iamaboringperson wrote:
I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed this.
Why do so many people and companies (and government organizations etc.) use the term 'Broadband' incorrectly ?
They use it when they refer to:
-ISDN
-xDSL (eg ADSL)
-T1, T3, E1 etc.
-Sattelite internet access
OK just to show how googley technical I am I will cut and paste the following:
______________
Broadband
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Also see bandwidth.
In general, broadband refers to telecommunication in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information. Because a wide band of frequencies is available, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently, allowing more information to be transmitted in a given amount of time (much as more lanes on a highway allow more cars to travel on it at the same time). Related terms are wideband (a synonym), baseband (a one-channel band), and narrowband (sometimes meaning just wide enough to carry voice, or simply "not broadband," and sometimes meaning specifically between 50 cps and 64 Kpbs).
Various definers of broadband have assigned a minimum data rate to the term. Here are a few:
Newton's Telecom Dictionary: "...greater than a voice grade line of 3 KHz...some say [it should be at least] 20 KHz."
Jupiter Communications: at least 256 Kbps.
IBM Dictionary of Computing: A broadband channel is "6 MHz wide."
It is generally agreed that Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable TV are broadband services in the downstream direction.
from
HERE and
broadband
A class of communication channel capable of supporting a wide range of frequencies, typically from audio up to video frequencies. A broadband channel can carry multiple signals by dividing the total capacity into multiple, independent bandwidth channels, where each channel operates only on a specific range of frequencies.
The term has come to be used for any kind of Internet connection with a download speed of more than 56 kbaud, usually some kind of Digital Subscriber Line, e.g. ADSL.
See also baseband, narrowband.
from FOLDOC
:-D
