The Development Of Broadband Internet

The development of broadband Internet connectivity is an interesting situation to discuss. Many technologies are used under the umbrella term "broadband", from fiber-optic to DSL to satellite link. Understanding the development of broadband Internet options will help you to know what you can expect to see in your area. If you're in a rural area, your options will differ from those available to someone in a more urbanized area.

DSL

The oldest form of popular broadband high speed Internet connection is DSL. The term DSL is an initialism referring to the technology family's proper name of "digital subscriber line." DSL uses common phone cables to transmit data, much like dial-up technologies; however, whereas dial-up modulates the Internet connection's input/output data into the fairly narrow band used for voice communications, DSL transmits data at a considerably wider, higher-frequency band. This results in dramatically improved speeds over dial-up, and furthermore allows a DSL signal to be transmitted simultaneously with a dial-up signal. As the cost of the digital signal processors used to handle DSL has decreased, DSL has largely replaced dial-up as an economical, reasonably-fast Internet connectivity solution.

Satellite

Satellite Internet access is a useful solution for individuals without access to other forms of broadband Internet access. By using a dish to interface with a satellite in low Earth orbit, it's possible to get broadband speeds with a minimum of necessary infrastructure. This makes satellite Internet access useful in rural regions of large developed nations like the US, or to individuals traveling in poorer parts of the world who need access to a broadband Internet connection. However, while the connection speed is considerably greater than dial-up, speed-of-light delays in communications with the satellite enforce a considerable amount of latency; as a result, satellite Internet connections are ill-suited to latency-sensitive tasks like online gaming or the use of virtual private networks. Couple this fact with the high costs of most satellite Internet providers and frequent restrictive data caps, and it's a viable option if you lack access to other broadband services, but not much more.

Cable

Cable Internet access uses the existing cable television infrastructure to transmit data. The cable television infrastructure uses high-bandwidth coaxial cable, allowing speeds of as much as 30 Mbps to be reliably obtained. Like DSL, cable Internet access can be used simultaneously with the existing cable television systems. As a service which provides relatively high speeds, low latency, and acceptable prices, cable Internet connections have become the "default" broadband Internet connection for much of the world.

Fiber-optic

Fiber-optic Internet connections use advanced fiber-optic cables to transmit data to and from a customer's equipment. Fiber-optics use light as opposed to electricity to transmit a digital signal, reflecting the light along the inside of an incredibly-fine glass tube. As a result, data moves along the cables at the speed of light as opposed to at the lower speeds of electricity; this yields substantially higher connection speeds and lower latency for the customer. However, optical fiber is expensive to make and lay. As a result, fiber-optic connections have substantially higher prices than other forms of broadband Internet connection.