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Physical access to Broadband is obviously the most important factor in gaining access to the Internet.

However, Broadband is delivered via different technologies, and the type of technology determines the range of speeds delivered to your computer.

Many other factors will determine the speed of your connection and more importantly, how quickly you can access information, download files, or receive e-mails.

Speed = Quality
Speed can also determine the quality of the video you are watching, or audio you are listening to.

Depending on which application you're using, the speed of your connection will often determine whether it is even possible to run the application effectively.

Q. Why do I keep getting a message that my connection is “buffering?”

Measuring the speed needed to perform specific tasks, and run certain programs

There are two different factors to consider when measuring speed.

1. Bandwidth - refers to the size of the conduit in which the data is travelling.

2. Speed - refers to the rate at which the data is travelling at.

Using that definition, you see that a larger bandwidth will permit more data to travel, which will also increase the rate at which it travels.

This does not necessarily mean that the speed of your Broadband connection will be the same as your bandwidth. Bandwidth simply refers to the size of the “pipe” in which it is travelling.

For example, let's say you're transferring a file at 128 kbps. If you start to transfer another file it will compete for the total bandwidth and slow your speed down.

If you increase your bandwidth by adding another 128kpbs ISDN line, your first file will still travel at 128kpbs, but now you can transfer both files at 128kbps without sacrificing speed.

An analogy would be a highway with a 65mph speed limit. Even if more lanes were added to handle more vehicles, the speed limit is still 65mph.

Broadband Technology and Speeds (download)

Read More about your Broadband Service Options here >>

Broadband Providers and "Advertised Speeds"

Broadband providers advertise speeds in ranges for this very reason. It is difficult to estimate specifically how fast a specific connection will be.

Providers know they can provide a certain amount of bandwidth to handle specific amounts of data – but they do not know precisely when this data will be travelling, or when specific demands will be placed in the network.

So, instead of promising speeds that would be impossible to continuously maintain, they offer speeds which fall within certain ranges.

Your connection speed should fall within the ranges listed for the packages offered.

The bandwidth for these offerings should not be less than the maximum speed listed. For example, you cannot have speeds of more than 15 Mbps with a bandwidth of 15 Mbps.

Some providers offer speeds “up to certain speed.” In these cases, the “up to” speed is the bandwidth, which means that the speed you will actually experience could be much lower.

Bandwidth plays an integral role in both your upload speed and your download speed.

The Difference Between Upload and Download Speed for Broadband

In essence, there is no difference between uploading data and downloading data aside from the direction of the data transfer.

Download speeds are also usually much faster than upload speeds, because most Internet users retrieve data from the Internet – not transmit data and files to the Internet.

Providers generally advertise the speed of the data in the fastest direction, which is usually the download speed.

If you are a user who uploads large files or other high-volume information over the Internet, you might shop for faster upload speeds.

Units of Measurement - megabits and megabytes

Broadband speed is measured in megabits per second, commonly stated as Mb or Mbps (i.e. 15Mb or 15 Mbps).

There are eight bits in a byte, so, if your download speed is 8 megabits per second (8Mb), then that's actually sending 1 megabyte per second (1MB).

Make sure you don't get confused between megabits and megabytes (which tends to be written as MB, or GB when referring to gigabytes).

It's an important distinction because the size of many files, including songs, photos, and movies, are described in megabytes, as are download allowances.

You may also see Kb and KB - kilobits and kilobytes; there are 1,024KB in a MB, and 1,024MB in a GB - the same is true for Kb/Mb/Gb.

By its very definition, Broadband is a high speed Internet connection - which is also always on.

Dial-up access, on the other hand, requires the user to initiate a 56 Kbps connection to the Internet.

The FCC raised the minimum speed of Broadband to 4 Mbps downstream, and 1 Mbps upstream.

This is now the standard for a minimum "Broadband" connection.

The FCC set out an ambitious goal in the National Broadband Plan

The 100 squared initiative proposes to make
100 Mbps Broadband available to 100 million people by 2020.

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