Have you ever thought about how often you and your family access the Internet? Streaming the latest movie or TV show on Netflix, sorting out your playlist on Spotify, your kids watching Frozen on the iPad – again!
There’s not much we do that doesn’t require access to the Internet. Have you wondered how you get access to the Internet? Through broadband…but what does that mean?
Now just in case you win an audition for “Millionaire Hot seat” or want to be the person at the BBQ who surprises your friends with your broadband knowledge – here are some facts. There are 4 types of broadband in Australia: ADSL, NBN, Fibre and Ethernet.
Let’s get back to basics first though. Broadband is a really broad term. It’s used to describe the multiple ways Australians access the Internet. The types of broadband available to homes and businesses in Australia today include:
1. ADSL2+
You’ll probably be familiar with ADSL2+ because it’s currently the most common type of service available to homes and businesses. The ADSL2+ broadband service runs over the public telephone network and can support theoretical speeds of up to 24 Mbps for download and 1.5 Mbps upload.
But before you study up and commit these statistics to memory for the next Trivia night, take note! ADSL is in the process of being dethroned as the reigning service type in many parts of Australia.
Why is ADSL having its crown taken away? Because the National Broadband Network (NBN) is being rolled out and taking over! With its youthful speed, innovative technology and reliability, the NBN introduction will make ADSL redundant.
2. National Broadband Network (NBN™)
The NBN™ is being rolled out across the country to replace existing services such as ADSL and provide fast-speed Internet access to regional and previously unserviceable rural areas.
You may have heard about the “NBN™ rollout” on TV and radio advertisements, and thought to yourself, ‘that sounds interesting!’ Here’s what you need to know about the NBN™.
The NBN™ consists of a mix of technologies including fibre-to-the-premise, fibre-to-the building, fibre-to-the-node, wireless fibre and high-speed satellite services. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it – but wait, there’s more!
The different methods of delivery will give most Australians access to a fast-speed data service. There are ranges of plans and speeds available that depend on what business needs you have and where your business is located. As more of the NBN™ rolls out, business-grade plans will become commonplace. These plans provide guaranteed speeds and service uptime for businesses, which depend on reliable and fast Internet access for their day-to-day trading.
If you haven’t got NBN™ available and it’s critical for your business to have fast up-times and speeds, there may already be a solution on the market to suit your needs, a business fibre connection.
3. Business Fibre Connections
If your business needs to provide guaranteed upload and download speeds of up to 1000 Mbps, a business fibre service could be an option. This type of service is often advertised as available in “fibre-enabled buildings” where a dedicated line runs your data through a fibre cable directly up to your network device or via wireless fibre similar to current mobile data technology.
Used by thousands of businesses, in 2017 this is the fastest and most reliable type of data service. Business Fibre is also flexible in terms of available speeds and the ability to split bandwidth across many aspects of the business.
And the best thing about this? It makes your networking environment less complicated and will have IT guys feeling happy! Even though fibre is fast and reliable, it’s not the only option available for fast, guaranteed speed business-grade data services.
4. Ethernet
And last but not least – Ethernet data services! This broadband service combines a number of telephone line pairs and effectively “bonds” the connection to provide you with a guaranteed speed.
Ethernet services work in a similar fashion to ADSL but provide identical speeds for upload and download. Their speed starts as low as 5/5 Mbps and may range as high as 100/100 Mbps depending on the connection you have.
The hidden bonus of Ethernet? Any issues with one line won’t knock your service completely out! This means even faulty lines won’t stop Ethernet from doing its job.
If you’d like some guidance on what is the best broadband for your location, give us a call on 1300 542 142 to find out how we can tailor a package to suit you and your business.
