone exchange to connect ADSL circuits to the main Internet infrastructure.
Ethernet
A common method of networking computers in a local area network (LAN) using a variety of forms of cabling.
FTTH
Fibre to the Home (FTTH) is a term to describe fibre optic cabling being rolled out to residence, enabling very high speed broadband.
FTTN
Fibre to the Node (FTTN) is a term to describe fibre optic cabling being rolled out to switches or ‘nodes’ located in neighbourhoods, and enabling high speed broadband to be supplied to surrounding residences.
HFC
Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) is a network cabling solution that utilises both fibre optic cable and coaxial cable.
IP address
Internet Protocol address. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 111.151.9.42
Every machine on the Internet has to have one of these assigned to it. Websites and email servers have a fixed or ‘static’ IP address. As there are not enough IP addresses to enable all computers to have a static address, other users of the Internet can have what is called a dynamic IP address. This means that when you access the Internet from your home computer, the ISP assigns a random IP address for each session.
ISDN
Integrated services digital network (ISDN) sends data via a digital phone line to national and international destinations. It can be used to deliver the total Internet, telephony and fax requirements of a small organisation.
ISP
Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a business or individual offering Internet access services to customers.
Kbps
Kilobits per second
MB
Megabyte (MB) is the term used to describe a unit of data. Most Internet access plans operate on an allowance of data being downloaded and/or uploaded. This allowance is usually measured in MB or GB (Gigabytes).
One Megabyte is equivalent to about one million bytes. In current usage, that is a small amount of data. A 20 to 30 page document containing only text can be about 1 MB in size. Photos from digital cameras (depending on how they are saved) can be 2 or 3 MB each. A short video clip can be anywhere from 4 to 8 MB in size.
Mbps
Megabits per second
Modem
A device to convert digital signals (normally sent by a computer) to analogue signals for transmission over conventional copper twisted pair telephone lines. It also converts the incoming analogue signals received over a telephone line to a digital signal for use by the computer.
Network
Any group of two or more computers that are linked together.
Package speed
The ‘package speed’ refers to the speed at which data is transmitted, either from the Internet to your computer (download) or from your computer to the Internet (upload). Broadband speeds can be expressed as kilobits per second (kbps) or megabits per second (mbps).
POP
1. Post Office Protocol. This refers to the way that email software gets mail from a mail server. Accounts with an ISP will always have a POP account to enable you to send and receive emails.
2.Point of Presence. This usually means a town or location where a network can be connected.
PPP
Point to Point Protocol (PPP) is the most common protocol used to connect home computers to the Internet over standard telephone lines. Variations include PPPOA (Point to Point Protocol over ATM) and PPPOE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet).
Protocol
A formal description of message formats and the rules two computers must follow to exchange those messages. Protocols can describe low level details of machine to machine interfaces (e.g. the order in which bits are sent through a connection) or high level exchanges between programs (e.g. the way in which two programs transfer a file across the Internet).
Router
System that handles the traffic through the Internet. It determines the path that the information sent to and from your computer will follow.
Satellite, One–way
One–way satellite connections utilise a satellite link to download data to the broadband user and a standard telephone connection for
uploading data back to the Internet.
Satellite, Two–way
Two–way satellite connections use the satellite link to both upload and download information.
Upload
Uploading is any activity where data is going from your computer to another site. Sending an email, adding items to your personal web page or allowing other users to retrieve files located on your computer are all examples of uploading data. All uploads will contribute to your usage allowance on your account.
Usage Allowance
A usage allowance is the amount of data you are allowed to transfer over the Internet, either by downloading or uploading data. Some plans allow you to download or upload an unlimited amount of data and others give you a limit. There may be separate download and upload limits or there may be a combined allowance (e.g. 500 MB per month).
Usage allowances are set by your ISP.
If there is a limit, be aware of excess usage fees or speed shaping/throttling. Users may be charged a per–megabyte/per–gigabyte fee for any additional data uploaded/downloaded or have their connection speed slowed right down once the limit is reached (called shaping or throttling). ‘Unlimited’ deals may really only offer a certain amount of usage at a given broadband speed after which the consumer is shaped/throttled back to a slower speed.
It is advisable to monitor the amount of data downloaded and uploaded, to and from, your computer to avoid unexpected excess usage fees.
There are tools that allow you to monitor your usage. Ask your ISP if you can view your account usage online.
By keeping track of your usage patterns you may also find that you use more or less data and decide to change your plan.
VOIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) allows phone calls using the Internet connection.
Wireless
While the specific technology used to provide wireless broadband services varies, each service provider uses radio frequencies to transmit and receive data between their customers and a local transmission point. Normally, this requires a number of base stations, similar to mobile phone towers, which transmit to customers who have a small transmitter/receiver connected to their computers or other digital devices.
Broadband for Consumers
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