What is broadband?

Broadband is the term used for any kind of fast Internet access.

It is designed to give a business or residential user instant Internet access 24 hours a day.

What are the benefits of broadband?

• It's fast ... generally 10-20 times faster than your existing dial-up modem.  A typical dial-up modem operates at either 28.8 kbit/s or 56 kbit/s.  A broadband connection operates at between 256 kbit/s and 10 Mbit/s, depending on the service you’re using.
  To give you an idea of the difference that this speed can make, a 3.5 minute MP3 music file takes about 18 minutes to download using a 28.8 kbit/s dial-up modem but only about 21 seconds on a 1.5 Mbit/s broadband link.  An e-mail containing a family photo takes about 55 seconds at 28.8 kbit/s but only about three seconds on a 512 kbit/s link.
• Broadband's high speed gives you access to applications that are either not feasible at the speed of a dial-up connection or just annoyingly slow.
• Broadband can allow you to transfer large files of text or graphics at high speeds, give you instant access to webpages, even those with large amounts of graphics that are typically very slow to download on a dial-up connection; allow employees to telecommute, operating from their home or elsewhere with the same response speeds and level of security as if they were in their office; link several computers to the Internet through the same connection; make videoconferencing faster, smoother and more practical; save money by allowing a business to rationalise and centralise its servers.  More people are using broadband through applications such as skype to avoid the expense of international ‘phone calls.
• It's always on.  As long as your computer is switched on, you can be connected to the Internet.  This means that you do not spend time dialling up and waiting for your modem to connect you to the Internet every time you go online.  You will not be subject to annoying busy signals and your connection is unlikely to drop out.
• Your phone line is not tied up while using the Internet.  Therefore there is no need to pay for a second phone line.
• There are no additional dial-up charges to connect each time you use the service.

Choosing a broadband technology

There are several types of broadband technology - ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), Cable, Satellite and Wireless.

Your choice of technology will depend largely on which technologies are available to you as not all technologies are available in all areas.  The best place to get advice on which technology is the most suitable for you is your Internet service provider (ISP).  However, not all ISPs offer all technologies, so you may need to talk to more than one ISP to gather the information you require.

The Australian Government has recently launched a website, www.broadbandnow.gov.au, which offers information on how to obtain access to broadband.