What is Broadband?

Broadband basically a high bandwidth internet connection that can transmit and download large amounts of date or information with high speed. you can transmit data 10 times faster than a dial-up connection. We can transmit data in broadband with 512 Kbps , 2 Mbps speed and more.

  

Are there different types of Broadband?

Yes, you may have heard of terms such as ADSL, Wireless and Cable?

DSL 

The DSL stand for Digital Subscriber Line. DSL provides high speed on already exiting telephone lines and same time you can use internet and as well as your line for phone. In DSL, both ends of connections require the network cards and DSL modems for data communication.

Your DSL connection to the Internet will always on, there is not need to dial your ISP each time to use internet. DSL is much easier to install and provides much faster data transfer rate. Its data transmission speed start from 128 Kbps up to 10 Mbps. DSL connections are more useful in applications like videoconferencing, to run online movies and upload and download heavy files. There are different flavors of DSL like ADSL, R-ADSL, HDSL, SDSL, and VDSL.

The ADSL and HDSL are very common in use, the former being more popular for home usage. 

What is ADSL?

ADSL stand for asymmetric digital subscriber line, here asymmetric means data speed does not same in both directions (upload and download) and provides high speed on already exiting telephone lines and same time you can use internet and as well as your line for phone. It is faster than DSL and but ADSL downstream speed (downstream rate ) is different with upstream speed (sending rate ). ADSL is much easier to install and provides much faster data transfer rate. ADSL support data upstream rate is 16 Kbps to 640 Kbps and data downstream rate is 1.5 to 9 Mbps. Normally ADSL and download and upload speed is averagely 10 time more than a normal dial up connection.

Your DSL connection to the Internet will always on, there is not need to dial your ISP each time to use internet and the main requirement for ADSL connection is modem. There are many option in modem hardware for example: USB ADSL Modem, PCI ADSL Modem, and ADSL Router, but mostly used USB Modem because easy to install. For 1 or 2 computer the USB modem is best but for more than 3 computer you should use Ethernet ADSL modem. ADSL connections are more useful in applications like videoconferencing, to run online movies and upload and download heavy files. This connection is ideal for today business requirements.

How Cable Internet Works? 

The cable Television line is not a standard telephone line. It is dedicated line used to access the internet with high speed and provides the faster internet access as compare to dial-up. Its data transmission speed is start from 64 Kbps to 3 Mbps. To access cable internet a cable modem used at user end and this modem connects to a computer using Network Interface card or at USB port. A cable modem sends and receives digital data over the cable television network.

To access the internet using cable network, the cable internet provider company installs new cable if your are not using cable runs to your television, and if your are already using cable for television then your cable internet provider company installs a splitter inside your house. From the splitter, one part of the cable runs to your television and other part connects to the cable modem. A cable modem usually is an external device, in which one end of modem connect the cable line wall outlet and other end plugs into a LAN cards. There is not need to dial the modem for using internet simply start your computer and internet is ready for you. 

Most common system requirements for Broadband are as follows:

For PC
Pentium II + 
Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP 
32 MB RAM (for Windows 98) 
64 MB RAM (for Windows 2000 and ME) 
128 MB RAM (for Windows XP) 
Spare USB port and a CD-ROM drive 
SVGA display 800x600x256 colours + 
150MB hard disk drive space 
Internet Explorer version 5.5 +