What is Broadband?
Broadband internet refers to high speed internet access, an upgrade over traditional dial-up internet. Broadband internet use has been on the rise since the turn of the century, with dial-up serving more as punch line to describe seemingly stone-age set ups than as a recommended means of accessing the web.Technically speaking, broadband refers to data transmissions speeds greater than or equal to 4 megabits per second (4,000,000 bits per second), a definition that has been refined over the years, raising the minimum requirements to meet the classification. The term broadband comes from a greater or “broader” bandwidth, allowing for more traffic to coexist without interrupting a service signal.Both Cable and DSL technology may be used to achieve Broadband speeds. Cable modems provide more bandwidth than DSL hook-ups, offering additional speed as well, though according to real-world tests, the difference between DSL and Cable is much greater in theory than in practice, as Cable modem speeds are subject to slowed performance in heavy traffic or as the result of limited home network capabilities.In fact, the term Broadband has been expanded to be more inclusive of an umbrella of high-speed internet technologies. Today’s Broadband is inclusive of even the latest technologies, such as WiMax, 802.20 (Mobile Broadband), satellite internet and High Speed Packet Access (or 3.5G), with even more methods still in development.As the world evolves to new heights in terms of connectivity, perhaps the question at hand no longer is “What is Broadband?” Better yet, “What isn’t Broadband?” Broadband has become the standard for high speed communication, even serving as a barometer for a country’s economic development, through the tracking of “broadband penetration,” measuring the percent of broadband users relative to a countries population/household. In short, Broadband either defines the speed at which you can connect to the internet, or the speed at which the world around you is leaving you behind.