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Broadband FAQ's

What Is Broadband?

If you are the one in charge of making new utility decisions in your home, you may not know all of the terms that are associated with such decisions. Do you know what broadband is?

Sure, you may know it has something to do with computers, but do you really understand the term? Here's a closer look at what broadband is and what you need to know about it.

Broadband is the shortened version of 'Broadband Internet Access'. This is a system where the Internet connection for your home comes directly through an open cable line into the house. This is a step up from the days of dial-up. Not only is broadband always ready to go (without having to dial a number and connect first) it is also much faster than dial-up connections.

While dial-up connections may be alright if you are going to be just reading and sending e-mails, if you like to download music or files, look at complicated websites or do any other online activities that involve the movements of a lot of bits of information, broadband is the way to do it because of the speed it will allow in those transmissions.

Another perk of broadband is that it can be used at any time, not just when the phone line is free. This means you can enjoy being online and be able to make and receive calls at the same time.



What To Look For In Broadband Service?

Not all broadband is created equal. This is something that is vital to keep in mind when you are considering which broadband company to go with for your home or business services. Here are some of the things you should know before you buy.

Speed

There are many speeds when it comes to broadband. Some broadband connections are little faster than your old dial-up connections. Others speed along without ever missing a beat.

Many broadband companies will claim speed, but the proof is in the numbers. Transfers of 56k are just above dial up. If you want to get into broadband that you can see the speed in, you want to look for at least 256 Mbps in transfer speed. If you have the option of higher than that (say 512 Mbps) go for it, as it will let you do most things you want online without any slowdowns.

Where's the Hub?

If you are far from the service provider's hub (base of operations), the speed of your broadband connection could be much slower than those who are closer to the hub. The reason for this is common sense – it takes the signal time to get from your home to the hub and then do the job you want it to do.

Even though the 'time' it takes is less than you can even recognise for the most part, if you are doing a lot of high end using, like downloading large files or watching movies online, you will notice it's going a little slower.





How to Save on Broadband Service

Just because you know you want broadband doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune on it. Here is a look at some of the ways you can save on broadband service:

Slower Service

When it comes to measurements of broadband, it's all about the speed. Each company seems to be trying to prove they can be faster than the next. But do you really need that speed? If you only use your broadband service to answer e-mails and check a few forums or Google searches from time to time, you may not need the high speed that companies charge more for. Instead, you can save by settling for slower broadband service.

Bundles

Many companies offer bundles of service that have not only broadband but also Pay TV and phone service all bundled into one package deal. Not only does this make things easier by only having to pay one bill at the end of the month, but it also saves you money, as you will get discounts by putting the services together.

Watch for Sales

All broadband providers offer special sales from time to time, you just need to know to keep your eyes open for them. Always pay attention to the advertisements coming from broadband providers so you will see a great sale when it is offered and be able to take advantage of it.

Comparison Shop

The best way to save on broadband is to shop around and know who is offering what type of service at what price. Make sure to always comparison shop so you can know just what is out there and where the bargains are.



Take a New Look at Your Broadband Bill

If you're like most people, you are likely always keeping your eyes open for a way to save a little money on the monthly bills. It seems costs are always going up and paychecks aren't keeping up with inflation, so you need more ways to save.

Believe it or not, you may be able to do a bit of saving just by taking a closer look at your broadband bill. Now is the time to pull out the bill and ask yourself these questions:

Do you need that much speed?

When it comes to broadband, most companies sell you service based on the speed of the broadband you are getting. If you want more speed, which makes things like downloading and watching movies go more smoothly, you will need more speed. But if you don't do those high impact online activities you may be able to save money by settling for a slower connection speed.

Do you need the extras?

Some broadband companies offer you package deals that give you things like e-mail addresses, online storage space and other perks for being a part of their program. Do you need these services? If not, you may be able to downgrade to a lesser service plan and save money.

Can you bundle?

Can you save money by packaging up broadband and your phone, Pay TV or other items in the home? Many companies offer bundling and putting all of these services together can save 10%, 20% or more.

