Broadband Glossary

ADSL

ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. This is a fancy way of saying it's a technology that allows more data to be sent over existing copper telephone lines. It's Asymmetric because the upload and download speeds are normally different.

Anti-Adware and Spyware Programs

Adware and spyware are sneaky little computer programs that can make their way into your computer when you visit the wrong websites or open the wrong files without adequate security. Adware is designed to promote its owners products or services in unscrupulous ways (like popping up ads on your computer or changing the page your Internet browser defaults to when you open it). Spyware normally tracks your Internet usage (it's a kind of unscrupulous market research), but the worst ones are designed to track your keystrokes. If you're unlucky enough to be infected with an adware or spyware program, your virus protection software will sometimes/often get rid of it. But not always. Some adware / spyware is really hard to remove. To get rid of them, you need to install cleaners like Spybot (for Spyware) and Adaware (for Adware). You can also install SpywareBlaster to supplement your virus protection and help stop your computer from becoming infected in the first place. These programs are all free for non-commercial use.

Bandwidth

A broadband network delivers Internet access to many, many customers. Sometimes millions. And their physical infrastructure (cables, towers, computers, etc.) has limitations. It can only carry so much data at any point in time. This is known as bandwidth. It's handy to think of it in terms of a hose. Only so much water can fit through the hose. The fatter the hose, the more water it can fit.

Broadband

Derived from the words, "broad" and "bandwidth", broadband is a generic term covering all sorts of different high capacity, two way, 'always-on' Internet connections. ADSL, cable, wireless and satellite are all considered broadband.

Broadband Bundle

A broadband bundle is a package that includes both phone and broadband Internet connection, all for one low price. In fact, many customers may find their broadband bundle costs about the same as their existing phone bill, alone. Sometimes even less. This means, with a broadband bundle, they're effectively getting their broadband Internet connection for free!

Broadband Coverage

Whether or not you can connect to the Internet with a broadband connection. Because Australia is such a big country, the infrastructure required for broadband access is expensive and time-consuming to install nationwide. This means that not everyone can get broadband coverage. Check if your area has broadband coverage.

Broadband Filters

With broadband, your phone and Internet connection use the same physical line. A broadband filter connects your phone to the shared phone line, so you can't hear the high-pitched noise of data being sent and received.

Broadband Firewall

A firewall is a device or software application that stops unauthorised people and computers accessing your computer via the Internet. Firewalls are sometimes called 'broadband firewalls' because when you have a broadband connection, your computer is permanently connected to the Internet, so it's much more vulnerable to unauthorised access.

Broadband Modem

A device that allows your computer to connect to the Internet and send and receive data. Usually acts as a router too.

Broadband Network

The physical components that make possible a broadband Internet connection. Simplistically put, a broadband network consists of your ISP's computers and your Telco's infrastructure of mobile signal towers or telephone exchanges.

Broadband Router

A device - usually part of your modem - that sits between your computer (or network) and the Internet and ensures that all data goes where it should. Routers do their best work when you operate a network, and you want Internet access on all computers. You see, when you sign up for an Internet connection, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) only assigns you a single IP address (a series of numbers that identifies your connection, such as 111.22.3.444). This is fine if you only have one computer, but if you're running a network, you need a device between your network and the Internet to act as a traffic cop, otherwise incoming data won't know which computer to go to. The broadband router is this device. It assigns an IP address to each computer, and when data arrives, it directs it to the right place. So, in reality, unless you operate a network or, for some reason, you want to manually set the IP address of your computer, you probably won't find broadband routers very interesting.

Broadband Security

When you have a broadband connection, you're computer is connected to the Internet nearly all the time. (In fact, the only times you're not connected are when you manually disconnect or your modem or ISP causes a dropout.) This means it's particularly vulnerable to security threats such as unauthorised access or viruses. So if you have a broadband connection, you need to ensure that you implement adequate security measures, such as a firewall, virus protection software and possibly even anti-adware and spyware programs. With broadband security in place, your files, communications, usernames, passwords and Internet usage will be a lot safer from prying 'eyes' and 'hands'.

Cable

In broadband-speak, 'cable' means broadband access that is supplied through coaxial cable or fiber-optic lines (first used for TV).

Download

Any time you request data from the Internet, you're downloading. Typically, this will be when you access a web page, manually download a file, receive an email, or have an Internet phone conversation (in which case, listening is downloading - talking is uploading). See also download limit.

Download Limit

Because there's only so much bandwidth to go around, and downloading chews up bandwidth, downloading costs you money. Most ISPs include a set amount of downloads in your broadband plan, and once you exceed this limit, you either pay excess usage fees, or your connection speed is reduced for the remainder of the month.

Download Speed

See speed

Internet Phone

Once you've paid for your broadband Internet connection, sending and receiving data is effectively free (assuming you don't exceed your monthly download limit). So some clever person figured out how to digitise your voice signal and send and receive it over the Internet as data (a transmission protocol called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP). This means it's now possible to make voice calls for free as well. This is generically called 'Internet phone'.

'Internet phone' is also used to refer to a particular kind of telephone that's VoIP enabled. This sort of phone plugs into your ADSL phone line and instantly enables you to make voice calls over the Internet. However, the additional investment in a VoIP-enabled Internet phone is unecessary these days, as many ISPs (including Virgin) are now offering the Internet phone service as part of their broadband package. With this sort of arrangement, you can simply plug your existing phone into a VoIP-enabled modem, and all calls from that point on are made over the Internet.

