guide-to-isp.com

The advantages of a power-line network:

It’s inexpensive. It uses existing electrical wiring. Every room of a typical house has several electrical outlets. It’s easy to install. A printer, or any other device that doesn’t need to be directly connected to a computer, doesn’t have to be physically near any of the computers in the network. It doesn’t require that a card be installed in the computer (although there are companies working on PCI-based systems). The new PowerPacket technology provides a couple of other advantages as well. It is fast, rated at 14 megabits per second (Mbps). This speed allows for new applications, such as audio and video streaming, to be available throughout the house. There are some disadvantages to connecting through power-lines when using the older Intelogis technology:

• The connection is rather slow — 50 Kbps to 350 Kbps.
• The performance can be impacted by home power usage.
• It can limit the features of your printer.
• It only works with Windows-based computers.
• It uses large wall devices to access an electrical outlet.
• It can only use 110-V standard lines.
• It requires that all data be encrypted for a secure network.
• Older wiring can affect performance.

New power-line networking products are based on Intellon’s PowerPacket technology.

According to Intellon, PowerPacket technology eliminates many of these concerns, citing the following advantages:

• It is very fast, rated at 14 Mbps.
• It “avoids” disruptions in the power-line, maintaining the network’s connections and speeds.
• It does not limit the features of your printer.
• It can be compatible with other operating systems (depending on driver availability).
• It may have the necessary circuitry embedded within the device, necessitating only a standard power cord to access an outlet.
• It works independent of line voltage and frequency of current.
• It includes encryption.
• In tests, it showed no signal degradation due to older wiring.

via [Plugtek]

Wireless Broadband is a fairly new technology that provides high-speed wireless internet and data network access over a wide area.

According to the 802.16-2004 standard, broadband means ‘having instantaneous bandwidth greater than around 1 MHz and supporting data rates greater than about 1.5 Mbit/s. This means that Wireless Broadband features speeds roughly equivalent to wired broadband access, such as that of ADSL or a cable modem.

Technology and speeds

Few WISP’s provide download speeds of over 100 Mbit/s; most broadband wireless access services are estimated to have a range of 50 km (30 miles) from a tower. Technologies used include LMDS and MMDS, as well as heavy use of the ISM bands and one particular access technology is being standardized by IEEE 802.16, also known as WiMAX. WiMAX is highly popular in Europe but has not met full acceptance in the United States because cost of deployment does not meet return on investment figures. In 2005 the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order that revised the FCC’s rules to open the 3650 MHz band for terrestrial wireless broadband operations. On November 14, 2007 the Commission released Public Notice DA 07-4605 in which the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced the start date for licensing and registration process for the 3650-3700 MHz band.

Initially, Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) were only found in rural areas not covered by cable or DSL.[4] These early WISPs would employ a high-capacity T-carrier, such as a T1 or DS3 connection, and then broadcast the signal from a high elevation, such as at the top of a water tower. To receive this type of Internet connection, consumers mount a small dish to the roof of their home or office and point it to the transmitter. Line of sight was usually necessary for this type of technology, but technologies by Motorola have not adhered to this general rule.

Mobile wireless broadband

Wireless broadband technologies also include new services from companies such as Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T Mobility, which allow a more mobile version of this broadband access. Consumers can purchase a PC card, laptop card, or USB equipment to connect their PC or laptop to the Internet via cell phone towers. This type of connection would be stable in almost any area that could also receive a strong cell phone connection. These connections can cost more for portable convenience as well as having speed limitations in all but urban environments.

via [Wikipedia]

For people who have been hooked on to the Internet these days, it remains that the only important thing is being connected on the web. Now the speed of your connection will vary. We have been witnesses to various Internet connections such as:

1. Dial Up
2. Cable
3. DSL
4. Broadband

Of these choices, we will of course choose the faster connections. But if you are just checking your email or surfing for a couple of minutes, do you really have to pay for the service that may not be justifiable if you are not a heavy Internet user?

These are things to consider. We need to save these days and whittling down our expenses such as ISP subscriptions can be a big help towards us.

Satellite Internet services are used in locations where terrestrial Internet access is not available and in locations which move frequently. Internet access via satellite is available worldwide, including vessels at sea and mobile land vehicles. There are three types of satellite Internet service.

Remote sites use the proxy server at the earth station (teleport), which is configured to route all outbound traffic to the QoS server, which makes sure no user exceeds their allotted bandwidth or monthly traffic limits. Traffic is then sent to the encapsulator, which puts the IP packets inside of DVB packets. The DVB packets are then sent to the DVB modem and then to the transmitter (BUC).

via [Wikipedia]

High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols. Two standards, HSDPA and HSUPA, have been established and a further standard, HSOPA, is being proposed.

