2. What is Broadband?

Broadband is a term referred to some technologies that offers high-speed Internet connectivity depending on framework and environment. In general terms broadband referred to communication technology that can employ different channels of data or data streams by using any medium (air or Physical). Broadband is a term for wide band. It defines the speed of data transfer rate.

Because a wide band of frequencies is available, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently, allowing more information to be transmitted in a given amount of time.

Broadband can be provided over your phone line, via cable or via satellite. It involves large volumes of information being carried at high speeds to your PC. This allows websites, text, graphics, music and videos to be experienced in real time. Broadband, therefore, has many features that can be taken advantage of in the home or office:

• The connection to the Internet is always on, allowing for constant Internet access and no need to dial up.
• The phone line is unaffected; this means that you can make telephone calls whilst the Internet is on.
• Normally, you pay a standard monthly fee for unlimited Internet access, and you are not charged for the time you spend on the Internet. There are certain broadband products now that also offer pay as you go access.
• Websites, music and videos can be downloaded at a fast rate.
• You can take advantage of instant messaging and online high-speed interactive games.
• You can receive uninterrupted real time services, such as Internet radio, streaming video and voice-over-ip, phone calls.

3. Wired broadband

a. Cable Broadband 

The local cable TV provider provides the broadband cable connection. Here the cable Internet connection speed varies with the number of users on the service at a specific point in time. Given a specific geographical area, users of the broadband cable service share the connection bandwidth, which slows the speed the more users are on the system. This will occur at the peak times for example late in the evenings after the work day is over when many people will be accessing the Internet. Somewhat misleadingly, often the cable company would estimate connection speeds that are based on the thinking that you are using the service. But that is clearly not the case.

A cable generally runs down your street and, if you choose to connect, a second cable is then run from the main line to your home. If you happen to already have cable TV installed, you won't need to get a professional installer to run this cable to your house – and that may mean savings on your set up fees.

Broadband cable Internet access requires a cable modem at the customer's premises and a cable modem termination system at a cable operator facility, typically a cable television head end. The two are connected via coaxial cable or a Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) plant. While access networks are sometimes referred to as last-mile technologies, cable Internet systems can typically operate where the distance between the modem and the termination system is up to 100 miles (160 km). If the HFC network is large, the cable modem termination system can be grouped into hubs for efficient management.

Downstream bit rates can be as much as 400Mbit/s for business connections, and 100Mbit/s for residential service in some countries.

 Upstream traffic ranges from 384Kbit/s to more than 20Mbit/s.

One downstream channel can handle hundreds of cable modems. As the system grows, the cable modem termination system (CMTS) can be upgraded with more downstream and upstream ports, and grouped into hubs CMTS for efficient management.

 Advantages:

·    Both ADSL and wireless users can experience degraded quality and reduced speeds if they are a long way from the Internet service provider (ISP). The quality issue is something cable surfers don’t need to worry about.

·    Cable Internet generally has a more constant top speed than the maximums available with wireless.

·    Like other types of broadband, your ability to make phone calls is not interfered with – in this case because your phone line has no relationship what-so-ever to your Internet.

 Disadvantages

·     You will need to buy a special cable modem to send and receive information via a fiber-optic cable.

·     The more people there are sharing the bandwidth, the slower your experience will be. As with ADSL, quoted speeds are best described as “theoretical maximums”.

·     If you haven't already connected to cable TV, you may need a professional to do the installation.

·     Many packages place limits on downloads and uploads.