ISP

Internet Service Provider - the company that provides your access to the Internet (such as Virgin Broadband).

Line Speed

See speed

Mobile Broadband

The ability to access the Internet on your laptop, wherever you are (well, nearly). So long as you're in the provider's coverage area (which in the case of Virgin is most metro areas), you have full access to the Internet. Importantly, mobile broadband is very different to portable broadband, which gives you Internet access anywhere in your house, but not far beyond.

Optus 3G Mobile Network

The Optus 3G mobile network is Optus' proprietary third-generation mobile network. Third-generation networks are designed to transmit more data, faster. Virgin Mobile Broadband gives you high speed access to the Internet through the Optus 3G mobile network using HSDPA technology, which means it goes even faster still than a regular 3G signal. Unlike traditional ADSL broadband, wireless broadband such as that supported by this network, doesn't use your phone line to send and receive data. Instead, it sends data through the air, in much the same way as your mobile phone.

Plan

Internet access is all about speed, download limits and voice calls. A plan is your Internet Service Provider's way of quantifying these components and assigning them a dollar value. In other words, turning them into a kind of product or agreement. So you might be on a plan that promises up to 8Mbps speed, 7Gigabytes of downloads per month and unlimited Internet voice calls.

Portable Broadband

Wireless Internet access that's provided via a wireless modem that can be moved around your house and still provide you with Internet access.

Satellite Broadband

A type of broadband connection that communicates via satellite. A dish is installed on the roof of your premises and it communicates with satellites in orbit around Earth. Satellite broadband is usually the most expensive and slowest of all broadband types, and becomes even more expensive if you want to be able to upload and download at the same time. As a result, it tends to be used most often by people in very remote areas (and who are also desperate for broadband!).

Speed

How fast your downloads are. The best way to test your speed is to go to a reputable Australian speed test page. Speed is one of the most misunderstood aspects of broadband Internet. To begin with, there are three different units of measurement: kilobits per second (kbps), megabits per second (Mbps), and KiloBytes per second. There are a thousand kilobits in a Megabit, and there are 8 bits in a byte. So 1760kbps = 1.76Mbps = 220KB/Sec.

Then there's the confusion between speed test results and the speed reported in the dialog box that displays when you're downloading a file. Reputable Australian speed tests calculate your speed based on the time it takes you to download some data from their very reliable and capable servers, which are located in Australia. So speed test results are normally faster than your usual downloads, because most of your downloads probably come from overseas sites that use poor technology or are really, really busy.

Speed Test

A test of how fast your computer downloads data from the Internet. Reputable Australian speed tests calculate your speed based on the time it takes you to download some data from their very reliable and capable servers, which are located in Australia.

Telco

Telecommunications Provider (such as Telstra or Optus). The telco provides the infrastructure, which ISPs then give you access to.

Upload

Send data from your computer over the Internet to another computer. Whenever you send an email, add a photo to an online journal, or submit information to a website, you're uploading data. Most ISPs don't limit or charge excess usage fees for uploads (although some do, such as Telstra NextG).

USB Cable

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. But that's not really important to most people. What is important is that you can connect all sorts of devices to your computer using USB cables. USB cables have that rectangular connector about a centimeter wide and 3mm thick. Common USB devices include mice, keyboards, external hard drives, card readers, printers and scanners. In fact, there are now so many devices that connect via USB that most computers don't have enough USB ports for them all. Fortunately, you can buy handy little devices called USB hubs, to supplement your computer's available USB ports.

USB Hub

Most devices these days are USB. Unfortunately, most computers only come with a few USB ports. Especially laptops. Fortunately, if you run out of ports, you can simply buy a USB hub. Simply by plugging it in to a USB port on your computer, you immediately add another 3, 5 or 7 USB ports to your computer. And if that's not enough, you can plug another USB hub into the first, and so on. TIP: It's advisable to buy powered USB hubs (i.e. ones that have their own power cord). This way, you can plug things like USB hard drives into them without any problems. You can buy 7 port powered USB hub for around AUD $40 (see http://www.theaxiom.com.au/).

Virus

A malicious software program that finds its way onto your computer, and damages files and programs. See also virus protection.

Virus Protection

A software program (or group of programs) that you install on your computer to stop viruses finding their way onto your computer and damaging your files and programs. Good virus protection programs scan all incoming and outgoing emails and can perform automatic system scans perioridically. You can also use them to scan files before opening them (such as files you've downloaded from the Internet or copied or installed of a floppy disk, CD or DVD). Some virus protection programs also incorporate firewall protection.

VoIP

See Internet phone.

Wireless

Short for "Wireless Internet", wireless gives you high speed access to the Internet without using your phone line to send and receive data. Instead, it sends data through the air, in much the same way as your mobile phone.

Wireless Broadband Card

A device that slots into your laptop and gives you wireless access to broadband Internet, wherever you go within the provider's coverage area.

Wireless Modem

A modem that doesn't need to connect to your phone port or an external aerial. It has its own aerial, so all you need to do is plug it into your computer, and it communicates with the wireless broadband network directly. Some wireless modems are portable (i.e. you can move them around your house and still have Internet access) and some are truly mobile (i.e. you can take them virtually anywhere and still have Internet access). Wireless modems are only available to people with wireless Internet connections.