Broadband Your Questions Answered

Do you remember using the Internet back when you had to dial in using a modem? First you dialled, then you listened to screeching noises, and then, if you were lucky, you were connected at a snail?s pace. Worse, it was impractical to leave the connection on all the time, as it would drop out at random and have to redial every time you restarted the machine.

If you?re unlucky enough to still be using dial-up Internet access, I feel for you. Why not come and join us in the age of broadband? Broadband is revolutionary, always-on, much faster Internet access, letting you download much larger files and use the Internet whenever you want, with no waiting. If you?ve been put off broadband because you think it?s expensive, think again ? the remaining dial-up ISPs like AOL are charging just as much for dial-up access as you would pay for broadband.

The biggest problem many new broadband users have, though, is confusion over what kind of broadband they should get. With that in mind, here?s a basic rundown.

DSL broadband is the most common kind. It is broadband that works over a normal phone line, as long as the telephone exchange is DSL-enabled, and can be bought either from your existing phone provider or from a dedicated ISP.

Another common kind of broadband is cable. Instead of buying it from your phone supplier, you get it from your cable TV supplier, often as part of a package deal. If you already have cable, this can be a better option for you, as it is often cheaper and faster than DSL.

Finally, if you?re stuck out in the middle of nowhere without a DSL-enabled line and with no local cable company, you should consider satellite broadband. Satellite broadband is a clever way of accessing the Internet using a normal dial-up connection to send things but a satellite to download them. While it?s not cheap and suffers in the speed stakes, it is much better than sticking with dial-up.

John Gibb is the owner of broadband information For more information on broadband please check out http://www.broadband-information-stop.info

Network Bandwidth Monitors

The rate at which a network transmits or receives data is termed network bandwidth. Bandwidth and latency are two important parameters for measuring the speed of the networks. The higher the bandwidth, the higher the cost of the network. Hence, wastage of bandwidth is a key measurement criterion for optimizing any network.

A network bandwidth monitor helps monitor the usage of bandwidth. Network bandwidth monitors run on computers for 24 hours a day and continuously keep track of the parameters of network usage. This tracked information is then stored in an internal database for future analysis. Network bandwidth monitors can trace out what applications and servers are using the network bandwidth. They help receive bandwidth and network usage data that optimizes the efficiency of the network. Network bandwidth monitoring is a very critical activity of an enterprise network administrator. With network bandwidth monitoring, a network administrator gets instant reports about the usage of bandwidth by each application and host. This report helps to make decisions about access planning or capacity planning. Network bandwidth monitor software can visualize the state of the network, and it automatically gives alerts of any problems on the bandwidth. The analysis of the data helps future planning. The monitor can be configured to send e-mail messages.

Most network bandwidth monitors function with any SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) devices, such as gateways, routers, NAS (Network Attached Storage), printers, servers and more. All the information gathered by network bandwidth monitor software can be viewed, printed and saved for further analysis and bandwidth planning. Network bandwidth monitor software also monitors the traffic between the Internet and computer. Monitoring network bandwidth is extremely beneficial for those who access the Internet on a transfer (monthly) basis. A network bandwidth monitor, with a single click, identifies top applications, top protocols, top trackers and more. A network bandwidth monitor can set up a profile for precise monitoring, tracking the limits of bandwidth that are set by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Bandwidth usage is highly variable from time to time, and is very difficult to measure precisely. Network bandwidth monitors are tools which enable the precise measurement of network bandwidth and its usage patterns.

Network Monitors provides detailed information on Network Monitors, Network Traffic Monitors, Network Bandwidth Monitors, Network Monitor Software and more. Network Monitors is affiliated with Network Monitoring Tools.

Deciding on a Broadband Supplier for Home Use

Choosing the right broadband package can be a difficult proposition, with so many access companies on the market today and an infinite number of tariffs. Although it may initially look like a daunting task, actually choosing the right deal for you is not that difficult if you consider some of the following points.

If you are resident in the UK, the first thing you should consider if you are not a BT customer, is whether the supplier you intend to use can actually provide you with a broadband service. Many suppliers can only provide the service if you have a BT line. If a cable company supplies your phone line your choice of supplier is greatly diminished, but there are still several companies out there for you to consider. Once this has been established you can now dive into the market and search the vast array of offers and deals that are available.

Most internet suppliers generally offer 3 types of packages, the cost of each package increases as the amount you can download per month increases. The basic package usually starts by offering a 2mb connection allowing you to download 2Gb of information per month for around ?17.99 a month; this is normally enough to service the needs of the average family and many suppliers are now offering unlimited download time. Packages then increase in price as the amount of information you can download increases and as the package becomes more advanced, the more is offered to you, therefore, it is important to choose the right package for your specific needs.

