Fiber-optic can deliver download speeds as fast as 2 gigabits 2, megabits per second -- fast enough to download a two-hour movie in HD in less than a minute -- but you're likely to find max download speeds around 1,Mbps from most fiber-optic providers. Upload speeds, which are especially important when working and learning from home, are also significantly faster with fiber-optic service.
Availability is the only real disadvantage with fiber. Laying enough fiber-optic cables to connect entire cities and regions is a huge logistical challenge , and with lots of competition and red tape to cut through, it's been slow going for any of the major service providers to expand coverage to underserved areas. Fiber connections used to be fairly expensive as far as internet plans go, but most providers have lowered their prices in recent years.
As a result, fiber internet is now likely to be as competitively priced as any other connection type -- and considering the speeds you get for the price, it's actually now one of the most cost-effective internet types. No wonder everyone wants it. Cable internet delivers a connection to your home via copper coaxial cable -- the same as traditional cable TV.
Cable internet lacks the full speed potential and reliability of fiber-optic service, but it's much more widely accessible. That makes sense, because cable internet uses the same coaxial connections as cable TV. Coaxial cables do not have the same speed potential and reliability as fiber-optic ones, but cable internet is still one of the fastest internet types.
Most cable providers offer a variety of speed options, including a gigabit plan with download speeds around Mbps. Upload speeds are a much different story, however, as few providers deliver upload speeds above 50Mbps. Speed reliability can also be a concern with cable internet, as coaxial cables are susceptible to network congestion and slowed speeds, especially during peak usage times.
Cable internet pricing varies quite a bit among providers, but cable is, for the most part, one of the more affordable internet connection types. This portable Netgear Nighthawk mobile router takes an incoming 5G signal and broadcasts it out as a Wi-Fi network your nearby devices can use to get online. If you wire it to a dedicated Wi-Fi router, the connection can cover a wider area.
Mobile internet is largely designed for your phone, but as the technology improves and speeds increase -- especially with the emergence of 5G -- mobile connections are becoming more practical for home internet use.
If you're living in a city or another area with strong cellular infrastructure, you might be able to connect over 5G, with providers like Verizon offering speeds up to 1Gbps.
When shopping for mobile internet for home use, it's probable that you will only have one plan option, which is a flat rate for whatever speeds are available at your address.
DSL refers to a digital subscriber line and you'll often find it available in areas where you might not have access to cable or fiber internet.
With DSL, your connection to the internet runs through your phone lines. Unlike dial-up, however, where it would disrupt your connection with a call, with DSL, you can use your internet without having to worry about an incoming call disrupting your connection.
DSL internet is best for those in rural communities looking for a reliable and affordable internet connection. Since DSL uses existing phone lines to deliver service, providers can keep prices relatively low. It's a line-of-sight technology, so you need a professional to set up a dish attached to your house that's pointed at the service satellite.
As you probably know, the further a signal travels, the more it degrades. This makes satellite connections poor for real-time activities like gaming. The other issue with satellite internet is that it beams a signal into a large area.
Everyone near you using a satellite connection has to share the bandwidth, which could be a large group. This is the only internet access option for a lot of people in remote areas, but we don't recommend it if you have other options. Similar to satellite internet, wireless broadband for the home allows you to pick up a signal from your ISP without cables. It's not ideal since it has the same drawbacks, including slower speeds and interference susceptibility. Most of the time when we say "mobile internet," we mean wireless access technologies on mobile phones.
Smartphones transmit and receive wireless radio waves, which allows them transfer digital data as well as voice calls. Mobile internet also allows you to get your laptop online pretty much anywhere and can double up as in-car Wi-Fi. Cell phone providers sell USB modems and other mobile internet devices that allow you to connect to your provider's network through mobile technology like LTE.
Just like your cell phone, this allows you to access the internet without connecting to a Wi-Fi network. We've surveyed the basics of internet connection technologies, both wired and wireless. In a lot of cases, what you use is limited to what's offered in your area.
Unless you live in an extremely remote location, you probably have cable or fiber optic internet access at home and an LTE connection on your phone. If you're interested in more about the technology behind the web, find out where the internet comes from and if whether you could make your own. The command prompt is still a powerful Windows tool. Here are the most useful CMD commands every Windows user needs to know.
He left his IT job to write full-time in and has never looked back. He's been covering tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a professional writer for over seven years. Share Share Tweet Email. Ben Stegner Articles Published. Subscribe to our newsletter Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals! Click here to subscribe.
The broadband technology you choose will depend on a number of factors. These may include whether you are located in an urban or rural area, how broadband Internet access is packaged with other services such as voice telephone and home entertainment , price, and availability.
DSL is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over traditional copper telephone lines already installed to homes and businesses. DSL-based broadband provides transmission speeds ranging from several hundred Kbps to millions of bits per second Mbps.
The availability and speed of your DSL service may depend on the distance from your home or business to the closest telephone company facility. Cable modem service enables cable operators to provide broadband using the same coaxial cables that deliver pictures and sound to your TV set. Most cable modems are external devices that have two connections: one to the cable wall outlet, the other to a computer. They provide transmission speeds of 1. Subscribers can access their cable modem service by simply turning on their computers, without dialing-up an ISP.
You can still watch cable TV while using it. Transmission speeds vary depending on the type of cable modem, cable network, and traffic load. Speeds are comparable to DSL. Just as satellites orbiting the earth provide necessary links for telephone and television service, they can also provide links for broadband.
Satellite broadband is another form of wireless broadband, and is also useful for serving remote or sparsely populated areas. Typically a consumer can expect to receive download at a speed of about Kbps and send upload at a speed of about 80 Kbps.
These speeds may be slower than DSL and cable modem, but they are about 10 times faster than the download speed with dial-up Internet access.
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