Broadband Connection Options

Choosing a broadband plan can be a very confusing and time consuming experience as there are many different ways in which you can get connected. Below is some information which may help you understand some of the jargon.

ADSL

'73% of Australian Broadband users are on ADSL1'

Some of the benefits of ADSL are:

  • Uses your regular telephone line
  • It can be way faster than dial up
  • It is ‘always on’ - you don't have to dial up every time
  • You can still use your phone for voice calls

ADSL is an acronym for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A connection of this type uses the copper wire telephone line that you have linked to your house or business.

It seems like a pretty complex term, but it is pretty simple to understand. Asymmetric means that the line has been optimised to allow the flow of data to travel faster in one direction that the other - so downloading is faster than uploading.

Your telephone exchange needs to be activated for ADSL (this is not your responsibility) and you need to be located within a certain distance of the exchange for ADSL to work effectively, i.e. if you are on a remote cattle station, ADSL is probably not an option for you!

ADSL is available in the following speed combinations:

  • 256Kbps download speed / 64Kbps upload speed
  • 512Kbps download speed / 128Kbps upload speed
  • 1.5Mbps (1500Kbps) download speed / 256Kbps upload speed
  • 8Mbps (8000Kbps) download speed / 384Kbps upload speed

It is important to note that the speeds are ‘maximum attainable' speeds and that your connection might not run at these maximum speeds due to a range of common issues, such as distance from the telephone exchance, quality of telephone line, etc.

ADSL2+

‘ADSL2+ is super fast’

ADSL2+ has become widespread. It started making an impact on our broadband environment when competitive carriers started making their own upgrades to exchanges to allow for these super fast speeds. Now ADSL2+ is available from most carriers in lots of exchanges around the country.

ADSL2+ can support a theoretical download speed of up to 24Mbps and an upload speed of up to 1024Kbps (1Mbps). For most users however, the actual speeds attained when using an ADSL2+ connection will be somewhat less than these theoretical maximums.

Some of the benefits of ADSL2+ are:

  • Uses your regular telephone line
  • It can be way faster than 256Kbps ADSL
  • It is ‘always on’ - you don't have to dial up every time
  • You can still use your phone for voice calls

Your telephone exchange needs to be activated for ADSL2+ (this is not your responsibility) and you need to be located within a certain distance of the exchange for ADSL2+ to work effectively. ADSL2+ is not available at all telephone exchanges and is currently generally only available in major metropolitan areas.

Cable

‘Cable Broadband is a fast and dedicated connection'

This is a type of broadband connection in which you connect to the internet via the high bandwidth cable used for pay TV. Only Optus and Telstra offer cable broadband at present. Cable broadband requires the purchase of a cable modem and usually requires professional installation from the Internet Service Provider (which is usually an additional cost).

Some of the benefits of Cable Broadband are:

  • It is usually very fast
  • It is ‘always on’ - you don't have to dial up every time
  • It doesn't use your phone line at all so you can still use your phone for voice calls or you can do away with a phone line altogether!

Cable Broadband is typically available in the following speed combinations:

  • 8Mbps download speed / 128Kbps upload speed
  • 20Mbps download speed / 1024Kbps upload speed
  • 30Mbps download speed / 1024Kbps upload speed

Wireless Networking

Wireless networking should not be confused with Mobile Broadband (see below). With a wireless network, you are able to share network, printer and Internet resources amongst a group of computers in your home or business.

For example, if you have a laptop with built-in wireless networking capabilities, then you may wish to purchase a wireless broadband router so that you can connect to the Internet from any location in your home or business without the need for a cable. The wireless broadband router will connect to a normal ADSL connection and then your laptop can be configured to share this Internet connection.

Mobile Broadband

Mobile Broadband is a connection which uses the mobile telephone data network to provide an internet connection wirelessly to your computer. It is a portable connection and does not require a fixed telephone line.

This is not the same as in-home wireless or ‘wi-fi’ which uses a wireless router inside the house to share an existing wired internet connection that you have via ADSL or cable.

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