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There is a wide selection of choice available to you in the broadband market, within the plethora of options, there are two main connection methods available: ADSL and cable.
ADSL, which is an acronym for Asychronous Digital Subscriber Line, uses the existing copper cable that your phone line is on to transmit and recieve the internet data. The upload rate is lower than the download rate, hence the 'asynchronous' in the name. As it makes use of existing copper and phone infrastructure, this type of connection is widely available, although the closer you are to the local exchange the better, as you will see faster speeds.
Cable broadband doesn't use copper wires, instead all the data is sent via fibre-optic cable. This doesn't use electrical signals to send data, instead is uses pulses of light which are then converted at each end into the neccessary electrical output. Cable can typically offer faster connection speeds than ADSL, despite popular belief that this is down to light travelling faster down a cable than electricity can, it is actually more down to interference, or the lack of it. ADSL is more susceptable to interference, and correcting this reduces the speeds achieveable, whereas cable does not have this bottleneck. The downside to cable broadband is that it requires special fibre cable, and therefore is only available in areas where this has been laid.
Those are the two main broadband products, within these there are many to choose from. The main options are listed below.
2 MB Broadband
This is now considered a base package, typically provided over an ADSL connection, although cable is also available at this speed. A wide coverage is provided, so even those many miles from an exchange should be able to recieve this type of broadband connection. As with all quoted speeds, the 2mbps is the theoretical maximum, and in reality download speeds will be lower than this.
8 MB Broadband
Improvements in the handling of line noise (or intereference) has meant that ADSL has been able to increase in speed to 8mbps, and be available much further than the exchange than before. Cable can also provide these speeds, and will typically get closer to this maximum than the ADSL equivalent.
Unlimited Broadband
This is a term that is much used when broadband is being promoted. It's meaning is somewhat ambiguous however, as it doesn't quite mean what it says. Not so long ago, most broadband connections had a cap to the amount of data that the user was allowed to download in each month, some packages still have this and it is typically in the 5 - 15 gb range. Some providers decided to remove this cap, and so create 'unlimited' broadband packages, however these are not truely unlimited as they are covered by a 'fair use' policy. So while there may not be a fixed cap, heavy use can result in the ISP contacting the customer to inform them that they need to reduce their internet use.
Wireless Broadband
Wireless broadband is a term used for two main products, the first being a wireless connection to an ADSL or cable router, the second being a connection that is made over the mobile phone network, giving a broadband connection from anywhere with coverage.
Most home broadband packages come with some form of modem, typically this is in the form of a small box that connects to just one computer via a USB cable. With a wireless broadband package, a wireless modem router is supplied, this allows multiple computers to connect to the Internet without needing to be plugged into the router.
See also:
Wireless Broadband
Broadband Deals
Cheap Broadband
Unlimited Broadband
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