Basic Internet Connection Terminologies

Many people around the world use internet but are not quite familiar with some of the basic internet connection terminologies. There are certain terms related to internet connection that a common internet user need to understand. The most popular way to connect internet are Dial up connection, Broadband connection and speed of internet connection. Let us discuss them...

In simple terms, dial up connection is the system to get your computer connected to an internet network. Using dialup connection a computer can be connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network) of internet using a telephone line and a modem. You may use a dial up connection through various types of modems. Dial up connections are usually cheap reliable and easy to install and use. In fact, with the advance of the internet technology, the dial up connection is provided free (without rent) in some countries.

The most important term associated with dial up connection is a modem. Modem is a contraction of then term "Modulator Demodulator." By definition, the modem converts analog form of data used transmitted through telephone lines into the digital form used on computers and vice versa. These were the earlier form of modems called analog modems and PC card modems. These modems were very popular in the early and middle ages of internet usage. One of the most popular modem was a Standard 56K modem. However, limitations of the phone line made the data transfer speed much lower in practice.

Now days, another type of modems have come into picture. They are also known as digital modems. These modems have been designed to gain advanced digital support from the ISP. However, the terminology "digital modem" is misleading as all modems involve analog data transmission. The advantage of the digital modems is that they use broadband signaling techniques to achieve higher network speeds than traditional analog modems.

The technology that brought revolution the internet connection usage is the Broadband connection. The broadband connection is next step in evolution after dial up internet connection. The broadband connection is a type of data transmission technique that allows several data channels to be transmitted over a common physical line. For example, some broadband internet service combines separate voice and data channels over a single broadcast line.

For a home internet user the term, "broadband" usually refers to high-speed Internet access. For residential connections, a broadband connection is usually provided through Ethernet line or cable TV line. Now days, broadband internet through cable lines is common broadband Internet service in the developed countries.

One of the most important features of the internet access is the speed of the data transfer. The internet speed is measured in bits per second or Bytes per second. Below displayed is the summery of measurement parameters of each unit.

When the measurement is given in bits per second (bps)...

kbps :- one kilobit per second and equals to 1000 bits per second (bps).
mbps :- one megabit per second and equals 1000 kbps.
gbps :- one gigabits per second and equals 1000 mbps.

When the measurement is given in Bytes per second (Bps)...

Kbps :- one kilobytes per second and equals to 1000 bytes per second (bps).
Mbps :- one megabytes per second and equals 1000 Kbps.
Gbps :- one gigabytes per second and equals 1000 Mbps.