Broadband suppliers are currently offering deals that include: 3 months usage at a reduced rate, free anti virus and firewall protection, up to 500 minutes free home phone usage per month, free access to music download sites for 1 month, ?150.00 off a new laptop computer and much more. The more you spend within a given package the more you are offered. It is well worth searching through the various companies to see exactly what is available.

Broadband can also be accessed using wireless technology. This enables you to connect to the Internet through an enabled device such as a laptop or mobile phone from anywhere in your home. With wireless technology a receiver outside of the premises sends the signals through to connection points inside. These connection points then send data through to the computer.

If you are travelling and need to pick up important documents via email, you can access the Internet through a wireless connection at large number of public hotspots. A hotspot is an access point that is available in cafes, hotels airports etc. They broadcast a standard wireless frequency up to approx 100 metres, enabling a connection to be made to the Internet through your equipment. Most of the major broadband suppliers now offer a wireless broadband option.

Some broadband access suppliers now offer a facility where you can use your broadband connection as an extra telephone line. By using your existing broadband connection it is possible to route calls via a telephone exchange to the number dialled. Effectively this technology gives you the benefits of having an additional phone line without the need to have a new line installed. Using a telephone adaptor appropriate to your broadband connection and a standard handset you can make calls without the need for microphones and earphones. It is possible to call local, national and internationally and also to mobiles; the cost is reasonable and can be covered either per minute or by a one off monthly payment.

The market to supply broadband is very competitive and this can only be a good thing for the consumer. As companies offer more and more within their packages, a little research of the market will ensure that you get a good deal when you sign up to the services and you will find the package that is right for you.

Norbert Wartle writes on consumer issues for Cheapest Utility Suppliers.

You can read his other articles on Internet Access.

The Fundamentals Of OC3 Bandwidth...What It Does For Your Business

When searching for just the right bandwidth solution for critical business network applications a common choice is what's termed an OC3 circuit. An OC3 circuit works as a reliable fiber optic backbone for large networks with substantial voice/data/video traffic needs. For example....corporate headquarters phone lines (PBX and/or VoIP), company Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems, facility high security networks, Hospital medical imagery and diagnostic systems, data recovery and backup networks, video conferencing facilities, multi-media or virtual design centers, and ISP backbones.

OC3 is the abbreviated term for Optical Carrier level 3, and is used to specify the speed level of fiber optic networks over SONET. The speed itself is measured through SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards.

Specificly, the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) includes a set of signal rate multiples for transmitting digital signals on optical fiber. OC stands for Optical Carrier and the number following specifies the speed of the fiber optic networks conforming to the SONET standard. The base rate OC1 is 51.84 Mbps. Therefore an OC3 circuit delivers 155 Mbps.

OC3 is optical carrier (fiber) connected by equipment capable of speeds up to 155.5 Mbps......and is designed to take, synchronize, and transport data and voice at that speed of 155 Mbps reliably. Due to their potential load delivery capacity....OC3 applications are used most often by large enterprises with significant bandwidth requirements or as an ISP backbone. By definition.....an OC3 is the equivalent of 84 T1s or 3 DS3s/T3s. To put it in perspective....an OC3 circuit is capable of 2,000 simultaneous voice transmissions with each transmission carrying variable data types alongside the voice!

An important factor to consider is that OC3s can be burstable, which allows you to start small and increase your bandwidth as your needs grow. A Burstable OC3 is the ideal solution for businesses who seek ultra-fast connectivity for their Internet needs.....and don't require full OC3 load capacity just yet but may in the future. Options cover selection from 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, or a full 155 Mbps of service.

Fiber Optics is a technology that uses glass (or plastic) threads (fibers) to transmit data. A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves.

Fiber optics has several advantages over traditional metal communication lines. They have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables. This means they can carry more data. They are also less susceptible than metal cables to interference, and they are much thinner and lighter than metal wires. This enables the data to be transmitted digitally over fiber optics rather than resorting to analog transmission.

Additionally, OC-3 is most often made up of what is called a SONET ring to maintain it's reliability (redundancy) during its high speed transmissions.

A common method of back up used with SONET ring is called a bi-directional ring topology. This bi-directional ring is a physical topology which deploys two sets of fiber strands.

