CHAPTER 2

COMPUTERS IN OUR DAILY LIFE

Different Types of Internet Connections

1. Dial-up

The dial-up line uses PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). PSTN may be of the
telephone line, fiber optic, microwave transmission or communications satellite.
Dial-up internet connections are connected through a telephone line. For accessing the internet,
you have to dial a specific number, and your ISP (Internet Service Provider) will open the
internet line for you. The disadvantage of a dial-up connection is that it uses the same line for
internet and telephone, so at a time only one task can take place either you can run internet or
talk on the telephone. It is the most inexpensive form of the internet connection, apart from it; its
speed is also very slow from 28Kbps to 56 Kbps. It has a very high ping (latency) speed so we
cannot watch online movies and play online games.
2. ISDN

ISDN stands for Integrated Service Digital Network. This connection is nearly similar to the
DSL.
ISDN is a set of international communication standards designed in 1980 and improved in the
1990s. It is a digital network to transmit voice, image, video, and text over the existing circuit-
switched PSTN telephone network.
Different types of devices, such as analog phone, a fax machine, or a computer, are connected to
an ISDN terminal adaptor, which converts different types of data into ISDN format so that they
can share the same digital PSTN network.
There are two major types of ISDN:
A. BRI – Basic Rate Interface (2B+D)
- Two 64 kbit/s bearer (B) channels (for data)
- One 16 kbit/s signaling (D) channels (for call setup and breakdown)
B. PRI – Primary Rate Interface
- 23B Channel – 64 Kbits/s (mainly uses in North America)
- 1D Channel – 64 Kbits/s (signaling and setup)
3. DSL

DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line.

In a DSL internet connection, both voice and internet data can flow over the same telephone line
at the same time. It has a DSL modem, which filters the voice and data. DSL represents a high-
speed connection, much fast than the dial-up connection, but it is not as fast as a cable
connection. So due to DSL modem, you can go on the internet and talk on the phone at the same
time. The modem converts analog signal to digital signal.
Speed of DSL varies; depending upon the place where you live, but on an average, download
speed varies from 5Mbps to 100Mbps.
There are two types of DSL internet:
A. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) – downloading speed is considerably faster than
the uploading speed. It is mostly use at home because at home, we download more as compare to
upload. Moreover, it is the cheapest from of DSL.
B. SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) – download and upload speed are equal. It is
typically use in businesses.
C. VDSL (Very high bit-rare Digital Subscriber Line) – fastest form of the DSL. It is fast
because in its line, copper wire is used. Due to copper, it can only be install for limited distances.
On an average VDSL is 3 times faster than the ADSL.
4. Cable Internet Connection

The same provider that provides cable television to its customers typically provides broadband
cable. In here, we use cable modem/wifi router combo. Because your connection and your
neighbors’ connection are on the same cable line, there is a possibility that during the peak hours,
you will experience slow speed of connection especially when you are both using it at the same
time.
5. Fiber

A fiber connection provides the fastest internet speed today. It can provide download and upload
speed of up to 1000Mbps.
It uses light to transfer the data through the optical fiber cable.
In other forms of internet, connection data is transferred in electrical form, so signal get weaker
and weaker at large distances because singles in the copper cable can be affected by
electromagnetic interference. On the other hand, in the fiber optic cable, signal transfers in the
glass in the form of light. It can travel long distances without any losses.
Fiber is more expensive than the DSL and cable.
6. Satellite

Satellite internet is the internet, which uses the path of the outer space. Satellite internet signal
travels more than 46,000 miles (from ISP to user through satellite).
In rural area, satellite internet will be the best option for high speed. It is a faster option than dial-
up. Still, large-scale improvements are going on for making it more usable and reliable in the
field of infrastructure and technology. At many places, its speed is less than the cable and DSL
connection.
Satellites are orbiting directly over the equator, means it is a geostationary satellite. In this
internet connection, when you search about anything on your internet devices, its signal send to
the satellite via a satellite dish and from satellite to NOC (Network Operation Center) retrieves
data on earth, and sends it back to the satellite, the whole process take place in reverse.
Distance from satellite ISP to satellite or from satellite to the user is more than 23,000 miles. It
means data travels more than 46,000 miles. This process takes place in a fraction of seconds.
7. Cellular/Mobile

In this network, radio waves are used for transfer signal to and from the mobile phone.
In cellular technology, geographic area is divided into hexagonal cells, with each cell having its
tower and frequency slot.
Generally, these cellular towers are connected through a wire or more specifically optical fiber
cable. These optical fiber cables are laid under the ground or ocean for providing national or
international connectivity.
During the use of the internet; Smartphone transmits a signal in the form of electromagnetic
waves. The electromagnetic wave produces by your phone are picked up by the tower after
which, the system on the tower convert them into high-frequency light pulses. These light pulses
are further transferred to the base transceiver for the further signal transferring. After that signal
transferred to the destination server, for what you searched, after that reverse process takes place.
8. Hotspot

A hotspot is a technology which is relatively similar to the wifi. Hotspot provides internet access
to users via WLAN in the specific area to their location.
For illustration; router and modem are like hotspots which transfer the data in the form of a
radiofrequency wave in the surrounding of its centralized position. Like Smartphone and mobile
hotspots, here you can share your data with your friends. You can say that by the help of a
hotspot we can create wifi. They are of two types: Passwords protected and free to uses. Beware
that free hotspots are most of the time on the target of the hackers.
9. Wireless

The wireless network is built with the help of several hardware components like wireless excess
point or router and user devices like mobile phone, tablets, laptop, etc. which are equipped with
the wifi adaptor.
On the other hand, a wireless router is connected to the internet via a physical connection i.e.
with the fiber cable or analog line, which uses a telephone and modem, after that connected to
the router. The wireless router is then connected to the devices via radio waves established an
end to end internet connection. A router receives the data from the internet and translates it is to
a radio signal and sends it to the wireless network to the connected devices. The identical process
also happens in reverse.
10. Broadband

Broadband is also known as a wideband because during communication it uses and provides a
wide band of frequencies. The wider the bandwidth of a channel, the greater will be the
information-carrying capacity. Here you can achieve speed up to 100 Mbps, it typically depends
upon the cables we use like in case of coaxial cable data transfer speed may vary but in optical
fiber cables speed will be high.
Generally, its speed in Mbit/sec but it can be Gbit/sec. (Found during testing in optical fiber
cable). ADSL broadband is used in homes and offices. These are well-known types of internet
connections, which generally people use.

REFERENCE:

2, L., & Ambersariya, D. (2019, September 02). Types of Internet Connections- Wireless, Dial-
up, DSL, Fiber, Cable, ISDN. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from
https://inventionsky.com/types-of-internet-connections/