A Guide to Broadband

Before you can do anything you must find out what services are available to you in your area. Most broadband connections in the UK are made through copper wire telephone lines and, providing the ISP has installed their equipment in your local telephone exchange, an ADSL line should not be a problem.

Other broadband services are delivered via a fibre optic cable and your access to this will again depend on the ISP’s service in your area.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) - This type of connection is made through an existing BT telephone line, and is available to 80 per cent of the UK. A modem or router is used along with micro-filters, which attach to your phone sockets, allowing you to surf the web and talk on the phone simultaneously. This service has a faster downloading speed than uploading speed and so is marketed more toward home users.

Cable- Cable broadband is a good option for customers who already have cable television.  A modem is attached to your cable TV box, either one that you already have, or one that is supplied to you, when you sign up. Most companies offer a package that includes a phone line as well as TV channels together with your broadband. This is potentially the fastest connection and is easy to install.

Wireless- A wireless Internet connection may be best for those living in more rural areas where ADSL and cable services are not yet available. Smaller internet providers are able to provide connections in more remote parts of the UK using an antenna which is attached to the outside of your house. This picks up signals from the nearest connection point; no telephone line is needed.

Satellite- This is a more expensive option for those of you in remote areas who have very limited services available to you. If you chose a one-way connection you will only be able to receive data and view web pages; to send data you will need to use a standard dial-up service. With a two-way connection you can send and receive data through the satellite dish. This dish costs about £800 and there is an additional monthly subscription charge.

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Understanding the actual speed of the internet may be hard when you are just faced with numbers, so we will break it down for you. Internet speed is measured Mbps which is the rate of transfer of megabits per second to your computer from a website or another computer.

If you were, for example, going to download a three minute song (roughly equivalent to 3Mb) you would be able to download one song every four seconds with a 6Mbps connection.

After considering what you will be using the Internet for and seeing what services are available, it’s time to decide what speed connection to get. In order to get the perfect broadband package you’ll need to decide how fast a speed you’ll need for your browsing habits.

Light browser- If you will mainly use the Internet to send emails and read web pages then a slower connection, such as a 1Mb, will be adequate.

Standard surfer- Most regular Internet users who may want to download the odd song and stream a film are better off choosing a slightly faster connection, between 4 and 6Mb, which is a good balance between price and performance.

Heavy-weight or shared users- If you are a family of internet surfers or you are a gamer or have a business, a faster connection is best.; offers with some ISP’s range from 8/10Mb up to 50Mb. Obviously, the faster your connection the more expensive your package will be to try to strike a balance.

Factors that will affect yours connection speed:

• With an ADSL line, the distance from your local telephone exchange may affect the speed- the closer you are, the faster the connection.
• For cable users, your speed will depend on user traffic in your area- the more people using the service at any one time, the slower the connection will be.

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A bandwidth is the term officially used to gauge the capacity of a communications channel. This is usually capped at a monthly limit or usage allowance, minimising the amount you can download in a month, including music, video, movies and updates.

Usage limits vary from 1Gb to 50Gb and some packages offer unlimited browsing. A 1Gb limit would allow you to download approximately 200 songs and view about 10,500 web pages, whereas a 30Gb limit would allow just over 6000 songs and 314,500 web page views.

Your limits, however, does not just apply to downloading files;  visiting websites with animated frames, sending and receiving emails with attachments and using IM/chat services can all count towards your monthly allowance, so be careful.

Some ISP’s will charge you extra if you go over your usage so be sure to stick to what you given, or get one suited to your browsing needs.

A 1Gb limit is advisable only to those who use the internet lightly, whereas a 15Gb limit is more standard. Unlimited allowance would be best for gamers and sharers although this does come with a fair usage policy so make sure you read this before you go on a downloading spree!

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O2 Broadband ranked at the top of the table for the Broadband Choice Awards 2009, with Plusnet Broadband coming second and Sky, which took the top spot for the bundled category and was also voted fastest provider, took third place overall. Virgin Media, voted the most improved ISP, came in fourth and TalkTalk was voted best value for money.

Again, each ISP is suited to different users, so once you have figured out what you will be using your internet for, outlined a budget, and discovered what is realistically available to you it should be easier to choose.

Here are some of the most popular deals available:

• Virgin Media Broadband and phone deal, including 10Mb connection and unlimited downloads is just £5 a month.
• O2’s Standard broadband package offers up to 8Mb download speed, free McAfee security software, a wireless router and 100 free web texts all for £12.34 per month.
• BT Broadband and unlimited calls, including speeds of up to 20Mb and a BT home hub, costs just £7.78 per month.
• Sky Broadband offers Sky Talk users a deal for £5 (£10 for non-Sky Talkers) including up to 10Mb speed, 600Kb upload speed, 10Gb monthly usage allowance, free installation, 24/7 technical support, three months free McAfee security software and free wireless router.
• TalkTalk offers broadband at £6.49, plus a line rental fee of £11.25, which includes 8Mb connections speed and a 40 Gb download limit.
• BE offer up to 8Mb broadband with 24 hour support, unlimited downloads and a wireless modem all for just £6.75 per month.

There are plenty more deals out there so make sure you shop around and pick the right one for your household.

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• Be aware that your computer may need to meet specifications for certain packages, as it may not be able to meet its maximum transfer rate and may need upgrading.
• You need to consider what length of contract you need, as they vary between 12 and 18 months. You can also choose a ‘pay-as-you-go’ option.
• It is always a good idea to go with an ISP which has a good customer service facility, especially if you are new to the internet. This help line could end up being your life line if you run into any problems when setting up.
• Also check whether the cost of installation and the modem are free or if you have to pay extra.
• If you don’t already have a BT landline and will be using and ADSL line for your broadband you will need to set one up and consider this cost in your budget.
• Some ISP’s advertise their better offers online so check out their websites for the best deals.
• Most ISP’s have built in controls to block out indecent websites, but if you are a parent and want extra security for your children  or want to control how much they access, pick a ISP with these facilities.

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Images by DeclanTM