Broadband Internet Glossary

ADSL Broadband (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  ADSL (Asymmetric digital subscriber line) allows broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables, with a higher data rate on the downlink.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See ADSL Broadband.

Bridge.  A bridge is a data-link layer (Layer 2) internetworking device that interconnects two local area networks (LANs).

Broadband Australia.  DSL and cable broadband services are available in Australia.

Broadband Internet.  Broadband Internet usually refers to Internet connections that provide higher data rates than those available over an analog telephone connection.

Broadband Modem.  The broadband modem is in the customer's premises, and is used to encode signals sent to the ISP and decode signals received over the broadband channel from the ISP.

Broadband New Zealand.  Broadband operators in New Zealand include: JetStream, Pacific Bell, FastADSL, Telstra, and Telecom New Zealand.

Broadband Router.  A broadband router is used in broadband Internet access to separate a customer's local network from the broadband network operator's network.

Broadband Speed.  Broadband speed varies markedlly with the particular broadband technology, and sometimes with the user's distance from the local telephone exchange.

Broadband Splitter.  Broadband splitter is another term for broadband switch.

Broadband Switch.  A broadband switch is a switch that is integrated with a broadband modem, and possibly other components supporting a broadband connection.

Broadband United Kingdom.  Both cable broadband and DSL broadband are available in the United Kingdom.

Broadband United States.  Both cable broadband and DSL broadband are available in the United States.

Cable Broadband.  Cable broadband Internet access piggy-backs onto a pre-existing cable television system.

Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See DSL Broadband.

DSL Broadband (Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  DSL broadband (Digital subscriber line) refers to a number of technologies that allow broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables.

Ethernet.  Ethernet is a protocol for the physical and data-link layers, which employs carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA-CD).

HDSL Broadband (High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  HDSL broadband (High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line Broadband) provides a high rate, symmetric data communication link over conventional twisted-pair copper cable.

High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See HDSL Broadband.

Hub.  The hub is the centre point for the wiring of a star-wired network.

Internet Connection Sharing.  Internet connection sharing is used in various versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system to describe a process whereby two or more computers can share a single connection to the Internet/

Internet Service Provider.  See ISP.

Internetworking.  Internetworking is the interconnection of local area networks (LANs), through the use of hubs, bridges, switches and routers.

ISDN Broadband.  ISDN broadband (Integrated Services Digital Network broadband) employs an ISDN telephone channel to provide broadband Internet access.

ISP (Internet Service Provider).  Users connect to the Internet through an ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Maximum Transfer Unit.  See MTU.

Modem.  Modem is a contraction of modulator/demodulator, which transforms a digital bit stream into an analogue signal (in the modulator), and vice versa (in the demodulator) so that the digital signal can be passed over an analogue channel.

MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit).  The MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) is the maximum number of bytes that can be transferred in a single unit between two computers attached to an IP network.

NAT (Network Address Translation).  NAT (network address translation) is a protocol that allows a single network address allocated by an ISP to be shared by a number of local terminals.

NAT Protocol (Network Address Translation Protocol).  The NAT protocol provides for translation of IP addresses and TCP port numbers between a local address space and the global address space.

NAT VPN (Network Address Translation Virtual Private Network).  Special procedure are sometimes required if a VPN is established over a connection that contains a NAT device.

Network Address Translation.  See NAT.

Network Address Translation Protocol.  See NAT Protocol.

Network Address Translation Virtual Private Network.  See NAT VPN.

Point-to-point Protocol.  See PPP.

PPP (Point-to-point Protocol).  The point-to-point protocol is a data-link-layer protocol commonly used on dial-up modem connections.

PPP over Ethernet.  See PPPoE.

PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet).  The point-to-point protocol is a data-link-layer protocol commonly used on dial-up modem connections.

RADSL Broadband (Rate adaptive Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  RADSL (Rate adaptive digital subscriber line) allows broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables, with the rate adapting to the line conditions.

Rate adaptive Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See RADSL Broadband.

Repeater.  The repeater is a layer-1 internetworking device that simply re-times and regenerates the frames to transfer data from one network to another.

Router.  A router is a network layer (Layer 3) device that interconnects two local area networks (LANs).

Satellite Broadband.  Satellite broadband Internet access uses a satellite channel to carry downlink traffic to the user.

SDSL Broadband (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  SDSL (Symmetric digital subscriber line) allows broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables with the same data rates on the uplink and downlink.

Small Office Home Office.  See SOHO.

SOHO (Small Office Home Office).  SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) is a term used to describe generically the types of small networks typically found in the home or a small office environment.

Switch.  A switch is a data-link layer (Layer 2 of the OSI model) internetworking device.

Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See SDSL Broadband.

TDSL (Time division multiplexed digital subscriber line).  TDSL (Time-division multiplexed digital subscriber line) allows low-cost broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables, sharing the capacity of the channel using time-division multiplexing.

TDSL Broadband (Time-division multiplexed digital subscriber line broadband).  TDSL (Time-division multiplexed digital subscriber line) allows low-cost broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables, sharing the capacity of the channel using time-division multiplexing.

Time division multiplexed digital subscriber line.  See TDSL.

Time-division multiplexed digital subscriber line broadband.  See TDSL Broadband.

USB Router.  A USB router is a router that connects to a host computer through its USB port.

VDSL Broadband (Very high rate Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  VDSL broadband (Very high rate Digital Subscriber Line Broadband) allows broadband data services to be carried a hybrid optic fibre/copper pair telephone cable system.

Very high rate Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See VDSL Broadband.

Virtual Private Network.  See VPN.

VPN (Virtual Private Network).  A VPN (virtual private network) provides a secure, virtual tunnel between two network devices.

Wireless Router.  The term wireless router is sometimes used for a router that is integrated in to the wireless access point for a wireless LAN (WLAN).

x Digital Subscriber Line Broadband.  See xDSL Broadband.

xDSL Broadband (x Digital Subscriber Line Broadband).  xDSL broadband (x Digital subscriber line) technology allows broadband data services to be carried on conventional copper pair telephone cables.

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