10 Important Broadband Implementations and Standards

Broadband internet access is provided to consumers through several different implementations and using different standards. There is no clear definition of what constitutes a broadband connection. Different organizations have developed their own standards to define broadband internet. Internet Service Providers use this lack of clear definition to their advantage by simply using the  phrase broadband access without distinguishing the differences between the different implementations. We’ve provided a list of ten of these implementations and standards to help you understand the differences.

1. Digital Subscriber Line – DSL is internet service delivered over the same phone line which a subscriber also receives his phone service. You are able to receive both the internet service and the phone service at the same time over the same line because the phone service and internet service are delivered at different frequencies.
2. WiMax – This is a wireless standards-based high-speed internet connection that is deliverable over long distances.
3. Local Multipoint Distribution Service – This is a wireless internet service that operates over certain microwave frequencies. It does not have the ability to reach the distances of WiMax.
4. Power Line Communication – Using power lines to deliver internet service is a possibility that is still being researched, although it has been implemented to some extent in Europe. There are several issues that would need to be resolved to utilize this solution in the U.S. One issue is the ‘noise’ of power lines. Another is the need to install repeaters to bypass transformers in order to deliver the internet to consumers.
5. Satellite internet access – In satellite internet access, the internet signal is sent to an orbiting satellite and then transferred back down to the end-user. The distance the signal needs to travel before reaching the user creates a slight delay. It is also generally the most expensive of the internet services.
6. Fiber to the premises – This refers to the use of fiber optic delivery of the internet signal. Fiber optics has a distance limitation, which means the signal diminishes the further it is from the source. This is true of copper wire transmission as well, but fiber optics is able to carry the signal a longer distance than copper.
7. Cable modem – Just as DSL internet utilizes existing telephone lines to deliver internet services to a home, the cable modem receives internet services through the cable television system that comes into the home. The hub of a cable internet system can be up to 100 miles from the end user.
8. High-speed Packet Access – You may have heard of 3G wireless technology and 4G wireless technology. HSPA technology is sometimes referred to as 3.5G because it fits somewhere in between. It can be achieved by a software upgrade to existing 3G networks.
9. Evolution Data Optimized – EVDO is a wireless radio broadband standard that is used by many cellular services around the world.
10. 802.20 Mobile Broadband Wireless Access – This is a broadband wireless standard that has been worked on off and on since 2002 but has never made it to the full implementation that has been hoped for.

(Source : Broadband Service Providers)

(Thanks to Kathy Nelson for provide such excellent article, Md. Azizul Alam Al-Amin)