The quest for speed, imagine a world where connecting to the Internet was as simple as turning on your television. Where web pages pop up on the screen like we would all like for them to. We are all aware that WWW is an acronym that stands for World Wide Web; however, it turns out to be World Wide Wait.

This paper covers the three major technologies, their advantages, disadvantages, and the basics of how they work. The paper also includes how to pick the right provider and what problems may accrue with these services. Also in this paper I will include the real world statistics of the speed they offer compared to a 56k baud modem. Security is another big issue in the world of broadband connections protection maybe needed.

Although the term "broadband" is a wide description for any sort of high-speed net access, the most pro

"Unless you've got scads of time and money on your hands, you probably can't afford to test -drive multiple broadband services in search of the right one. Thankfully, the team at DSLreports.com has created a great independent resource for people shopping for broadband on the net. Users submit their experiences with broadband providers and assign the provider and assign the provider a score between 1 to 5 (5 being the best); the list is updated weekly. Because DSL Reports isn't backed by any broadband provider or Telco, its reports are impartial, but of course, no rating system is infallible" (Halfhill).

bable choices will be between one of two services: cable or a digital subscriber line (DSL) Which is chosen will depend partially on the users computing habits, but more on what services are available in your little corner of the globe (Smith 30).

Some cable providers intentionally limit upload and/or download speeds to provide consistent bandwidth for everyone. "This is called "capping" or throttling back" the service, find out if the cable provider does this, and to what degree (Halfhill)." Also stay away from one-way services that require the use of an analog modem. Slowdowns aren't applicable only to cable service, they just occur at a different place in the chain. "In DSL's case, if everyone in your DSLAM area tries to go simultaneously, you will doubtlessly experience bandwidth problems"(Halfhill).

Since it uses a shared-pipe line model, cable's bandwidth is difficult to track. DOCSIS, an interface standard for cable modems, supports speeds of 30 Mbps both up and downstream. The actual bandwidth will vary, of course depending on how many people from the same node are online simultaneously (Congestion usually occurs from 7 p.m. to 10p.m. in weekdays).

The hardware required is simple, a cable modem and a USB Ethernet adapter. It is possible to buy each piece of hardware, but it is best to let the provider furnish the modem to ensure compatibility. No Network Interface Card (NIC) is necessary but a cable splitter may be needed. A NIC card is necessary for DSL modems to communicate with a PC. Also cable Internet service will not interfere with any television cable services already available.

The telecommunications architecture that cable companies have been using for the last twenty years has always been one way in nature. As a result, to give you broadband, cable companies have to replace the old one-way system with two-way fiber-optic based network that supports high-speed data transmission. A typical fiber-optic cable, is approximately 1.25cm in diameter, and can carry in excess of 2.

Some common words found in the essay are:
KBPS Rizzo, Cable Internet, Wide Wait, DSL Cable, Internet Equipping, DSL's DSLAM, Maximum PC's, Line DSL, DSL DSL, Cable Modems, dsl cable, digital subscriber line, internet service, subscriber line, cable modems, digital subscriber, subscriber line dsl, line dsl, cable internet, telephone company, cable companies, cable modem, cable internet service, dsl cable modems, users computing habits,
Approximate Word count = 1774
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)