Broadband Basics - NEW!

Introduction     
     The intent of this new page is to try and simplify/clarify a couple of key areas of the Broadband puzzle – simply. Not a lot of detail where that detail is not needed. Want to know more? We got it – just ask. And yes, you can find more on the Internet too.
     One day – perhaps in your or my lifetimes (within the next 10-20 years) there will be no more wired (copper) telephones anymore – yes. Voice telephones in the traditional sense will be over the Internet (VOIP) and that is happening today. One reason this will happen is that copper phone lines are not economically as supportable as they we assessed to be in the past. 
The Basics - that’s what this really is…. 
The Technical, The Operational & The Financial
I. Technical
     KISS -you’ve heard of that before, “Keep it simple silly” or some other variation . Well that is this section – SIMPLE.
So if you want a little more technical it’s out there on the internet and the following is a relatively simple technical piece that serves to identify some things you should know - nothing more. Though started elsewhere on the site, the following key things need some clarification on this page - again.

1. Broadband: Broadband today (1/1/2021) is defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps Upload. Mega bits per second = Mbps. It will change, which is good for the consumer – maybe 100/100 or better – PLEASE!
2. Don’t have that? You do NOT have Broadband.
3. If you tell me you have Broadband, I think you have a minimum of 25/3 today.
4. Broadband does not equal “Internet” either. You need the Internet to have Broadband and that is often confused…

i.You don’t? Join the crowd. We need and should have it.

1. High-Speed: (It’s a misleading term and it’s all relative!). “Speed” in the Internet world is based on 1 second – what medium and what service provider can enable you to move a specific amount of data (i.e. capacity) in One Second.
   1. 60 mph is 60 in a Porsche, a Suburban, or an 18-Wheeler. What differs is how much that vehicle can carry. That’s an analogy! Many in Maine only have a Yugo!
   2. In one second an amount of data (the capacity) is moved over the internet medium (a cable or through the air) and is “measured” in Mega bits (Mb) – Not Mega Bytes (MB). It’s important to know that a “bit” is 1/8 of a “Byte.” Mb vs. MB. Confused – that’s OK.  
2. Mb vs MB: You got that already ! Mega bit (Mb) is 1/8th of a Mega Byte (MB) – so 1 MB is 8 Mb.
3. Medium: Medium is environment that is used to carry the signals used to support the Internet. 
   1. Copper – Phone lines & Cable TV (CATV) (i.e. coaxial cable)

                    i.Oldest of the mediums still used for Internet and phone
                           1. Telegraph (1830’s) and telephone (1870’s). Though lots has changed they both used copper.                   
                   ii.Examples: Spectrum’s Cable TV, Consolidated Communication’s phones DSL Internet service and Dial-up! Yep, that still exists.

1. Glass – Fiber Optics

i.The “fastest” and the best able to move data (capacity is potentially unlimited) the longest terrestrial distances (on land or under water) 

1. Most trans-oceanic Internet communication moves over undersea fiber cables. Some is via Satellite.
2. Air – Cellular, Wireless, WIFI & Satellite

i.Growing uses, from cellular phones, in-home communications to driverless transportation – but ALL are backed up by fiber-based systems.

1. Example: While talking on your cellular phone your communication goes to a tower or possibly multiple ones, if you are moving. That signal/conversation is generally passed from the tower’s cellular components to fiber optic cable on the tower that then routes your call through various systems, between you and the receiver of the call (even under the oceans) to a tower closest to your calling party – all at the “speed of light.”    
2. Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) Cable

i. HFC has been used by the cable industry since the 90’s and touted by some as Fiber. True, It has components of fiber but with none of the direct benefits to the consumer – don’t be fooled – if you have cable you do not have fiber to the home! There is more to this than you might be ready to know – but if you are…. See the document specifically on the subject below.