The first strand for the connection is for sending and receiving. The second strand will reroute traffic from the original transmission in another direction should the first strand break or malfunction. Therefore bi-directional ring topology helps ensure constant reliability within an OC3 SONET based network.

So just what does an OC3 circuit do for your business?

With an OC3 bandwidth solution your network will deliver optimum speed and load for any large scale voice/data application requirement you have....with reliable and secure digital technology performance.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses

Chatless

Are you suddenly chat-less now that Yahoo has shut down many chat sites, due to complaints? One complaint was that people where using chat rooms to lure under age kids for sex. While others say the chat rooms were used to promote underage sex. A Houston Attorney, actually filed a 10 million dollar lawsuit to put an end to that problem. Yahoo reacted on the news by shutting down thousands of chat sites and advertisers on those websites pulled the plug on their ads as well. Do not despair, today you might be chat-less but soon you will find a new home to talk to friends on the Internet. Yahoo confirmed they took the sites off the air but insists it was in the high hundreds and not thousands.

Many users are enraged that the sites were taken down, while many parents applaud Yahoo?s fast acting public relations move to remove those sites immediately. Some of the advertisers who pulled out are PepsiCo, State Farm and others. Perhaps Paris Hilton can do advertise their now for Carl?s Jr.? Yahoo does not constantly monitor the content in the chat rooms, but will close a room if it receives too many complaints.

Some sources tell us that other such chat rooms now have real language filters which set points and once those have been exceeded warnings go up and if this continues then the sites are shut down. Modern Technology and text recognition software for these things is well known in high-tech circles and military intelligence. One company began promoting its software today to alleviate the problem, they specialize in email scanning and resume artificial intelligence reading and key word scanning. Chat rooms have always been a great way to meet online, yet also considered problematic for monitoring. Think on this if you find yourself; ?Chat-less?

Lance Winslow

Comparing High Speed Internet Promotions

Are you shopping around for high speed internet and getting totally confused? $12.95 for 6 months, or $14.95 for 3 months? Upload speeds of 128 kbps or download speeds of 768 kbps? What does kbps stand for anyway? Hopefully this article will help you make some sense of all the promotions out there.

I compared the promotions (as of May 2006) being offered by most of the primary DSL and cable modem providers in Southern California. It's hard to fit a giant Excel spreadsheet into a text article, but see if you can use the information I provide to at least try to compare apples to apples. The two main criteria I focused on are price and speed.

A few points to clear up first so you can be more educated in your choices:

kbps:kilobits per second

mbps: stands for megabits per second. A megabit is 1,000 times faster than a kilobit. So 1.5 megabits is equal to 1,500 kilobits.

download speed: The download speed is for downloading web pages, software, etc. and is what you probably use most of the time.

upload speed: The upload speed is used, for example, when you might upload photos to the internet (for instance to Snapfish or sending an attachment to an email), or if you have your own website and upload your own pages.

Since you are only downloading most of the time, high speed internet companies focus primarily on download speeds, which are invariably faster than upload speeds. You might want to focus primarily on download speeds as well, depending on your type of usage of course.

Also, the general consensus is that the typical download speed for home DSL (before all these promotions started coming out recently) is about 1.5 kbps. So it is worth a word of caution that the cheapest promotions may or may not be the best for you.

Several companies are offering very good prices for 768 kbps of download speed. I have been told that this speed is adequate for people who mainly use email and do light web surfing. So you have to think about how much you use the internet. Do you download music? Are you a web surfing addict?

One thing I'll tell you is that if I, as a computer consultant, had an internet speed of 768 kbps, I'd probably be rather unhappy. But if you're a light user, you'd probably be fine. OK, now you can read about the different offers and see for yourself:

AT& T (formerly SBC):

Their lowest promotion prices are $12.99 per month and $17.99 per month. You also have to pay a $12.95 shipping and handling fee. (And you have to pay $49.99 up front for a modem, but you get a mail-in rebate of $49.99 as well.) The $12.99 price is for download speeds of 384 kbps - 1.5 mbps. The $17.99 price is for download speeds of 1.5 - 3.0 mbps.

Those prices are good for a 1-year contract, but beware. If you don't call AT&T before the year is up (I believe they send you a letter to remind you), the price goes up to $50/month. Once you call, though, AT&T will offer you whatever promotion they have at the time. There is a $99 termination fee if you break your 1-year contract.

Summary of AT&T prices:
Lower speeds: $12.99
Faster speeds: $17.99
Other fees: $12.95 shipping and handling,
$99 termination fee.

