Types of Internet connections

31 Mar Types of Internet connections

Change in technology has led to the creation of several types of Internet connections. Earlier, there was just the dial-up connection. Today, there are so many broadband connections that it is hard to know all of them thoroughly.
The following is a brief guide to the various types of Internet connections.

1- Dial-up connections-

These connections are analog. Typically slow yet economical, they use modems connected to the PC which in turn dials-up a phone number using a telephone to connect to the internet. Since these connections use telephone lines, the connection is not very good weak and generally slow.

2- ISDN-

Also known as Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN is a communication standard for sending data over telephone lines or wires. Their speed ranges somewhere between 64Kbps to 128Kbps.

3- B-ISDN

Broadband ISDN’s transmit data over special optic fiber lines and not regular telephone lines. These connections are said to be very fast. However, they are not very widely used today due to the cost they incur.

4- DSL-

xDSL connections cover two types of DSL, or Digital Subscriber Lines- ASSL and SDSL. These connections are maintained using 2-wire copper phone lines that are connected separately from the telephone lines. Their speed ranges from 128Kbps to 9Kbps.

5- ADSL

Using special ADSL modems these lines support data transfer at a rate of 1.5 to 9 Mbps downstream and 16 to 640Kbps upstream. These are the most common type of DSL networks.

6- SDSL

Symmetric digital subscriber line is capable of sending a large amount of data over copper telephone lines. The speed ranges up to 3Mbps. Using special SDSL modems, these connections support same rates for upstream and downstream data transfer.

7- Cable- Broadband Connections

Cable modems use cable TV lines for data transmission. Certain channels are used for down connections while others for upstream transmission. The cable lines provide extremely good and quick connection since the bandwidth of cable TV is much greater than telephone lines.