Broadband internet service is the faster, more reliable replacement for dial up service. It better facilitates the plethora of high bandwidth activities that usually take place over the Internet, such as movie and music upload and download, streaming video and online shows, and multiple tasks being performed at the same time.
Most broadband services are transferred over telephone lines utilizing frequencies which are not used by telephone calls, a technological advancement which frees up the telephone for simultaneous use with the Internet in most cases.
As broadband expanded its use and pervaded the marketplace, there were many different types of broadband offered, based on the digital environment it would be encountering. Currently, types of broadband services on the market commonly include SDSL, ADSL, LLU, wireless, cable, and satellite.
The most common type of broadband service used today is ADSL, which stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. The technology is called asymmetric because the bandwidth is much greater in the direction from the central hub to the customer than it is in the opposite direction. An Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line would thus be best for a user with a profile of downloading multimedia from the Internet, with a minimum of uploading.
An Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line provides service through an existing telephone line, using a special modem or router to separate the digital signal from the phone signal. The phone and the Internet can be used simultaneously on an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.
There are types of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines known as ADSL2 and ADSL2+, which are iterations of the same technology separated by their maximum bandwidth speeds.
An SDSL, or Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line, is similar to an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line except that its upload and download speed are similar in both directions. A Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line is best used for a user with a profile of uploading and downloading material.
One disadvantage of a Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line is that it takes over the entire line when in use, which means that even with the use of a DSL splitter, a Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line cannot be used at the same time as a traditional analogue phone.
Both Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines and Symmetric Digital Subscriber Lines are available in Australia in all their iterations for personal and business use.
LLU, or local loop unbundling, is also available in Australia currently. Local loop unbundling is more regulatory in nature than technologically different. Local loop unbundling involves allowing more than one telecommunications company, to connect to customers from the central hub. The loop is usually owned by a large telecommunications company, but to increase competition, other companies are allowed to use the same information pathway. Most developed countries find local loop unbundling necessary to induce competition and decrease the chances of a digital monopoly.
Wireless broadband is a relatively new way of distributing broadband which allows for a much wider radius of scope than does an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line or a Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line, which typically start to lose bandwidth around 8 kilometres. Wireless broadband form the basis of technologies used by mobile phone companies, to provide Internet services no matter where the cell phone user may travel.
Cable and satellite broadband services refer to the nature in which the broadband signal is transported. Cable broadband is transported over a cable line, while satellite broadband is transported through a satellite signal. Both are substantially faster than any other type of broadband service, and are becoming more and more widely used in developed countries such as Australia, as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines and Symmetric Digital Subscriber Lines are pushed to the backburner except in the most rural of areas which require their own hub.
Most broadband services are transferred over telephone lines utilizing frequencies which are not used by telephone calls, a technological advancement which frees up the telephone for simultaneous use with the Internet in most cases.
As broadband expanded its use and pervaded the marketplace, there were many different types of broadband offered, based on the digital environment it would be encountering. Currently, types of broadband services on the market commonly include SDSL, ADSL, LLU, wireless, cable, and satellite.
The most common type of broadband service used today is ADSL, which stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. The technology is called asymmetric because the bandwidth is much greater in the direction from the central hub to the customer than it is in the opposite direction. An Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line would thus be best for a user with a profile of downloading multimedia from the Internet, with a minimum of uploading.
An Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line provides service through an existing telephone line, using a special modem or router to separate the digital signal from the phone signal. The phone and the Internet can be used simultaneously on an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.
There are types of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines known as ADSL2 and ADSL2+, which are iterations of the same technology separated by their maximum bandwidth speeds.
An SDSL, or Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line, is similar to an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line except that its upload and download speed are similar in both directions. A Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line is best used for a user with a profile of uploading and downloading material.
One disadvantage of a Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line is that it takes over the entire line when in use, which means that even with the use of a DSL splitter, a Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line cannot be used at the same time as a traditional analogue phone.
Both Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines and Symmetric Digital Subscriber Lines are available in Australia in all their iterations for personal and business use.
LLU, or local loop unbundling, is also available in Australia currently. Local loop unbundling is more regulatory in nature than technologically different. Local loop unbundling involves allowing more than one telecommunications company, to connect to customers from the central hub. The loop is usually owned by a large telecommunications company, but to increase competition, other companies are allowed to use the same information pathway. Most developed countries find local loop unbundling necessary to induce competition and decrease the chances of a digital monopoly.
Wireless broadband is a relatively new way of distributing broadband which allows for a much wider radius of scope than does an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line or a Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line, which typically start to lose bandwidth around 8 kilometres. Wireless broadband form the basis of technologies used by mobile phone companies, to provide Internet services no matter where the cell phone user may travel.
Cable and satellite broadband services refer to the nature in which the broadband signal is transported. Cable broadband is transported over a cable line, while satellite broadband is transported through a satellite signal. Both are substantially faster than any other type of broadband service, and are becoming more and more widely used in developed countries such as Australia, as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines and Symmetric Digital Subscriber Lines are pushed to the backburner except in the most rural of areas which require their own hub.