Terminology & Glossary

Within the broadband industry there can be a lot of confusing terminology and acronyms. In this article, I’ll try to give you an understanding of as many of these as possible - if I miss out any or you’re still not sure of something, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom!

AUP (or Acceptable Use Policy):

An AUP is a common on “unlimited download” style plans. It allows the broadband supplier to restrict customers who try to take advantage and download more than they deem is acceptable or fair. With an AUP, an unlimited download plan might not be so unlimited.

If you are planning on downloading a lot of large files it might pay to ask what would be an acceptable usage before signing up with the supplier.

ADSL (or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line):

This is when you use an existing telephone line to get your broadband.

Antispam:

Spam is the colloquial term for junk emails - all those sales emails you weren’t expecting selling magic pills or offering you large sums or money. Antispam is software that helps filter through the emails you receive and removes the spam emails.

Bandwidth:

Bandwidth is the amount of data that your connection can transfer. For instance, if you are on a 2MB download speed plan, your bandwidth is 2MB. Bandwidth can sometimes be confused with data transfer.

Broadband:

A fast connection to the internet.

Cable:

This is the colloquail term for a fiber optic cable. Fiber optic cables are cables that can carry telephone, internet and television services to your house.

Cap or Download Limits:

A cap or download limit is a restriction put in place by your ISP to limit how much you can download of the internet. For instance, if you had a cap at 100MB and you downloaded a 1mb photo you would be left with 99mb left.

Cookies:

Cookies are small bits of information that websites store on your computer so they can identify you. Typically they may be used to save your log in details.

Contention Ratio:

This is the amount of people that will be sharing the bandwidth (amount of data that a line can transfer) on the broadband connection, from the local exchange (a source of internet) to you.

Contract Periods:

Most broadband suppliers will require you to have a contract period. This is the length of time that you agree to pay for their services. By having a contract period your broadband supplier can charge you less, or offer free sign up fees or free hardware. Typically a contract period will last 12 months and if you wish to cancel early there will be financial penalties.

Dial Up or 56K:

Dial up is a much older and much slower version of internet access. Typically it has a bandwidth of 56k. It works by using a modem that connects via the phone line to your ISP to be able to recieve data. The noises you hear when connecting to your dial up connection is your modem dialing the ISP and data is transfered by turning it into an audio signal.

DNS (or Domain Name System):

This is used to help your computer access websites. When you enter a domain name (eg. compare-broadband.co.uk) a DNS server will convert it to get the IP (Internet protocol) address. This is the number reference (something like: 285.22.65.30) which store the information of a website. Everything that uses or accesses the internet is given an IP address.

Download

When you transfer a file of the internet (eg, downloading music, or accessing a web page)

Domain Name:

This is the address for a website, eg, compare-broadband.co.uk

Ethernet:

Type of cable used to connecting computers to networks, or to the internet from your modem.

Fair Use Policy:

See AUP (acceptable use policy)

Firewall:

A firewall is something that helps prevent unauthorized access to your network or computer. Most modern computers come with a software firewall (and you should switch this on!). A router works as a hardware firewall and there are other versions like this.

FTP (or File Transfer Protocol):

This is a method used for uploading data onto a website. If your ISP supplies you with web space you will need some sort of FTP program, unless they supply an internet based FTP.

Gb/Mb (or Gigabyte/Megabyte):

These are the terms for the size of a file. They are similar to how CM (centimeters) measure length, these measure the size of a file. You get around 1000Mb in 1 Gb.

HTTP (or hypertext transfer protocol):

You will see HTTP at the start of web addresses. It is used to help your computer access addresses or domain names on the internet.

ISP (or Internet Service Provider):

This is the company that you get your internet connection through.

IP Address (or Internet Protcol Address):

Every computer that uses the internet is given an IP address. It is a way to contact other computers (or websites) and for them to contact you back (eg. with the web page you want to load).

LAN (or Local Area Network):

This is a type of computer network which does not include the internet. For instance, accessing other computers within a network at work, or being able to print at numerous printers is generally done over a local area network.

MAC (or Migration Authorisation Code):

You need to be supplied with a MAC code to change your broadband supplier. When you are moving to a new internet service provider (ISP) you will need to obtain your MAC code from your old provider.

Mbps (or Megabits per second):

This is the rate that data is transfered (the speed of your connection).

Modem

The modem is the piece of hardware that allows you to connect to the internet. It comes from the words moulator and demodulator.

P2P (or Peer to Peer or P to P):

Peer to Peer networking is a way of downloading files. It works by having a piece of software that allows people who are downloading a file to share the bits of the file they have downloaded with the rest of the people downloading. For instance, you might download the first half from one person, the middle bit from someone else and the final part from another person. At the same time the bits of information you have downloaded which these people are missing can be sent back to these people.

Phising:

This is a type of spam, or junk email where a person is tricked into giving away confidential information.

Router:

A piece of hardware to make splitting an internet connection between computers possible.

Streaming:

This is a way of viewing or listening to audio/video over the internet without having to download the file onto your computer.

Upload:

This is the opposite to download and it is when you take some information on your computer and send it to the internet (eg. sending an email or adding photos to your FaceBook page).

Web Space:

Sometimes ISPs offer customers some web space. This enables you to store files online, or create your own website.

Wireless Broadband (or wi-fi):

Wi-Fi is a way of connecting to an internet connection without having to use a physical cable.