Understanding Broadband Terms

When you are prepared to embark on the purchase of a broadband service, you may want to know just what all those terms to describe the service mean. Here is a look at some of the terms that you will likely encounter.

Bandwidth – This is the amount of information (data) that can be transferred back and forth over an Internet connection. This is usually measured in bits per second (bps). The simple thing to understand is the more bps (or preferably M(illion)bps) the better for your online purposes.

Bundles – Many companies offer bundled services that include phone, cable and broadband for a discounted price over what you would pay for them individually.

Dial-Up Internet – This is a slower way to get online. Dial-up literally requires using a phone line to dial into a system in order to get online.

DSL – DSL is a process that will allow your phone line to be used as a broadband line as well as sending data through the same cable. Unlike old phone line Internet services, DSL allows you to still use your phone while being able to use that line to connect to the Internet simultaneously.

Media Streaming – If you want to use your broadband connection to watch TV or movies, you will need to have media streaming capabilities. For the most part this means your broadband connection will have to be fast enough to allow you to receive the data fast enough to play the movie or video feed in real time.



Saving Money with Broadband Bundles

In this economic day and age, everyone is looking for whatever ways they can find to save a little money on their monthly expenses. By taking a closer look at some of your monthly services, you may be able to do just that.

Broadband Bundles

You have likely heard or seen advertisements for broadband bundles in the past, but may not have really looked into them. Broadband bundles are essentially package deals to get many of the services you need in your home.

Basic Broadband bundles generally include Pay TV and broadband or Telephone and Broadband. More advanced broadband bundle packages add more into the mix such as phone, TV and broadband. Others may also include your mobile phone package.

So, you may be wondering why this is such a good idea. For one, you will only have one bill to deal with at the end of the month, which is good for your time and billing management.

Secondly, and often more importantly, you can save money. Companies want you to spend as much of your money as you can with them. In this case, they are often willing to allow you a discounted price for services if you will use them for more than one service. This is the idea of bundling. The more services you purchase from one company, the cheaper each service will be, as they will allow you a discount on each of them to create a bundle of services.

Before You Sign Up

Before you sign on the dotted line that you want to join up for a service bundle you should always make sure to read any contract carefully. Some have a minimum number of months or years that you must be with the company before the discounts can take effect. Others are limited time offers with the price of the services going up after a while. Make sure you know the details of a plan before signing on.



What Broadband Speed Do You Need?

As you start to consider broadband service for your home, one thing you need to really think about is what broadband speed you need.

It is very tempting to look for the fastest and most impressive looking broadband package that's out there. After all, all the advertisements on TV say that is the way to go, right? Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure that you know what speed of broadband you need, so you don't end up paying for more than you will use.

First, you need to understand the broadband speeds out there:

Basic – Basic broadband service is not much more than the name promises. This is a way to get broadband service for your home. In many cases, while this is faster than dial up, depending on where you are the connection speed can vary. For most homes this is more than enough to do the daily e-mailing and online playing. But if you are running a business and are constantly taxing your Internet connection, you may notice this is not enough.

Business – The next speed of broadband is business speed. This is usually 256-512 kbps. This speed is fast enough for even many power users and can keep your small business online and operational with few to no glitches.

Advanced – Do you spend more time uploading and downloading than anything else online? Or perhaps you run a business from home that relies on your computer constantly able to make changes to inventory and online sales. In this case you may want advanced broadband connections that will really fly all the time.

Once you know which category of user you fit into, you can make an educated decision on what will be the best broadband speed for your needs. Only pay for the speed you need.



Take Advantage of Broadband Discounts

If you are considering adding broadband to the services you pay for in your home, why not get a great deal on broadband while you are at it. This may be easier than you think. Here are a couple of ways to get a great price on broadband services.

Holiday Specials

Many broadband companies hope to get new people to jump onboard during the holidays. This is a time of year they will offer special discounts and deals to try and convince people to purchase broadband for those they love as a present.

