Confusing Broadband Terms – What do they Mean?
A couple of years ago you had your hand on the pulse with every single technological innovation but now, you feel more clueless than your grandma? Fear no more! With our glossary of confusing broadband terms you won’t dread calling your service provider helpline ever again!
ADSL
Short for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. Still confused? It is the technology used to deliver broadband over your existing phone system. Common internet connection, ADSL is a way of data to be transferred quickly over copper wires.
BANDWIDTH
The capacity of your Internet connection for transmitting or receiving data. With the more bandwidth available, the more data can be transferred and the faster your data will download to your computer – good to know when you like to download films or music.
BROADBAND
Broadband is a permanent Internet connection that can transfer more than one type of data at the same time and at high speed. Thanks to that, it allows you to use internet and have and access to Internet connection at the same time.
CAPPING
Capping holds two different meanings in the world of broadband. First of them is a cap on how much data you can download on a certain contract (so again, look out for it if you are a serious downloader!) and you can be fined after exceeding it. The second use of the term is as a synonym to throttling, which has its own section in our glossary.
FAIR USAGE POLICY
Often written in small print when it comes to ‘unlimited’ broadband packages. It limits downloading by very heavy downloaders at particularly busy times (usually from 6pm to 11pm). Breaking the policy could incur penalty so make sure you always read the small print!
FIBRE BROADBAND
Fibre-optic cable will one day replace all the older copper cable, used for making telephone lines for years. Why is it better than traditional copper? Unlike it, fibre WAS introduced with transmitting data in mind so can do it quicker and more efficiently.
IP
A unique number. This identifies the location of your computer on the Internet, making it possible to communicate with other computers. Each computer has its own unique IP address so it is easy to identify it.
THROTTLING
Also known as ‘traffic management’ or ‘traffic shaping’. It refers to the Internet Service Providers deliberately slowing down internet connections to certain customers at certain times, sometimes prioritising some customers over the others. Usually, it is employed during peak broadband usage times or against those customers who overstepped their usage cap or fair usage policy.
