Broadband Internet Access Options:

     The internet.

     It makes it possible us to email, search, research, instant message, game, browse, shop, and transmit pictures and videos to friends and loved ones hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Individuals use it. Businesses use it to build their customer base. Even businesses that are not retail make use of the internet in a myriad of ways. Internet access has quickly become an integral, if not indispensable, part of the everyday American life.

     Since the late eighties or early nineties most of us in America have gotten some form of internet access. At first most of us had a dial up connection. It was slow. Really slow, but it did get the job done. Unfortunately, it also tied up our phone lines, making it difficult for our friends and family to get a hold of us when somebody was ‘online’. Fortunately, broadband internet access came along.

     Broadband internet access solved many of the problems of the old dial up systems. Broadband largely solved the speed issue, at least for now, since broadband in its various forms is considerably faster than the traditional dial up connection, and for that reason it is often called ‘high speed internet’. It also solves the availability issues that dial up poses since broadband does not interfere with the use of your telephone regardless of the type of broadband internet access you have. A third feature of broadband internet access is that it is always connected to the internet. Another potential advantage of broadband that seems to be just now coming to the foreground is the opportunity for broadband phone service which allows subscribers to use their internet connection to call anywhere in the world. Furthermore, broadband internet access is offered by companies all across the country. That’s right, AOL offers broadband. MSN offers broadband internet access, as does AT&T.

     Broadband is a general term that is used to describe at least three different technologies that provide high speed internet access. One such technology is a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). With DSL your broadband internet access is achieved through your telephone jack like your dial up connection was, but in this case it doesn’t tie up your phone line because your DSL modem isolates the computers bandwidth on the phone line from the bandwidth that your telephone uses. This makes it easy to set up a DSL form of broadband internet access, but I have read that it is not always available in rural areas.

     The second major form of broadband internet access is known as ‘cable’ because it uses the existing connection that your home likely has to provide cable television in much the same way as DSL uses your preexisting telephone connection. Just like the DSL modem, the cable modem can provide high speed internet access over a television cable at the same time the cable is being used to receive television signals without conflict. Of course, if your house isn’t wired for cable this service may not be useful.

     The third major form of broadband internet access is satellite. It provides blazingly fast internet access through a properly installed satellite dish. The upsides to broadband via satellite are its speed and accessibility to people in rural locations. The downside is its cost. Satellite internet access tends to be the most expensive dependable route to broadband internet access.

Broadband Internet Access

Broadband Internet Access