Making Sense of a Broadband Speed Check

By Kris Barnes

So you have done your test and you know your speeds, but what do those digits actually mean? Broadband speed is measured usually in Megabits per second. This is usually abbreviated to Mb, Mbps or Mb/sec. These are all the same thing. Its important not to get Mb's (megabits) mixed up with MB's (megabytes) as MB's are about eight times as big as Mb's. If you download anything you will notice that file sizes from things like music and movies are measure in MB's.

Dial-up internet is so much slower than Broadband that it is measured in Kilobits per second. This is usually abbreviated to either K, Kb, Kbps or Kb/sec. There are 1000 Kilobits in a Megabit.

So some useful things to know are roughly how much big downloads can be-for instance a single music track would be around 4MB and an album would be anywhere between 40MB and 5MB.A feature film would around 700-000Mb, although the DVD quality ones can be in the Gb's (Gigabytes).

If you want to game online - World of Warcraft is the most popular online game but also games like Splinter Cell are widely used- then you can expect to download between 4 MB and 40MB an hour. Keep this in mind when you are selecting your broadband package as many service providers will limit downloads.

For some people 2GB a month is plenty to browse with, however if you are gaming or downloading then you should look at a higher limit. Otherwise your speed may be capped by your provider once you have exceeded your limit. For instance if you have a 20Mb connection you may find it capped to 512Kb once over the download limit. Other providers will charge per Mb downloaded in excess of your cap.

Now what about the speeds? These days your line speed can be anything from 512Kb to a whopping 24Mb. This is what is advertised by broadband service providers. You have to do a broadband speed check to make sure that your area can receive this high speeds though, otherwise you may be paying for it and not using it.
About: Broadband Wise Is The Premier Resource for UK Broadband Comparisons. With in depth comparisons of ADSL Broadband in your area.

Article Source: EzineArticles

Broadband: Going Wireless with Satellite Internet

By Elijah Gardena

Satellite Internet access is the only reliable answer for the more than 30 million people that want to go wireless but still can't receive high speed Internet access through DSL or cable broadband.

There are many advantages of going wireless when you are using an Internet service. It's much easier to network your home or office computers with this system.

One of the greatest benefits of wireless access is that you are no longer attached to a router with a cable. You can move your desktop or laptop computer anywhere around your office or home within the broadcast range of the wireless router.

One of the other major benefits is the fact that multiple computers can access the Internet at the same time. The entire office staff or members of your family can have simultaneous Internet access. Many people that work from home or run home-based businesses prefer wireless access. Imagine a work day spent lounging by the pool while you tap away on your keyboard from the comfort of your favorite deck chair.

After subscribing to satellite service for Internet access, you need to purchase a wireless router and hook it up to the satellite modem. Satellite services are normally broadband services. For the most part these work seamlessly with wireless networking equipment that has most often been used to create wireless networks for land-based broadband internet services.

The next step to take is to outfit your computer with a wireless networking card if did not already come with the built in capability.

photo credit: ~scorp

Once you have your Satellite Internet system has been set up and tested by an installation technician you will be ready to connect your wireless network. You can now connect your satellite Internet modem to the router by following the instructions that came with the router. The router will then begin to transmit signals to your desktop or laptop computer via infrared signals. You will need to configure your router according the instructions that came with your router. Once this is done, you are free to start surfing the internet with no strings (or wires) attached.

About: For more Satellite Internet news and answers, check out http://www.satelliteinternetquestions.com for more resources.

Article Source: EzineArticles