Verizon:

This company is offering a base price of $14.95 for download speeds of up to 768 kbps and upload speeds of 128kbps. The first month is free, however there is a $19.95 shipping and activation fee. This $14.95 offer is good only if you order via the internet though (a little Catch 22 there). If you call and speak to a live person instead, it'll cost you $17.99 a month. Ha!

For heavier internet users, Verizon has another, slightly more complicated promotion. For download speeds of up to 1.5 mbps, you get the first month free. Butttttt, for the second and third months it will cost you $21.95, and $29.95 for months 4-12. (Where'd they come up with that plan?) Upload speeds are about 384 kbps.

These Verizon promotions come with one-year contracts and a $79 termination fee if you break it. You also need to call before your term is up to get decent rates for the next 12 months. (for the second offer you can stay at $29.95.)

Summary of Verizon prices:
Lower speed: $14.95
Faster speed: $21.95-$29.95
Other fees: $19.95 shipping and activation fee.
$79 early termination fee.

AOL:

AOL doesn't have its own high speed infrastructure per say. It provides AOL service but uses AT&T or Verizon to deliver it in the Southland.

The price is $25.90 per month for a one-year term. After that year, Verizon customers are still charged $25.90 per month, while the service with AT&T goes up to $29.99 per month. The speeds are generally 768 kbps for download and 128 kbps for upload. With Verizon there is a shipping and handling fee of $19.95 and a $79 early termination fee, just as if you'd went with them without AOL. AT&T (as shown above) asks for a $99 early termination fee.

Summary of AOL fees:
$25.90 for 768 kbps download speed
( for other fees see AT&T or Verizon fees.)

Earthlink:

Earthlink: This company is offering a promotion of $12.95 for the first six months in certain regions of the country, with a price of $29.95 after that. This promotion is for decent speeds: 1.5mbps for download speeds and 128 kbps for upload speeds. They also charge a $19.95 shipping fee, and $149.95 if you break your 1-year contract. (So I'd guess you'd better be sure you want to stay with them!)

Summary of Earthlink prices:
Faster speed: $12.95-$29.95
Other fees: $19.95 shipping fee,
$149.95 early termination fee.

DSL Extreme:

DSL Extreme offers a promotion of $12.95 per month for customers with SBC phone service. That promotion offers speeds ranging from 384 kbps - 1.5 mbps for download, and 128 - 384 kbps for upload. Those with Verizon can expect to pay a little more, $14.95 per month. Speeds with Verizon are 768 kbps for download and 128 kbps for upload. These prices don't include $15.43 for the shipping and handling of the modem.

As with the others, you're in for a 1-year contract. But if you renew before it expires, you can lock in the price DSL Extreme is offering returning customers at the time. That price is not yet determined:

Watch out, though. The early termination fee if you decide to end the 1-year contract is a whopping $250!

Summary of DSL Extreme prices:
Lower Speeds: $12.95-$1495
Other fees: $15.43 for shipping and handling of modem,
$250.00 early termination fee.

I also talked to a couple of companies that offer cable modem:

Comcast:

The prices for cable modem tend to be a bit higher, but the two cable companies I called offered faster speeds than the DSL promotions I looked at.

Comcast is offering a promotion of $26.95 for the first three months with download speeds of 4mbps and upload speeds of about 386 mbps. But after your honeymoon the price goes up to $45.95 if you have cable TV with them or $56.95 if you don't. One good thing - there is no contract, so that means there's no early termination fee.

You also have to either buy a cable modem at an electronics store (Comcast doesn't sell them) or rent one for $3 a month. So be sure to include that fee in your calculations!

Adelphia:

To begin with, Adelphia offers a basic package which happens to be very basic. Both its upload and download speeds are 256 kbps (kinda slow if you ask me). This package's price is $24.95 per month.

The company also offers a more reasonable package that costs $24.95 for the first three months, then goes up to $43.95. The speeds with this package are pretty fast - 4 mbps for download speeds and an upload speed of 384 mbps. As with Comcast, Adelphia's packages are month-to-month, with no contract and no termination fee. But, also like Comcast, you have to either purchase your own modem or rent one for $3. Also, you don't need to have Adelphia TV cable service to get those prices. The prices are the same for both cable TV and non-cable TV customers alike.

?2006 by Kara Glover

Feel free to reprint this article in newsletters and on websites, with resource box included. If you use this article, please send a brief message to let me know where it appeared: kara@karathecomputertutor.com

Kara Glover is a Computer Tutor and Troubleshooter. You can find her free tips, articles, and tutorials at her website: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com