Broadband - Is It All The Same?
By Michael Russell

For the uninformed Internet surfer, broadband may very well be, well, broadband. After all, it's a generic term, so isn't all broadband the same? Or more specifically, aren't all broadband service providers the same? The answer to this question is unfortunately a very big no. And what makes this even worse is that because of the lack of knowledge that the general public has, they may simply go for the broadband service with the most attractive price tag. In many cases, this can leave you with a service that isn't much better than ordinary dial up. So what is it that makes broadband services different? While we can't go into great detail here, we'll at least try to give you some basics so you'll at least have some clue what to look for when shopping for a broadband service.

Broadband is loosely defined as a high-speed connection. What is a high-speed connection? It is generally accepted that anything above dial up, or 56K, is considered a high speed, or broadband connection. However, there are several types of broadband connections and they don't all provide the same speed, or data transfer rate. The most popular types of broadband are DSL, Cable, Wireless and Satellite. Each of these types delivers a different rate of speed, in spite of what the service providers claim and I am sure you've heard the claims. "4 times faster than DSL" and blah, blah, blah. The problem is, you have to read the fine print.

Fine print?

Oh yes and tons of it. The truth is, there are various levels of broadband and you pay based on the level you get.

The lowest level of broadband is basic broadband. These are actually very low speed broadband services that aren't very reliable and are pretty much good only for home use and not much better than dial up.

After that, you have what's called Business Grade Broadband. These are much higher speeds of around 512 Mbps. However, they can also be as low as 256 Mbps. These types of connections are more suitable for running a business and much more reliable than basic broadband.

The highest level of broadband is called Advanced Broadband. This level is used mostly by businesses that have an enormous number of users. This level is about as fast as you're going to get and offers the most reliable connections and security features. It is also very expensive.

It is because of all these differences that many casual users, such as the home users, don't know what to choose. Again, they get sucked in by the low price tags without reading the fine print that the service they are getting is the lowest level service. For example, one recent DSL ad offers a monthly price of about $20 a month for DSL service. But if you look at the fine print you will see that it is for their slowest speed.

It's like anything else in life. With broadband, you get what you pay for.

No, not all broadband is the same.