Just What Is High Speed Internet

As technology advances every day, our need to be connected to the world increases as well. Internet has become a necessity, and gone were the days when speed was not a consideration. Now, there are many options when it comes to getting fast internet whether for homes or offices.

High Speed Internet refers to any internet connect that is not done by regular dial up. It usually indicates speeds faster than 56 Kbps. Both broadband and wireless types of access are high speed internet.

Kilobit per second (Kbps) is a measurement of data transfer speed. 1 Kbps equals 1024 bits of information. A character, such as a letter, is made of 8 bits. Each group of 8 bits is called a byte. At 52 Kbps per second, effectively 6686 characters can be transferred in one second. DSL modems can deliver speeds as fast as 5000Kbps which is 3 Megabits per second (Mbps). This equals 384,000 characters of data transferred per second.

Dial up service is accomplished using an acoustic modem. This converts signals to dial tones; to be transferred over telephone lines and back to the computer. In 2000, dial up was the most common internet access in residential use. In 2010, 500 million Americans had high speed internet.

Benefits of high speed internet include easy on-line radio, television, television and conferencing. Also interactive, intensive on-line gaming, administration of remote activities, and rapid browsing of the world wide web. There are several common methods to deliver higher data transmission rates.

Asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ASDL). Uses copper wires with telephone service.
Internet over cable television lines.
LAN (PPPoE) A local area network. (Point to point protocol over Ethernet)
Wifi Accomplished using radio waves similar to how cell phones work.
Wireless Internet service provider.
Mobile broadband.
Satellite Internet.
Data-only cellular networks.
Leased line. A provider supplies the transmission line and supplies service for a monthly fee.
Broadband over power line.
IP over DVB. Internet Protocol over Digital Video Broadcasting.
Fiber to the home. Fiber optic cable connections.
Wireless mesh network. A series of connected nodes of communication.
Packet radio. Technology that sends data by radio or wireless links.
Free-space optical communication. Uses light transmitted through air free space to transmit data.

Broadband Internet service provides full time access. There is no sign-on procedure for regular use. It does not interfere with telephone function at all. ASDL and cable internet are the most commonly used technologies. In areas where cables are not available, satellite internet and wifi are common. Some rural towns without cable high speed internet have created a community WiFi system.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) utilizes the telephone line, but at very high frequencies. The lower frequencies remain uninterrupted for use by telephone. Both can run simultaneously without interference. ADSL is the most used ADL. Data can be transmitted by DSL up to 20 Mbps upstream to the provider; however, downstream or return speeds are slower. This is the basis for the term Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) provides identical transmission rates in both directions.

The exponential rate of technological advances in science continues to open up faster and more convenient electronic capabilities. Soon high speed internet transmission rates will be instantaneous. At times, they seem to be now.