Broadband is a transmission technology used to deliver information such as data, video & voice on a high speed over the internet. Unlike the Dial-Up internet connection which provides a transmission speed of 56 Kbps Broadband internet able to transmit at a much higher speed.
Broadband also started with low data transmission speed with DSL, 768-Kbps to 1.5-Mbps. As technology improved, a new variant of speed in Broadband came into existence.
The criteria of Broadband Speed are different in countries. Many countries have their own set of definitions of Broadband Speed which is based on the available average download and upload speed & technology they use.
In the USA, the definition of broadband internet is a minimum of 25-Mbps download and 3-Mbps upload speed according to FCC. Many other countries have a different definition like
Singapore has an average speed of approx. 240 Mbps,
China has an average speed of approx. 180 Mbps,
Russia has an average speed of approx. 87 Mbps,
(Data provided by SpeedTest.net.)
Broadband provides high-speed internet
access via multiple types of technologies including Fiber optics, Wireless,
Copper cable, DSL, and satellite link.
Fiber Optics bring the revolutionary
change in today’s world. Fiber Optics can carry lots of data with minimum
latency. Fiber optics use light instead of the electrical pulse. You can’t use copper wires for
long-distance communication, because electrical pulse will degrade after some
distance and you have to use signal boosters, you can get 50-Mbps speeds over 300 meters or about 10-Mbps at
1400 meters using DSL but with fiber optics, you can get 1-Gbps at 30 KM
using signal-mode fiber optics without using any signal booster.
Along with
that Wireless signal can carry high-speed data for long distance but latency is
the biggest issue in wireless communication. But these days wireless engineers
are working to develop the wireless technology so it can be used to carry high
speed data with low latency in remote distance areas where Fiber Optics and
Copper Wires are not feasible to deploy.
So, copper
wires are being used for short-distance communication where they can carry 10-Gbps
data load at 35 m distance, wireless is being used for mid-range communication
where it can carry 300-Mbps at a distance of 6 to 10 KM distance and fiber
optics is being used for long-distance communication where it can carry 1-Gbps
at 30 Km distance.
These are
the media used to provide broadband connections to end-users.