Saturday, July 12, 2008

Broadband - UK Getting Up To Speed?

The average UK broadband speed is around 2 - 2.5Mbps, this is a far cry from the 8Mbps advertised and even further from the average 21Mbps users' in other parts of Europe are experiencing.

Its old news that the UK is falling behind other developed countries in terms of broadband speeds. However, there is one part of the country that will finally be able to compete, the humble town of Ebbsfleet in Kent.

BT has stuck to its word, in that it would provide new major housing developments with fibre optic networks as opposed to installing traditional copper cables.

With fibre networks, broadband speeds hover around the 100Mbps mark. This is bog standard for residence in other parts of the world, such as Korea and Japan, who are reaping the benefits of fibre networks.

However, so far in the UK it has only been businesses that have gotten a taste of such blisteringly high speeds, with around 120,000 businesses hooked up to fibre optic broadband networks.

The housing development in Ebbsfleet though, will see some 10,000 homes built upon a fibre network. Not only will this network prove more reliable than copper cables, but customers will be able to experience the full capabilities current technologies have to offer.

Multiple HDTV channels, HD network games and near-instantaneous music downloads will all be a reality.

The main gripe for the majority of UK broadband customers is the fact that they are not receiving anywhere near the broadband speed that is advertised.

Companies are trying hard to meet the demands but it's simply impossible over the traditional copper networks, it's only with the implementation of fibre networks that demands can truly be met.

The developments at Ebbsfleet are going to prove a testing ground, one which is likely to prove very favourable for both businesses and consumer's.

The outcome of which will hopefully see fibre networks incorporated into other parts of the UK, until ultimately the whole country will be in a position to compete with some of the worlds leading broadband providers, and in turn reap the benefits such networks can provide.

Liam is a UK author, currently focusing on broadband. Compare cheap broadband online today.

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What a Broadband Phone Really Is

You may have heard the terms broadband phones,internet phones, or even voice over internet protocol, but do you really know what they mean or how they work? With the gaining popularity of these on line communication tools, you should understand exactly what these things really are and how they do what they do.

Broadband phone actually uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to carry phone calls through the internet. This is an alternative way to transmit the call to the traditional telephony network. To say it another way, the calls go through the internet instead of traveling through traditional phone lines.

How does it work, though? The VoIP, when you place a broadband phone call, converst your voice into what can be best described as tiny digital packages. These packages are fired over the internet and then changed back to the signals necessary for the receiver to transmit them in language that you understand as the voice on the other end.

To get a broadband phone, you do have some options. A hardware broadband telephone uses an adapter. You connect this hardware to the router on your network or to your PC directly. Another option is software. The broadband software is a program that makes broadband calls.

This technology is being called the future of communications. Such hype is sending communications companies into a frenzy as they race to offer it so as not to get left in the dust as more and more of the public drops traditional phone service for broadband phones. Companies that fail to get in on the broadband call business risk going the way of the dodo. With that in mind, many of the companies are already offering VoIP technology, and every day more are joining in.

The reason the broadbad phone companies are so popular is that they can be done cheaper than traditional phone services. You see, because the calls bypass regulary Telco tolls, the companies using broadband can offer much lower rates. This is particularly true on long distance calls, making them similar to cell phones in that sense. While currently the broadband phone services may not offer quite as much reliability and quality as traditional phone lines, the technology is improving almost constantly and wont be far behind. For the money, though, the internet is already showing itself as the way to go to save on phone service.

If you decide that going with one of the many broadband phone companies is the way you want to go, then you will need to make sure you have a couple of things so that your transition to cheaper phone calls will be smooth. First, you will need to make sure you have a good reliable broadband internet service in your home. You will next need a telephony adapter installed. You will be plugging your home phone into the telephony adapter which will then plug into your cable or DSL modem with a network cable. Since internet connections are reliant on the modem which is powered by electricity, you will lose your phone service if you lose power. One thing you may want to consider, since you wont lose your cables function with an electricity loss, is to get some sort of power source you can plug into the modem in case of a power outage. Get all of that together, call the company of your chose, and you will be using the internet to make your phone calls before you know it.

Christopher M. Luck has over 13 years experience in dealing with broadband phones and is now offering his free professional broadband phone advice to the public. If you are at all interested in Christopher's professional broadband advice, tips, or secrets, you can visit his broadband blog

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