Christian M. 4 min read

Broadband Glossary

Getting a new broadband deal can be daunting because of the quantity of technical and marketing jargon used by broadband providers.

But this is all smoke and mirrors! The truth is as a user of the internet, you only need to understand the basics!

Our broadband glossary will help you get there!

Just click on any term below and…Beep… Beep… Beep… Whirrrrrrr

Internet

The internet is a vast global system that connects computer networks around the world using cables and wireless signals. This physical infrastructure hosts most of the information in the world, and is accessed using our devices. These in-depth articles will help you understand it more profoundly:

Internet Performance

This is the speed, reliability and robustness at which your devices can transmit data to and from internet servers. It determines your online experience, be it for business or leisure. These links related to performance may be of interest:

VPN

Most have a faint idea that a VPN helps them watch BBC iPlayer when they’re abroad but have no idea that free VPNs are actually dangerous. Read our simple guide to VPNs to become a pro.

Cloud

Not the fluffy floating things but the industrial servers that store most of the useful information known to humankind. We’ve written a 101 guide on Cloud Storage, which is the future and is only just around the corner.

Satellite Internet

While the internet is predominantly a network of networks of computers connected by physical cables, the information can also be transmitted over the sky and space. There are now two formidable satellite internet companies revolutionising internet access: Elon Musks’ Starlink and partly British-owned OneWeb.

Mobile Internet

When you connect to the internet with a mobile device away from your own broadband, you are likely connecting to a mobile or cellular network. These connect to the internet via a series of antennas installed on telecom towers. 1G was the OG cellular network that allowed for mobile calls, while 5G is the latest mobile network optimised for internet performance.

Broadband Internet

An internet connection via a physical land cable. It provides the majority of the global internet traffic (way more than mobile data), and there are many types, including:

Leased Line Broadband: Renting out your private broadband cable. By avoiding sharing the public broadband cable, you avoid sloppy internet at high traffic times.
Fibre optic broadband: The latest, fastest cabled internet connection that uses optical lasers over optical fibres to transmit internet data at close to the speed of light. Several providers offer fibre-specific internet deals.
FTTP and FTTC: Two types of fibre-optic internet connections. FTTP is the fastest, FTTC is the second fastest, and includes GFast Broadband.
GFast Broadband: A type of fibre-optic internet connection that can use the telephone copper wires when the fibre cables do not reach all the way to your router.
ADSL Broadband: The slowest and cheapest type of broadband available that uses existing telephone copper wires to transmit internet data.
Gigabit Internet: The king of broadband internet connections offering the highest speeds over fibre-optic cables.

Broadband Providers

You can’t just buy a wire from the shop and plug yourself to your closest street hub to get an internet connection. You need an IP address and only a business broadband provider can give you a business broadband router that assigns you with one, for a fee of course.

Note that there are different arrangements for home broadband and business broadband deals.

Business Broadband

Business broadband providers provide internet services to private and public companies running businesses. There are some providers who specialize in small business broadband deals to accommodate smaller players, and other tailor-made deals optimised for applications like VoIP that some businesses prioritise.

Business broadband comparison is a service provided by yours truly that lets you see what deals are available for your business in particular by simply providing your postcode.

Household Broadband

Household broadband providers are those who offer internet services to regular homes. Note that the market is very sophisticated and includes tailor-made deals for specific activities such as gaming which require performance even during high traffic, and social tariffs for those who are receiving government benefits such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit.

IP Addresses

Dynamic IPs: A dynamic IP address refers to an IP (Internet Protocol) address that is assigned to a device (such as a computer or router) by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) temporarily. It means that each time you connect to the internet, your ISP assigns you a different IP address from a pool of available addresses.

Static IPs: A static IP address is an IP (Internet Protocol) address manually assigned to a device and remains constant. Unlike dynamic IP addresses that change each time you connect to the internet, a static IP address is fixed and does not change unless manually modified by the user or the network administrator.