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Broadband

This is the word that is used to describe a type of connection to the internet. You do it by having a contract with a telecomms company (known as an ISP) and you connect to them and they connect to the internet. For a proper definition click here. For most of us however, broadband is the the word used for our (a)dsl connection to the internet through our phone line.

Normally, setting up this type of connection is fairly straightforward and simply involves "filtering" the devices connected to your phone line, adding a broadband modem/router and plugging it into your computer or network. Put in the details provided by your provider and you're up and running... just like that. However, sometimes problems arise and below are some ways of sorting these out.

You can buy different "packages" from different providers. These give you a number of variables, such as how much stuff you can download in any particular time period (or within particular times of the day) and the speed with which this happens. The issue at the moment is that many of these ISP's make wild offers and then give you something a little different. The chart gives you some guidelines. In summary:
The Best All-Rounder - For the majority of Internet users, a 1-2Mb deal will offer the best balance between price and performance.
Entry-Level - (256K or 512K) doesn't offer the performance you'll need to be able to get the best. Of course, if you only use the Internet to read web pages and send email, a slower connection may be adequate.
Heavy or Shared Usage - A faster connection (2Mb+ or faster) is probably worth considering if you intend to play a lot of games, or if you intend to share the Internet connection between more than four or five computers in the office.

If your ISP packages offer you download limits, consider what you use the internet for (see the chart) and choose accordingly. 1 Gb per month is too little for most single users, but if all you are using the internet for is email, this might be ok. As a rule packages which don't limit your downloads are good, but they will all have acceptable use policies which basically ask you to be reasonable and not to focus your downloads at peak periods (i.e. evenings and weekends).

For more information and a deal checker go to:

Some of the information on this page is credited to broadband.co.uk

broadband speed chart

chart showing how much you get for a specifc download limit

Having got all that sorted out, you can then have problems on your line. These can be caused by the distance from the exchange, problems at your end, problems in your building (with the phone wiring) etc. As a general rule, your ISP will tell you that you are wrong, but often this is not the case. If you are confident that your router/modem is set up correctly or that for no apparent reason the services has got worse than it previously was and that nothing has changed in terms of telphony in the building, then it is likely that the ISP has the problem. Either call Virtual Riders for help, or have a look at the web sites on the right which can provide many of the answers.

If you live in Hull and you want broadband you have to use

Karoo.