During the last six months or so we’ve seen a rapid rise in
the availability of “broadband”. I thought it might be helpful to you to talk a
bit about what broadband is, and explain a little bit about the alternatives for
accessing the Internet.
Up until fairly recently the only cost effective means for
accessing the Internet from home was by connecting a modem to your phone line.
The modem may be contained on a card inside your computer, or it may be an
external modem, but the effect is the same. What it does is to modify (or
modulate) a sound that is sent down your phone line in such a manner that
another modem at the receiving end can decode (or demodulate) the information.
This is where the term “modem” comes from, as in modulate-demodulate.
Because we’re using a system that was originally designed for
transmitting speech, there’s a limit on how fast we can actually send data by
this method. The absolute maximum is 56,000 bits-per-second, or more simply just
written as 56K, although it’s more likely that we’ll only achieve something like
40-45K due to interference and noise on the line. In fact we’re not making very
good use of the system here since we’re using an analogue technology to transmit
digital data. Speech consists of lots of different tones and volumes, but you
might think of a modem as just using two different volume levels to represent 0
and 1 logic levels. What if we could use all the other possible volume levels
and tones? We could then transmit a lot more data at once.
By using a digital connection we can indeed work much faster.
ISDN was the first generation of digital telecommunications, but this is now
being replaced by ADSL, a broadband solution. The term “broadband” implies a
broad range of wavebands that can be used, as opposed to “narrowband” (which
refers to the 56K solution), and allows transmission rates of 500K, 1000K, or
even faster!
So which is the best solution for you? The contenders are as
follows:
1) Pay-as-you-go dial-up solution,
2) Unmetered dial-up solution,
3) ADSL,
4) Cable.
The pay-as-you-go solution is a narrowband implementation, and
usually uses local-rate 0845 dial-up numbers for connecting to an Internet
Service provider (ISP). You pay for what you use at around 1p/minute during
evenings & weekends, and more during the working day. Because it’s a narrowband
solution it can be quite sluggish when transferring significant amounts of data,
and some web pages can be slow to load, particularly if they contain lots of
graphics.
Unmetered dial-up is also a narrowband solution, but your
connection time is not metered so you don’t pay for it directly. Instead you pay
a monthly fee that allows you virtually unlimited access to the Internet. For
access at evenings and weekends only this might cost about £10-£12 per month,
but if you want 24-hour access then the cost is higher, perhaps £15 per month.
If you use the Internet for more than, say, 20 hours a month then this is going
to more cost effective than a pay-as-you-go solution, and also allows you to
budget your costs more effectively without worrying about how long you’ve spent
online.
ADSL uses an always-on broadband connection, and will appear
notably faster when downloading web pages or files. Unlike the narrowband
solutions ADSL doesn’t require you to dial your ISP, it’s always connected even
if you aren’t using it. This may represent a security hazard, but that’s the
price you pay for convenience and speed although it’s unlikely that the casual
user would suffer any more than they would with a narrowband connection. ADSL
costs around £28 per month at the moment and requires you to pay an installation
fee. You’ll also need to buy a special modem, so the initial costs can be quite
high.
The last option is cable. For this to be a viable alternative
you have to live in an area serviced by a cable operator, e.g. NTL or Telewest.
Cable operators offer a range of different connection types at various prices,
and will offer broadband solutions at competitive rates.
Visit HUB International at
http://www.hubint.comfor cat & dog exhibition and
grooming items.
If you’re thinking about going abroad with your pet, or
importing from overseas then the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural
Affairs website has some very useful information on the Pet Passport Scheme,
etc. Visit them at http://www.defra.gov.uk.
Trying to find that elusive book title? Go to BookBrain at
http://www.bookbrain.co.ukto see what bookshops stock it.
Well that completes another edition of Mouse Not Found! So
until next time, happy surfing!
