Broadband refers to high-speed internet access, a faster internet connection method than dial-up. In fact, only 7% of American households still use dial-up Internet access as of 2009, according to a 2009 report by the Pew Research Center.
A non-profit organization that tracks attitudes, trends and issues in American life, the Pew Research Center charted a graph of the trends of dial-up versus broadband internet.
While some rural and hard-to-reach areas may still rely on dial-up, it is becoming increasingly more cost-effective to subscribe to one broadband service or another. When individuals and businesses decide to go with broadband, several different types of high-speed internet options are available.
The particular service you choose depends on the speed you want, the price-point you can afford and the availability of the service in your neighborhood. While some broadband services can reach nearly everywhere–such as cable—others like DSL internet may not be available in your area.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
Digital Subscriber Line internet services are usually available from your local telephone company. Both residential and business customers can use DSL services. Delivered via the normal phone line, but unlike dial-up, subscribers can use both the telephone and Internet simultaneously.
When you subscribe to DSL, the internet provider gives you a modem that stays in your house and connects to the outside phone line. The signal travels over copper wire, which makes it degrade over the distance it travels. This broadband internet type typically has a limit of 18,000 feet over which the Internet signal can be sent, which means that it cannot be offered in all places.
For speed issues, you will usually see download speeds of anywhere between 128 Kilobits to around 5 Megabits per second. Upload speeds usually perform slower. In comparison, dial-up modems attain maximum speeds of only around 56 Kilobits per second. With respect to cost, you can expect to pay around $20 to $40 for a monthly subscription, depending on the exact package you choose and the part of the country in which you are located.
Cable
Cable broadband Internet services are filtered into residential homes through the outside coaxial cable line. Many subscribers often combine or “bundle” their cable TV package with the high-speed Internet services offered by the cable company. Like DSL that uses existing wires, cable Internet runs through the same wires as you would have for a cable television subscription. The outside cable line connects to a modem that you get from the provid er, which then hooks to your computer usually via Ethernet wire.
Cable is currently one of the fastest forms of high-speed broadband Internet and you can attain speeds usually anywhere from 2 to 8 Megabits per second. However, many cable companies place artificial limits on transfer rates, which means that you may have to pay a premium price for more speed if you want it. On the other hand, many residential customers often find little-to-no difference in the realized or perceived download and upload speeds of cable Internet compared with DLS.
In theory, cable should offer higher speeds and, in many cases, is actually faster. You’ll find the speeds are comparable between the two broadband services. When it comes to cost, the cost of cable Internet rivals that of DSL and is usually only a little more, if any, expensive than the DSL option.
Satellite
A third option that residential customers have for high-speed, broadband Internet is sate llite. Like the satellite TV services offered by companies like DirecTV or DISH, these companies also offer satellite Internet subscriptions. The performance of satellite rivals that of cable and DSL, although price-points are a bit costlier. If anything, some customers experience often experience outages or slowdowns during turbulent weather (e.g. storms), whereas the same does not usually affect cable or DSL.
Some satellite Internet providers charge upfront costs to install the equipment, although many offer special deals where the cost can be absorbed or refunded.
As far as price-points, satellite Internet subscriptions are usually anywhere from $40 to $100 per month, depending on the specific provider you choose. Hence, many homeowners often select satellite as their primary source of an Internet connection when no other broadband options–like cable or DSL–are available.
WiMAX
WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Micro wave Access and is a telecommunications technology provided primarily by Clearwire and a few others. WiMAX acts similarly to Wi-Fi, though a bit different. The technology of WiMAX covers a wide area–sometimes whole cities–in a radius of around 20 to 30 miles.
Individual WiMAX towers provide connectivity to the Internet and residential customers not ordinarily able to get broadband cable or DSL have the opportunity to subscribe to WiMAX. Two different ways exist through which you can connect to a WiMAX tower or receiver: non-line-of-sight and line-of-sight.
If you want to use your WiMAX connection primarily at home, you can get a WiMAX receiver that sits on your rooftop. This receiver transmits a signal to the WiMAX tower and is known as line-of-sight. The other option is to purchase an antenna for your computer or laptop that can connect to the WiMAX tower.
This type of broadband high-speed connection offers much faster data transmission rates than cable or D SL can ever achieve. The current technology offers 40 Megabits per second and faster rates and, with improved technology in the coming years, WiMAX is expected to achieve speeds of 1 Gigabit per second.
Fiber-optic Lines
Fiber-optic lines–also known as T1 lines–are usually used by organizations and businesses that want an active Internet connection to their offices and branch offices. These fiber-optic lines are leased from the telephone company and sit outside the building to which it is being administered.
Organizations and businesses usually bundle the T1 line with other packages from the telecommunications provider, such as telephone services. As far as performance, fiber outperforms the transmission rates provided by cable and DSL ten-to-one, providing reliability to the subscriber.
As you can see, many options exist if you’re looking to subscribe to a broadband service. With the cost-effectiveness of cable, DSL, satellite and es pecially WiMAX, many people are beginning to disregard dial-up options altogether in favor of a more reliable, faster and “always on” Internet connection.
Fast download and upload speeds currently available–as well as the competition among providers in your area–creates good opportunities for both business and residential customers to benefit from the power of broadband internet.
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