Broadband is a method of connecting to the Internet. It is called broadband as it provides a high-speed Internet connection when compared with older methods of connecting which were generally termed narrowband.

The benefits of broadband are mainly related to the speed of the connection. If you're used to using dial-up Internet access, you will know that webpages generally take 10 seconds or more to load and downloading e-mails can take a few minutes.

 

With a broadband internet connection all these things happen much more quickly! You will be able to do many things at once with broadband. It is even fast enough to allow several people to use the same Internet connection at once if you have more than one computer and they are networked together.

 

The faster speed allows you to enjoy many of the more feature rich areas of the Internet such as streaming media including live TV, and radio. Online gamers will generally find their ping is much lower!

The speed of the connection varies based on many different things including where you live and what broadband provider you use. Generally the speed will be in the region of between 512k (512 Kbps) and 8 meg (meg is an abreviation used to mean Mbps - Megabits per second), although faster connections are possible in some areas.

 

If you have used a 56k dial-up connection, 512k is nearly 10 times faster. 10 meg is about 180 times faster!

The first step to getting broadband is to see what is available to you. The most common technology used for a broadband connection in the UK is ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ) which is provided using the BT telephone network. This is available to 99.9% of premises in the UK, so you'll more than likely be able to get it. You do not have to sign up with BT to get broadband using ADSL.. Cable modems are also quite popular as an alternative in areas where cable operators have rolled out their TV network.Shrewsbury is not in a cable area. LLU services are also more recently becoming more viable due to rulings by OFCOM.

 

Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) enables operators to connect directly to the consumer via BT's copper local loops and then add their own equipment to offer broadband and other services. This process involves operators accessing BT's local exchange buildings to connect to BT's network of copper lines which connect them to homes and businesses.

 

There are two types of unbundled line:

Even though BT have broadband enabled 99.9% of telephone exchanges, some areas and lines still cannot get broadband. This is due mostly to technological limits.

 

Please use our Where I Live search facility under the Entertainment and Culture section to see if you can receive it. We cannot guarantee that they are correct. Please check with the service providerS for confirmation of any results.

 

Wikipedia - explanation about ADSL.

Thinkbroadband - General information and forum about broadband in the UK.

Ispreview - Forum about broadband.

DSLreports - Frequently asked questions about broadband.

Samknows - Broadband checker by postcode and telephone number for all types of broadband.