Broadband Glossary

The broadband glossary below explains key broadband terms to help you understand broadband and the associated packages better.
Broadband, Dial up internet, leaseline, wireless and many other broadband terms are explained.

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	0  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 10 Gigabit Ethernet The latest standard. Provides up to 10Gbps data transfer rates 10Mbps Ethernet The original development of Ethernet. Provides up to 10Mbps data transfer rates 1G Analogue cellular, the first true mobile phone systems, introduced during the late 1970s. Originally known as cellular mobile radio telephone. 2G Digital voice mobile phone systems. The 2G phase began in the 1990s, and much of this technology is still in use. Some derivatives of the 2G technology can provide email and internet access. 3G The third generation of mobile telephony. 3G promises increased bandwidth, up to 384kbps when a device is stationary or moving at pedestrian speed, 128kbps in a car, and 2Mbps in fixed applications. The higher bandwidths allow 3G operators to offer new applications such as video telephony and TV clips on mobile phones. 4G The next generation of mobile telephony is expected to provide even greater bandwidth that 3G in order to support movie downloads and live TV streaming. Activation Activation is the process by which your existing phone line becomes enabled to receive data and voice calls simultaneously. Activation takes place at your local phone exchange. ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. This is a DSL line where the upload and download speeds differ typically the download speed is faster than the upload speed. ADSL 2 An evolution of the ADSL technology, which allows a higher rate of data transmission. It can provide download speeds of up to 12Mbps over a single copper pair up to 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) from the telephone exchange, or 24Mbps up to 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) using 2 copper pairs bonded together. Anti virus software Protection against malicious computer code usually sent via email but sometimes infecting web site downloads. PCs are particularly vulnerable and you should have anti virus software installed no matter wish way you connect to the internet. ASP Applications Service Provider. A company that rents access to software and services across the internet. ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode an international standard for data transmission in which multiple service types (voice, video, data etc.) are conveyed in fixed length (53 byte) cells. Backbone The part of a network that handles the major traffic. It employs the highest speed transmission paths in the network and may also run the longest distances. Smaller networks are attached to the backbone. Backhaul The transmission links between cell sites and the system operators switching centre. In general, transmitting data from remote locations over the network backbone to a point from which it can be distributed over the network. Bandwidth The capacity of your internet connection to transmit and receive data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits per second. Broadband is between 10 and 40 times faster than a 56K dial up modem. Base station A device that sits between your computer and the internet and determines where to send your online data. Necessary when more than one computer is sharing a connection. Broadband A generic term for high speed digital internet connections. This is a transmission technology that allows multiple signals to share one cable Broadband over Powerline (BPL) A technology that allows data to be transmitted over utility power lines. BPL works by modulating high frequency radio waves with the digital signals from the internet. The radio waves are then fed into the utility grid at certain points, travelling along the power lines and passing through the utility transformers to subscribers homes and businesses. A subscriber installs a modem that plugs into an ordinary power socket to receive broadband services. BT Central The name of the circuit used to connect the ADSL broadband ISP into the BT network typically available in speeds from 2Mbit/s up to 622Mbit/s Bursty Bursts of data traffic generated by a computer while online. Web browsing and reading email are bursty activities. Downloading software or a bulky document generates a longer constant demand on bandwidth and is therefore non bursty. A high number of users can share the same bandwidth with little loss of speed if their data calls are bursty. Cable The cable broadband technology uses the same hybrid fibre and coaxial cable network that carry cable TV signals. The term hybrid signifies that fibre is used to carry signals from a serving location to a suburb whilst a coaxial cable is used to carry the TV and broadband signals from the suburb to the end users premises. Download rates of up to 50Mbps are possible through cable broadband with 10Mbps services expected to be made available in 2005. Meanwhile 150 kbps to 4Mbps services are offered by UK cable operators today. Cable Broadband A high capacity coaxial cable built out to individual homes and businesses by cable companies, though typically only in metropolitan areas. The use of a cable modem allows users to access the Internet, as well as premium TV channels. CBT Constant Bit Rate. CHAP Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol. Contention Rate This describes the maximum number of users sharing the bandwidth on the connection between your local exchange and the Internet Service Provider. A customer with a contention ratio of 20:1 never has to share this bandwidth with more than 19 other users. CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check. DACS Digital Access Carrier System. DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Dial Up Internet Dial up internet access which is made by initiating a telephone call. A dial up connection is established and maintained for a limited time duration and will achieve only a limited, transfer of data (to a maximum of around 56 Kbps). Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer Kit in a local exchange that aggregates the connections of broadband users into one or more link onto the main internet infrastructure.Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer. Kit in a local exchange that aggregates the connections of broadband users into one or more link onto the main internet infrastructure. Also known as DSLAM. DNS Domain Name Server or Domain Name System. Download An end user receiving data from the main public telecommunications network (e.g. getting a webpage from the internet), the reverse process of upload. DSL Digital Subscriber Line. This is a method of transmitting data over standard telephone lines. DSLAM Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer this is the device that connects many ADSL circuits to the BT network by multiplexing traffic onto one or more trunk lines. Dynamic IP address Originally all Internet Protocol addresses were static, but with the growth of the internet it soon became clear there wouldnt be enough to go around. A dynamic IP address changes every time you connect to the internet. Your ISP will have a range of dynamic IP addresses available and you will be allocated any one of these at any time. Encryption A means of codifying information to prevent unauthorised access. Only those with authorisation and the key to unlock the code can decipher the encrypted data. Ethernet The IEEEs 802.3 standard for local area networking (LAN), which allows computers to communicate with each other over a wired network. Most new computers have this capability pre installed or can be upgraded to take advantage of this connection method. Extranet An intranet that is accessible to computers that are not physically part of a companys own private network, but that is not accessible to the general public. For example, to allow vendors and business partners to access a company web site. Faster Ethernet Provides up to 100Mbps data transfer rates Fibre An optical fibre line consists of an extremely thin glass cylinder core surrounded by a concentric layer of glass sheath. Data is transmitted along fibre lines in the form of modulated pulses of light. Potentially the bandwidth that can be passed through fibre can be as high as 2.5Gbps. Fibrespeed A term used to describe symmetrical broadband services with rates of 10Mbps and over. Firewall Gatekeeper hardware or software that guards against unauthorised access to your computer via the internet by hackers. First Generation Broadband A term used to describe broadband services with asymmetric download speeds of 512kbps to 2Mbps and upload speeds of 256kbps to 512kbps. FTTB Fibre to the building FTTC Fibre to the curb FTTH Fibre to the home FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) A point to point radio wave or microwave link to the home or the office from a cell site or base station. Fixed wireless can be used for cellular backhaul, private WANs and for last mile connectivity to buildings. Gateway A device that sits between your computer and the internet and determines where to send your online data. Necessary when more than one computer is sharing a connection. Also known as a router or base station. Gateway address The IP address you use when you make a connection outside your immediate network. Gigabit Ethernet Provides up tp 1Gbps data transfer rates Hotspot An area in which an access point provides public wireless broadband network services to users through a wireless LAN, or Wi Fi. Hotspots are often located in places with high footfall such as airports, hotels, coffee shops, libraries and convention centres. HTML HyperText Markup Language web pages are typically written in HTML. If you are designing web pages yourself you often have little need to actually know the HTML language as there are many WYSISYG (what you see is what you get) web design programs like Microsoft Frontpage, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLive etc. available. Installation Configuring your computer system to the fast lane of the information super highway. There are normally two options available: Self install (or Wires Only) User purchases own modem/router and plugs it all in. Quick and saves on the cost of an engineer. Engineer install An engineer sets it all up for you with a modem or router supplied by the company and tests the connection. Intranet A private network or web site for internal company or organisation use. Can be tunnelled into by authorised users. IP IP or Internet Protocol is the way in which data is sent between computers on the Internet. If you want to send or receive data then it is divided into smaller pieces, known as IP packets. Each packet contains the sender and receivers addresses and they are forwarded by a chain of gateway computers until they reach their destination. IP address Stands for Internet Protocol address, the host computer assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider when you make a connection. A static IP address means your ISP permanently assigns your connection to a particular host computer. IP addresses are numeric, you may have noticed them occasionally in the address bar of your browser. For example, http://212.58.240.32 is better known as www.bbc.co.uk An internet service called DNS (Domain Name System/Service) translates the request for www.bbc.co.uk into the corresponding IP address. ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network. ISDN is a digital dialup service often used where broadband access is not currently available. Typically available in 64kbit/s single channel or 128kbit/s dual channel (bonded) variants. A single ISDN channel is roughly twice the speed of a normal modem but still only a fraction of the speed of ADSL broadband. ISP Internet Service Provider. Typically this refers to the company supplying your connectivity, e.g. Freeserve, AOL, etc. Kbps Kilobits per second (1 kilobit per second equals 1,000 bits per second). A measure of data transfer through a modem or on a network. L2TP Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. LAN Local Area Network. Normally refers to a network confined to a tightly defined area, usually the same floor or building. Last mile A term used for any telecommunications technology that carries signals along the short distance between the main public telecommunications network and the home or business premise i.e. the infrastructure at the neighbourhood level, or local loop. The actual distance of the last mile can vary. LCP Link Control Protocol. Leased line A permanent dedicated, direct connection leased by an end user from a telecommunications provider. Leased lines are often used by businesses to connect geographically distant offices. LLU Local Loop Unbundling: when an operator co locates DSLAM equipment in the telephone exchange, in order to offer broadband to end users in competition to the incumbent. The LLU operator determines the price and speed of the broadband connection offered over the unbundled telephone line. Local loop The connection between an individual subscribers telephone or data connection to the public telecommunication operators central office or other local terminating point. It is sometimes referred to as the last mile. Local Loop Unbundling See LLU Login or logon The method by which you identify yourself to a host computer. This often means typing a user name and password. LSS Limited Service Selection is the ability for an ADSL broadband user to connect to multiple BT Central communication links. MAC address Migration Authorisation Code allows you to migrate from one broadband provider to another. Mbps Megabits per second. A unit of bandwidth measurement that defines the speed at which information can be transferred through a network or Ethernet cable. One megabyte is roughly equivalent to eight megabits. Microfilter Devices which need to be plugged into all existing telephone and extension sockets to ensure that the ADSL signal on the telephone line does not interfere with voice calls. Mobile Telephony Mobile telephone systems have evolved over the years: Modem This is an acronym derived from the words modulator and demodulator by taking the 'mo' and 'dem' from the words. A modem is a piece of hardware that is used to connect computers to the Internet. MSF Major Service Fault. MSO Major Service Outage. MTU Maximum Transmittable Unit this is the maximum amount (in bytes) of data sent in each data packet some people experiencing lower than expected download performance may improve this by altering the MTU. NAT Network Address Translation. A broadband configuration that offers extra security and enables more than one computer to use a single IP address (your location on the internet). Network adapter Also known as a network interface card (NIC). An expansion card or other device used to provide network access to a computer, printer, or other device. Non NAT If you need someone or something (such as a server) that is outside of your network to connect to a machine inside your network, then you need non NAT. The non NAT option offers extra IP addresses and routes data to specific addresses. NTE Network Terminating Equipment. Packet A unit of information transmitted as a whole from one device to another on a network. PBX Private Branch Exchange. Peer to peer network A network of two or more computers that communicate without using a central server. This lack of reliance on a server differentiates a peer to peer network from a client/server network. Phishing This is the act of tricking someone into giving them confidential information or tricking them into doing something that they normally wouldnt do or shouldnt do. Piggy backing Gaining access to a restricted communications channel by using the session another user already established. PING A method of bouncing a signal to a computers IP address to check if it is online and to measure the response time. Rather like radar or echo location. POTS Plain Old Telephone System. PPP Point to Point Protocol. PPPoA PPP over ATM (the standard delivery method for ADSL servies). PPPoE PPP over Ethernet. PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network. PVC Permanent Virtual Circuit. Quadruple Play A term used to describe a bundled service offering voice, data, video and mobile services, usually for a price that is lower than the accumulative cost of the four individual services. The services will be delivered by one operator over a single converged network infrastructure RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service. RADSL Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line (also described as rate adaption). This is a variant of ADSL that extends the maximum distance from your exchange by adjusting the upstream bandwidth based on line quality. RADSL increases the maximum distance supported from 3.5 to around 5.5 kilometres. This now means that typically 90% of people connected to an ADSL enabled exchange can get a broadband service. This option is only available on the 500Kbit/s services and due to the increased circuit length the maximum upload speed may be lower than a normal ADSL circuit. Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line A broadband technology which extends the outer reach of copperwire DSL from 3.5 km to 5.5 km distant from a DSL enabled exchange. Remote working The ability to access your own computer securely across the internet. Software such as PC Anywhere and LapLink, or service provider, GoToMyPC.com enable communication between machines. Requires your machine to be at a static IP address. RJ 11 connector Cable connection for joining a phone line to a modem. RJ 45 connector Small square ish plug found at the ends of Ethernet cables. Router hub A device that sits between your computer and the internet and determines where to send your online data. Necessary when more than one computer is sharing a connection. Also known as a gateway or base station. Satellite broadband Broadband connectivity supplied from a satellite located in geostationary orbit. SDSL Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line, a broadband variant that signifies equal or near equal bandwidth up and downstream. Second generation broadband A term used to describe asymmetrical services with download rates of between 2Mbps and 10Mbps and upload rates of between 512kbps and 1Mbps, as well as symmetrical services with download and upload rates of 2Mbps or above. SMDS Symetric Multi Megabit Data Service. Spyware Any software that covertly gathers user information through the users Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes Static IP address A static Internet Protocol address that doesnt change every time you log on to the Internet. A static IP address is required to run your own email server (SMTP), Virtual Private Network or remote communications applications. TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol the language of the Internet. Triple play A term used to describe a bundled service offering voice, data and video services, usually for a price that is lower than the accumulative cost of the three individual services. The services will be delivered by one operator over a single converged network infrastructure Two way satellite Broadband connection whereby the upstream (outbound) and the downstream (inbound) data are sent from and arrive via a satellite. The connection is usually asymmetric, i.e. the download speed is faster than the upload speed. One way satellite is when the upstream traffic is routed terrestrially, normally via a dial up modem. Unified Messaging Provides one centralised in box for all voice, email and fax messages. All message types can be managed using familiar packages such as Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes. Upload Transmitting data from the end user to the main public telecommunications network (e.g. sending information to a website on the internet), the reverse process of download. USB Universal Serial Bus connection type used to connect most ADSL modems to the computer. VCI Virtual Channel Identifier. VDSL Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line: a broadband technology that can provide download rates of up to 52Mbps and upload rates of up to 3Mbps over short local loops of up to 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometres). As VDSL can only transmit over a shorter distance, it requires service providers to deploy fibre optic cables in the local loop in order to get closer to the end user. VDSL can also be configured to operate in a symmetrical mode, delivering in excess of 10Mbps in each direction up to 0.9 Miles (1.4 kilometres). Video conferencing Real time video to allow multiple users to broadcast and receive sound and vision simultaneously. Virtual Private Network Virtual Private Network. This allows a secure, encrypted connection between two points over the Internet. Virtual Server Web server that hosts a number of sites simultaneously, each with a unique domain name and IP address. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Using broadband to send voice calls over the internet. The voice signals are broken down into packets and reassembled at the receiving end. VPI Virtual Path Identifier. VPN Virtual Private Network. This allows a secure, encrypted connection between two points over the Internet. WAN Wide Area Network: A geographically widespread network that might include many linked local area networks. WEP Three Letter Acronym standing for Wired Equivalent Privacy .WEP sometimes also goes under the alias of wireless security. Essentially wireless network encryption to protect data transmitted over wireless networks. Wi Fi Stands for Wireless Fidelty allows the connection of two or more computers without the need for physical cabling between them. The most common forms of WiFi are 80211.b (capable of up to 11 Mb/Sec) and 802.11.g (capable of up to 54 Mb/Sec). Wi Max A wireless technology that provides high bandwidth broadband infrastructure over long distances (up to 31 miles or 50 kilometres). Wi MAX can provide download rates of up to 70Mbps and can be used for wireless hotspots, cellular backhaul and even last mile broadband solutions. Wi Max can also be used for high speed enterprise connectivity for business. Wireless The use of radio signals to connect computers without cables whether it be a computer and a mouse or a network of computers that connect to the internet. Wireless access point A device that exchanges data between wireless computers or between wireless computers and wired computers on a network. Wireless network name Single identity for a group of computers that link together to form a wireless network Wireless security See WEP Wireless WAN Companies with more than one building on a campus or in close proximity in a city centre can use Wi Fi or other wireless technology to build bridges between buildings. Wireline A term used to describe telecommunications systems, where a service is provided over some form of cabled or wired network, as opposed to a wireless or radio network Wires Only See installation WLAN Wireless local area network. A network that exclusively relies on wireless technology for device connections xDSL X Digital Subscriber Line: a family of technologies that are used to transmit data. This technology transforms a telephone line consisting of a twisted pair of copper wires (local loop) into a high speed always on connection. xDSL technologies include ADSL, SDSL, VDSL, and ADSL 2+. 0  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z Back to top of the page...