If you are not computer literate, wading through the acronyms and terminology used by broadband providers can cause both confusion and frustration. A basic awareness of what commonly used terms and phrases mean can help a great deal, which means conducting a little research before committing to a internet service provider (ISP) is even more important for older or less confident internet users.
All talk at the moment is about connection speeds and download allowance. But what do these phrases mean?
The ‘connection speed’ of a broadband service reflects the amount of data that can be processed, usually measured in Mbps (megabits per second) along the signal you receive into your home via your phone line, a cable, a satellite dish or a device that can harness 3G mobile broadband services. The faster your connection speed, the more devices you can have using the internet at any one time and the more online services you can utilise. With a fast connection you can download music and films or even watch films or live broadcasts without downloading files to your hard drive (this is known as ’streaming’).
However, cheaper broadband packages often cap the amount of data you can access. A basic package will only allow you to use between 10 and 20GB per month. To put that in context, one film file tends to be 1GB (gigabyte), so if you stream 10 films during the first two weeks of a month, you will not be able to access any more internet services for the next two weeks, or will be charged for exceeding your ‘download allowance.
An unlimited broadband package lifts these restrictions so you can download as much data as you like, although the monthly line rental costs reflect this freedom.