Bundling Options

Many broadband companies offer more than just broadband. They may also offer phone, mobile or TV services. In this case, they not only want you to pay for their broadband services, but would love you to pay for their other services as well. In this case they will be happy to bundle a number of services together, and give you a discount to give them more of your business.

Compare Options

There are plenty of broadband companies out there. Don't let yourself get stuck in a rut. You need to keep your current broadband provider in check. This means you should always be looking at what else is out there. If you find a better deal, switch to it.

Contract Terms

If you don't know what is in your broadband contract, this may be a good time to pull it out and take a closer look. Many broadband specials are only good for a year and then the rates go up. Broadband companies rely on people not looking at their contract and not noticing they are paying more for the same service after a year. Find out if your rates are going to change and be ready to change your service if you can find a better deal at that time.



Watch For the End of Broadband Specials on your Bill

When you signed up for your current broadband service, did you sign up for a special deal? If so, and your one year anniversary for that service is closing in, you may be in for a surprise on your future bills. In many cases, once a year has passed, the great price you were getting on your broadband service will be gone and you will start being charged a higher rate for the same service.

Many people think this is just the way things are and that they have to settle for this increase in spending for the same things they had before. That is not the case. There are a few things you can do to avoid having to pay more.

Keep the Old Deal

Call the company. Ask them about your contract and the special deal that is running out. Ask them if you can extend that deal to keep the good price going. You may want to mention that if you can't get that deal, you will shop around for something better. Just make sure you are willing to do this if they say no.

Look for a New Deal

Of course the other option is to find a better deal elsewhere. Know what you want and need in broadband service and see what else is being offered out there. Find a plan that is right for you and make a change to a new company if necessary.



Do you need Broadband at home? (Broadband Vs. Dial up)

When it comes to broadband services, many people get caught up in the idea of it thinking that everyone else has broadband so they need it to. But do you really need it? Not everyone really needs broadband. For some homes dial up service is more than enough, and by keeping this service instead of getting broadband you can save money every month. Here are a few things to consider.

How much are you online at home?

Do you go online often at home, or is that more of an at-work activity? If you spend little to no time online at home (just popping in to check e-mail) getting broadband may be a waste of money. After all, if you are not going to really utilize a service, why should you put out a lot of money on it?

What are you doing online at home?

If you are a low to moderate online user at home, the next thing to consider is what you are doing online. Are you just checking and sending e-mails or is there more you are doing while you are online. E-mail are generally text based and don't take a very strong connection to work. Dial up may be enough. On the other hand, if you are downloading a lot of files at home or trying to get on websites that have a lot of flash and other large files, you may notice that dial up is too slow for the job at hand.

Before you make any purchasing decisions, it is best to really take a closer look at what type of user you are and decide whether you need broadband or could save a few dollars by sticking with your current dial up system.

What is Pay As You Go Broadband?

If you are beginning to shop for broadband services for your home, you may have noticed there are a couple of options for how you can contract with a company. There are typical service contracts where you have a monthly bill to use broadband, and then there is Pay As You Go broadband.

Pay As You Go broadband is broadband that literally allows you to pay for the broadband you use.

If you are a casual Internet user, you may really want to take a closer look at the Pay As You Go broadband option. In this case, your Internet service is billed by the bandwidth you use. Bandwidth relates to the amount of computer bytes that are sent back and forth from your computer to the Internet.

These days many people spend a lot of time online downloading movies and music files. This takes up a lot of bandwidth. Regular service broadband companies expect most people to use that much bandwidth and charge accordingly.

On the other hand, if you just check e-mail and do a couple small things online every day, this will be very little usage. In this case, if you are paying for a monthly service, you are paying for a lot you are not using. Instead, you should consider pay as you go broadband. Pay for just what you use, and save money in the long run.



Pay-As-You-Go Vs Contract Broadband

Trying to decide what type of broadband package would be best for your home, here's a quick reference to decide whether a Pay As You Go or contract broadband package is best for your needs.

How much online time and bandwidth do you need?

This is a good time to assess how much you really use your Internet connection. While contract broadband offers all the usage you need in a month for one price, if you don't need a lot of online presence, you may be paying more than you need to be for the amount of service you use. Instead pay as you go services could be a better choice, only paying for the amount of online time you need and use.

