Broadband speed check - running a test is always a good idea on your internet connection

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It is always a good idea to run a speed check on your broadband internet connection. DSL is a technology that brings high-speed and high-bandwidth to homes and businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. With DSL, consumers and businesses take advantage of having a dedicated, always-on connection to the Internet but running a broadband speed check can show speed bottlenecks.

Why are there speed differences? The speed is directly proportional to the amount of data transmitted.

What is the Difference between DSL vs. Cable Modem?

Cable modem internet access offer a shared bandwidth between you and your neighbors. Your speed will vary with how many people are on the cable modem network, which may be a disadvantage. With DSL service, you have a dedicated connection to your home.

How Does DSL Work?

Traditional phone service connects your home or business to a telephone company office over copper wires that are wrapped around each other. The wires are called twisted pair. The digital modem, which may be purchased or rented, -- located at your location -- accesses the local telephone companies' central office where a DSL Access Multiplexer, which translates your DSL signal, has been installed. The signal is then transmitted from the copper telephone line onto a network backbone, and directed to the ISP's location, where the ISP verifies the access to the network and delivers users to the Internet through the ISP's relationship with a backbone network provider.

Reasons to speed check broadband connections:

The distance between the your location and the phone company's central office or cable installation is a primary factor deciding who can get these services and the speed of these services. The greater the distance from the office the possibilities for slower connection.

Technical incompatibility can also be an issue. Most of the time when DSL and Cable modem equipment is installed the company will provide the equipment. This is because their central office may contain proprietary implementations, which has been tested on the provided equipment provided by them.

Check with the Provider:

Run a speed test on your broadband connection, then check with the provider to find out the "confirmed information rate, which is the minimum rate the provider guarantees to deliver data. Be aware that you usually improve your broadband speed with some optimization speed software which can help increase internet speed by as much as 200%.