The two existing standards (HSDPA and HSUPA) in the family provide increased performance by using improved modulation schemes and by refining the protocols by which handsets and base stations communicate. These improvements lead to a better utilization of the existing radio bandwidth provided by UMTS.

The number of commercial 3.5G networks–also known as High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, or HSDPA, networks–launched worldwide grew by 69 percent in 2007. There are now 174 commercial HSDPA networks in 76 countries. An additional 38 networks are committed to rollouts, which will bump the total to 211 HSDPA networks in 90 countries. Commercial HSDPA networks are widely available in Western Europe (61 networks), Southeast Asia (35), Eastern Europe (34), the Middle East and Africa (20), and the Americas and the Caribbean (16). Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of existing commercial HSDPA networks support downlink speeds of 3.6Mbps or more, while more than a fifth (21 percent) support the peak downlink speed of 7.2Mbps.

Many HSPA rollouts can be achieved by a software upgrade to existing 3G networks, giving 3.5G a headstart over WiMax, which requires dedicated network infrastructure. Rising sales of HSPA-enabled mobiles–aided by more-generous-than-expected operator subsidies of the hardware–are helping to drive the 3.5G market.

via [Wikipedia]

When you connect to the Internet, you might connect through a regular modem, through a local-area network connection in your office, through a cable modem or through a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection. DSL is a very high-speed connection that uses the same wires as a regular telephone line.
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Here are some advantages of DSL:

• You can leave your Internet connection open and still use the phone line for voice calls.
• The speed is much higher than a regular modem
• DSL doesn’t necessarily require new wiring; it can use the phone line you already have.
• The company that offers DSL will usually provide the modem as part of the installation.

But there are disadvantages:

• A DSL connection works better when you are closer to the provider’s central office. The farther away you get from the central office, the weaker the signal becomes.
• The connection is faster for receiving data than it is for sending data over the Internet.
• The service is not available everywhere.

In this article, we explain how a DSL connection manages to squeeze more information through a standard phone line — and lets you make regular telephone calls even when you’re online.

Telephone Lines
If you have read How Telephones Work, then you know that a standard telephone installation in the United States consists of a pair of copper wires that the phone company installs in your home. The copper wires have lots of room for carrying more than your phone conversations — they are capable of handling a much greater bandwidth, or range of frequencies, than that demanded for voice. DSL exploits this “extra capacity” to carry information on the wire without disturbing the line’s ability to carry conversations. The entire plan is based on matching particular frequencies to specific tasks.

To understand DSL, you first need to know a couple of things about a normal telephone line — the kind that telephone professionals call POTS, for Plain Old Telephone Service. One of the ways that POTS makes the most of the telephone company’s wires and equipment is by limiting the frequencies that the switches, telephones and other equipment will carry. Human voices, speaking in normal conversational tones, can be carried in a frequency range of 0 to 3,400 Hertz (cycles per second — see How Telephones Work for a great demonstration of this). This range of frequencies is tiny. For example, compare this to the range of most stereo speakers, which cover from roughly 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz. And the wires themselves have the potential to handle frequencies up to several million Hertz in most cases.

The use of such a small portion of the wire’s total bandwidth is historical — remember that the telephone system has been in place, using a pair of copper wires to each home, for about a century. By limiting the frequencies carried over the lines, the telephone system can pack lots of wires into a very small space without worrying about interference between lines. Modern equipment that sends digital rather than analog data can safely use much more of the telephone line’s capacity. DSL does just that.

via [HowStuffWorks]

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HowStuffWorks

ISDN, which stands for Integrated Services Digital Network, is a system of digital phone connections which has been available for over a decade. This system allows voice and data to be transmitted simultaneously across the world using end-to-end digital connectivity.

With ISDN, voice and data are carried by bearer channels (B channels) occupying a bandwidth of 64 kb/s (bits per second). Some switches limit B channels to a capacity of 56 kb/s. A data channel (D channel) handles signaling at 16 kb/s or 64 kb/s, depending on the service type. Note that, in ISDN terminology, “k” means 1000 (103), not 1024 (210) as in many computer applications (the designator “K” is sometimes used to represent this value); therefore, a 64 kb/s channel carries data at a rate of 64000 b/s. A new set of standard prefixes has recently been created to handle this. Under this scheme, “k” (kilo-) means 1000 (103), “M” (mega-) means 1000000 (106), and so on, and “Ki” (kibi-) means 1024 (210), “Mi” (mebi-) means 1048576 (220), and so on.

(An alert reader pointed out some inconsistencies in my use of unit terminology throughout this Tutorial. He also referred me to a definitive web site. As a result, I have made every effort to both conform to standard terminology, and to use it consistently. I appreciate helpful user input like this!)

