How Broadband Internet Works
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What is Broadband?
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If you're reading this article, you are using the Internet, and you are quite likely using broadband Internet. But do you understand what it is and how it works? Even people with degrees in technology have a hard time explaining broadband Internet to the layman in easy-to-understand terms. Let's start with a simple definition so that we have a common starting point. Broadband is essentially a type of communication channel. This channel is able to support an enormous range of frequencies by splitting the total capacity into smaller, independent channels. By understanding this definition, we can get a much clearer picture of how broadband Internet works.
Communication Channels
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What is meant by "a type of communication channel"? Well, think about the various communication channels we use in everyday life. There's the telephone, for instance. The phone lines we use to contact each other are a type of communication channel. Same goes for television stations, radio stations and walkie-talkie communications. For most of its existence, phone lines were the communication of choice for Internet users. These lines can carry up to 56kbps of data through their lines. But with the Internet advancing into a new age, people demanded faster speeds, which required opening up bigger and better ways to connect. Thus, the advent of broadband channels.
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Broadband Bandwidth
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Because the Internet was growing at such an enormous rate, people demanded faster connection speeds. 56K was plenty fast to view a stripped-down HTML website, but with the advent of videos, Flash and streaming audio and the desire to work in multiple tabs came the need for speed. Broadband works by opening up the channels so that much more information can travel back and forth. It's analogous to the difference between pushing a pen through your closed fist and throwing it through a circle made by your thumb and forefinger. This extra breadth is referred to as bandwidth. The more bandwidth is available, the faster your connection speeds will be.
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