With the growth and development of online services a good broadband connection can make all the difference. It allows you to connect to friends, family, businesses and services. From shopping to photo sharing and social networking to business, a speedy and reliable internet connection can make life easier and more enjoyable.
Of course, how people choose to connect to the internet has developed and expanded over recent years, resulting in many different options to suit both homes and businesses. These days there are many places to compare broadband, making it easy for consumers to choose the best service to meet their internet needs.
Consumers’ Choice
However, to begin with it’s worth checking what options might be of interest to you or your business. With ADSL, satellite, fibre optic and mobile connections all possible options and all offering different connection speeds, consider how much internet usage you will need and how you use your computer when online.
ADSL broadband provides an internet connection through your telephone line. This means getting your phone line upgraded or ‘activated’ so it can be used for both phone calls and the internet. It will also require a high-speed modem and micro-filter to limit the hissing sounds that can result from using a phone line. This little device is likely to be supplied by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). If not, it will only cost you a few pounds from a phone shop.
For flexibility and freedom, create a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) using a Wi-Fi router and enjoy surfing the web from your laptop or even a smartphone. This option will require a Wi-Fi adaptor, which will either be built into your computer or other device or come in the form of a dongle – a small plug-in device that attaches to a USB port.
A satellite broadband service is good for people or businesses based in remote areas. With this option the satellite dish and DVB modem can be provided and installed by specialist satellite companies. With a one-way satellite system users will benefit from quick download speeds, although uploads will be slower. Two-way systems can cost more, but provide speedy upload and download times.
Expanding Horizons
For those that require web browsing on the go, mobile broadband can be a good choice, especially since it doesn’t require a fixed telephone line and has no or limited set-up costs. Mobile broadband can be purchased from a wide range of mobile-phone networks and uses a small portable dongle.
Mobile broadband is great for using the internet in lots of different places. However, download speeds and reliability depends on the phone signal you get wherever you are when you use the dongle. This can makes things a little tricky with large downloads but can be perfect if you enjoy browsing the web on long journeys or on trips away from home.
For high levels of uninterrupted internet usage and the ability to upload and download data quickly it is worth considering fibre-optic broadband. Rather than using pre-existing phone lines, this uses specially designed wires made of extra thin glass to connect users to the internet.
As a more recent technological development, this option provides internet speeds that are dramatically faster than those that can be achieved with ADSL. As such, many businesses, especially those that use video conferencing, choose to connect with fibre-optic cables.
With a little research you can find just the right broadband deals at moneysupermarket to suit your needs, whether it’s at home, in the office or on the move.