There are two basic types of ISDN service: Basic Rate Interface (BRI) and Primary Rate Interface (PRI). BRI consists of two 64 kb/s B channels and one 16 kb/s D channel for a total of 144 kb/s. This basic service is intended to meet the needs of most individual users.

PRI is intended for users with greater capacity requirements. Typically the channel structure is 23 B channels plus one 64 kb/s D channel for a total of 1536 kb/s. In Europe, PRI consists of 30 B channels plus one 64 kb/s D channel for a total of 1984 kb/s. It is also possible to support multiple PRI lines with one 64 kb/s D channel using Non-Facility Associated Signaling (NFAS).

H channels provide a way to aggregate B channels. They are implemented as:

• H0=384 kb/s (6 B channels)
• H10=1472 kb/s (23 B channels)
• H11=1536 kb/s (24 B channels)
• H12=1920 kb/s (30 B channels) - International (E1) only

To access BRI service, it is necessary to subscribe to an ISDN phone line. Customer must be within 18000 feet (about 3.4 miles or 5.5 km) of the telephone company central office for BRI service; beyond that, expensive repeater devices are required, or ISDN service may not be available at all. Customers will also need special equipment to communicate with the phone company switch and with other ISDN devices. These devices include ISDN Terminal Adapters (sometimes called, incorrectly, “ISDN Modems”) and ISDN Routers.

via [Ralphb.net]

Cable Internet Access or Cable Internet refers to the delivery of Internet service through Cable modems, along with DSL technology, are the two primary types of broadband Internet access.

Bit rate of business cable modem service typically range from 2 megabits per second (Mbit/s) up to 50 Mbit/s or more.
The upstream rate on residential cable modem service usually ranges from 384 kilobits per second (kbit/s) to 20 Mbit/s or more. Many cable operators offer different service tiers, some with ‘home’ and ‘business’ designations.

There are two potential disadvantages to cable internet:

1. Like all residential broadband network technologies (e.g. DSL, FTTX, Satellite internet, WiMAX), a fixed channel capacity is shared by a population of users (in the case of cable internet, users in a neighborhood share the available capacity provided by a single coaxial cable line). Therefore, service speed can vary depending on how many people are using the service at the same time. This arrangement allows the network operator to take advantage of statistical multiplexing in order to provide an adequate level of service at an acceptable price. However, the operator has to monitor usage patterns, and scale the network appropriately, to ensure that customers receive adequate service even during peak usage times. Some operators also use a bandwidth cap.

2. Many cable Internet providers are reluctant to offer cable modem access without tying it to a cable television subscription. They do this by charging higher rates, say $60/month for cable modem only access, than if one bundles it with a cable TV plan where it might be $40/month for cable modem service plus $40/month for cable TV service. This is because you receive free basic TV with just internet service. This has ramifications similar to those of the lack of naked DSL. Cable internet access providers who resell access from cable companies, such as Earthlink, are generally not subject to these higher rates. However, they cannot give you internet access if you don’t have cable service.

Cable Internet Equipment

Broadband cable internet access requires a cable modem (CM) at the customer premises and a CMTS located at a cable operator facility (typically a headend or hub location). The two are connected via coaxial cable or, more commonly, a Hybrid Fiber Coaxial plant. While access network technologies are sometimes referred to as “last-mile” (or “first-mile”) technologies, cable internet systems can typically operate where the distance between the CM and CMTS is up to 100 miles (160 km).

via [Wikipedia]

Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISPs) are internet service providers with networks built around wireless networking. The technology used ranges from commonplace Wi-Fi mesh networking or proprietary equipment designed to operate over open 900MHz and 2.4GHz bands or licensed frequencies in the UHF or MMDS bands.

In 2005 the Federal Communications Commission released Report and Order, FCC 05-56 that revised the FCC’s rules to open the 3650 MHz band for terrestrial wireless broadband operations. On November 14, 2007 the Commission released Public Notice (DA 07-4605) in which the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced the start date for licensing and registration process for the 3650-3700 MHz band.

via [Wikipedia]

Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is high-speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a modem.

Dial-up modems are generally only capable of a maximum bitrate of 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) and require the full use of a telephone line—whereas broadband technologies supply at least double this speed and generally without disrupting telephone use.

Although various minimum speeds have been used in definitions of broadband, ranging up from 64 kbit/s up to 1.0 Mbit/s, the OECD report is typical in counting only download speeds equal to or faster than 256 kbit/s as broadband, and the US FCC use 200 kbit/s in their definition.

Speeds are defined in terms of maximum download because several common consumer broadband technologies such as ADSL are “asymmetric”—supporting much slower maximum upload speeds than download.

“Broadband penetration” is now treated as a key economic indicator.

via [Wikipedia]