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.
