Broadband
Jargon buster
ADSL
This is the technology which allows your telephone line to be used to
carry both data (through your broadband connection), and voice (through
your telephone) at the same time.
Broadband
Fast internet access which
is delivered either through a telephone line or cable line. Typically
the speed of broadband exceeds 512bps.
Cable
Broadband
In the UK, cable broadband
is delivered to 12.5 million households (that's a quarter of the total)
by Virgin Media. This type of broadband is often faster and more
reliable than telephone broadband, you can also receive other services
through this method such as your voice calls and television channels.
Dialup
This is a method of
accessing the internet. You can expect speeds of up to 56kbps, and works
in a similar way as a voice call, meaning that you can not use the
internet and telephone at the same time.
Download
Limits
This is the limit applied
to an individual broadband account. For more information see our guide; How
to choose a broadband product for a detailed explanation.
DSL
This stands for 'Digital
Subscriber Line', and is the technology behind your broadband
connection.
Downloading
Refers to getting
information from another source (this could be the internet, CD, DVD,
etc) and transferring it to the primary device that you are using. For
example, if you are looking at this website, you have downloaded it from
another computer. This is the opposite of uploading.
ISP
Interner Service Provider,
the company the manages broadband connections, some examples are; AOL,
BT Broadband, Tiscali, and Virgin Media.
MAC number
This means 'Migration
Authorisation Code', this is the number combination given to you by your
current broadband supplier, if you decide you want to switch to another
privider. For more information see our guide; How
to switch broadband provider for a detailed explanation.
Mb
This is the unit used to
describe an amount of computer data, and is short for megabit.
Mb/s
This is short for Megabit
per second, and is indicative of speed as it measures how many megabits
of data can be moved (or in terms of your internet connection,
downloaded) per second. For more information on broadband speeds, see
our guide; How
to choose a broadband product.
Mobile
Broadband
Mobile broadband is the
delivery or use of a broadband connection on the go. This may be whilst
driving the car, whilst in a shop, or sitting at the beach.
Streaming
This is a method of data
transfer which involves a constant stream of data. An example of this is
if you are watching a movie or video clip online, the data is being
downloaded as you watch it.
Uploading
Refers to getting
information from the primary device that you are using, to another
source (this could be the internet, CD, DVD, etc). For example, if you
wanted to transfer a family picture from your home PC to the internet,
you would upload it to the internet.
VoIP
This stands for 'Voice Over
Internet Protocol', which is a cheaper (sometimes free) method of making
telephone calls over your broadband connection.
Wireless
Broadband
This is broadband via a
wireless router. The broadband band connection is made wireless allowing
you use the internet without your computer needing to be plugged into
the router.
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