Do You Need More Control Over Your Bills?

When it comes to contract broadband, you know how much you are going to pay every month for broadband service in your home. While this can be a good thing, have you ever had a month when you wished you could cut the bills down a little bit? This is something you can adjust with pay as you go broadband, adjusting the amount you use to the amount you want to pay for service.

Compare Companies

One more thing you will want to look at is what various companies offer when it comes to both contract and pay as you go broadband. All companies have different pricing scales. Once you decide which type of service is best for your needs, you should take that extra step of comparing costs to get the best deal.



How Broadband Can Help You Save Money

Are you using your broadband connection to its fullest? While many people think of enjoying downloading things and playing online when it comes to their broadband connection, there is much more you can do with this great tool. Some of those things can save you money.

Comparison Shopping

No matter whether it's something you want to purchase online or in a store, there are a number of comparison sites online that will help you shop around for items to get the best deal. From books to food items to even car insurance, you can compare the rates of numerous companies in a flash and find the best price, saving you from purchasing a more expensive option.

Finding Locations

Instead of driving all over town thinking you know where you are going, broadband connections have made it much easier to find a location and get there without any trials or problems. You can even print out a map to make sure you don't get lost wasting both time and fuel in your vehicle.

Getting Coupons

Whether you are going to the department store or a grocery store, you may be able to save more on your shopping by going online first and getting a couple coupons and discounts for those things you were going to purchase. There are plenty of online coupon sites where you can print out coupons to save even more on the things on your shopping list.

The next time you think your broadband connection is just a way to download a song or get e-mail, think again. Remember, this is also a tool that if used wisely can help you save money and time in your daily life.



Using Broadband to Make Phone Calls More Affordable

If you have a lot of family that lives far away, across the country, or even out of the country, you may wish you could find a more affordable way to talk to them regularly. Did you know that your broadband connection could help you do that?

Thanks to services like Skype.com you may well be able to make a number of long distance, and even international, phone calls for a fraction of what you used to pay for such calls.

The way Skype works is that you will use your computer and broadband connection to make a call through their website. This does require some equipment on your end. Generally you can purchase a headset that can be plugged into your computer that will let you hear audio coming out of the computer as well as speak into a small microphone. It is essentially a telephone headset that will be used once the call is connected.

It used to be Skype just offered the ability to make calls for a lot less per minute than regular phone service, but now they also have more options.

Pay As You Go Vs. Monthly – Instead of just offering the old-fashioned pay as you go plan of paying for each call made, Skype is now offering monthly service. This is smart if you make a lot of calls, as you can get even deeper discounts.

Skype to Skype - If you know someone else who has Skype on their computer, you can talk to them for free, even if they are across the world.

Video Calls – In addition to phone calls, Skype will also allow you to hold video conferences through their service. This not only is good for business people, but also family members who like the idea of seeing each other instead of just talking.



Considerations Before you Switch Broadband Suppliers

Once you have become a little more educated about broadband and what options are out there, you may start thinking of switching from your current service to one that is a better deal for what you need and your budget. That's a great idea, but just make sure you cover your bases before you make the switch.

E-mail address

The first thing to consider is if you have an e-mail address that you use through your current broadband provider. If so, you need to start going down your contact list and giving them a new e-mail address to send messages to so you don't lose track of any of them.

You also will want to make a copy of your e-mail contact list so you can install all those names in your new e-mail system.

Online Storage

If you happen to use your broadband company as an online storage service, you need to move any files you have uploaded to their service, as you will not be able to get into them once you switch providers.

Service Overlap

There is nothing more frustrating than having one company cut off your service and then waiting days for the new service to come into effect. Talk to the new company about a seamless changeover service and they may be able to help you keep going without missing a beat as the change is made.

Bundling Issues

If you are part of a bundled service package, you need to know how changing your broadband service will impact the other services you currently have. If you are just changing your broadband, the company may charge you more for the other services (as the discount comes from the more services you bundle together).