Broadband Speed

When people talk about broadband, the first thing that comes up is the speed of the connection. Compared the dial up connections most people had when home internet service first became popular, broadband connections can in some case offer web surfing at speeds more than one hundred times faster. But it is not as simple as getting a broadband connection and then surfing at speeds that fast. In fact, a broadband connection is a catch all term for many different types of internet connections, and broadband speed is very much dependent on the kind of broadband connection you have. Some broadband connections actually only offer speeds that are ten times that of dial up, so while all broadband connections are faster than dial up connections, there is a wide berth of speeds when you’re talking about broadband speeds.

Broadband Speeds – Which Connections are the Fastest?

When it comes to broadband speeds, as we have seen, not all connections are created equal. In general, the fastest broadband speeds can be found on cable broadband systems. These cable broadband connections can be either wired or wireless connections; the thing that they have in common is that they operate over the cable TV network, which allows them to send signals much faster and have much wider bandwidths than other kinds of broadband connections. DSL broadband connections, on the other hand, are generally the slowest of the broadband connections. DSL connections, which can also be wired or wireless, operate via the phone system and have much less bandwidth with which they can work. Mobile broadband connections, which are broadband connections you can take with you in the form of an air card that taps into broadband signals where you go, are somewhere between DSL and cable in terms of broadband speed.

Testing Your Broadband Speed

So, how fast is your broadband speed? Doing a broadband speed test is the only way to find out. You can download software to do free broadband speed checks on a number of websites. Just look for a website that offers a broadband speed connection test that is compatible with your internet service provider (most broadband speed checker sites have tests that will work with the major ISPs). Test your broadband speed when your computer is moving slower than normal, to diagnose any potential problems with your broadband connection, or simply run a broadband speed test to see how quickly your system operates and to see if you do better by switching to another provider or upgrading your service.