On 11/8/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED], discombobulated, unleashed: >Now when we talk broadband, can you use that work in one breath ie: >include hi speed dial >up AND hi >speed cable, or is broad band something completly different. >(he ran away)
All broadband means (and I am no techie) is 'large bandwidth' in terms of data it can transmit. That data can be voice or it can be computer communications data. Think of it this way: at the moment you connect to the internet using a drinking straw. The deal is, you can either sip 7Up through the straw, or Coke - BUT not at the same time. You want to drink 7Up and your wife wants Coke. One of you has to wait. With broadband you will connect up using a hose-pipe. Not just a garden hose-pipe either - but a fireman's hose-pipe! Better: this hose-pipe is pretty smart and you can drink BOTH 7Up and Coke from it *at the same time* - and because it's a smart hose-pipe, it doesn't get the two drinks mixed up, so you get pure 7Up and pure Coke. Finally, with broadband, you don't 'dial up' like you do now. It's always on. You don't actually turn it off. It's always there. Just like the electricity in the wall. You may not use it all the time, but it's always there ready to go. The normal phone line remains a normal phone line, just like it is now. Physically, the only difference you will see is that a small plastic 'splitter' box is plugged into your wall socket. Out of that splitter box are two sockets - one for the normal telephone and one for the computer. It's that simple. Cable is slightly different in that it is a physical connection to a private wire provided by a cable company. They run a wire into your house and put a socket on the wall near your computer so you can plug straight into it. I'm not sure of the exact physicalities as I don't have experience with it. High speed dial-up I have no experience with at all. There are different speeds of broadband (DSL mean Digital Subscriber Line) and I have 512kb and that is plenty fast for me. I can download at 512kb and upload at 256 kb. You may want faster, but I doubt it. Ask more experienced listers. Godders will know. HTH but fire away with any more and I will do my best. Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________