An Actually Simple Guide to Boosting your Broadband Knowledge

Broadband refers to any high speed internet access that is always on and faster than traditional dial-up speeds.  In data communications a 56k modem (dial-up connection) will transmit data at a rate of 56 thousand bits per second (kbps) over a narrowband telephone line. Using a broadband connection however the data can be carried at speeds of up to 100 million bits per second (Mbps).

In St. Vincent & the Grenadines the available broadband connections are ISDN, ADSL, Cable and mobile broadband.

  • ISDN – Integrated Service Digital Network; the original high speed internet service offers speeds of up to 1.544 Mbps. Read more at http://bit.ly/2vCKRu8
  • ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line; the maximum download speed is 24 Mbps. Read more at http://bit.ly/2w4vi1c .  The speed received depends on the distance of the DSLAM (Digital subscriber line access multiplexer) to the customer’s premises.  A further article will highlight how location from DSLAM affects ADSL speeds received.
  • Cable Internet – This is a broadband internet connection that uses the same infrastructure as cable television. Download speeds can be as high as 400 Mbps.  Read more at http://bit.ly/2wKik5E .  Cable internet operates where the distance between the customer premise and the cable company’s hub site is less than 160 Km.
  • Mobile broadband – This refers to internet services consumed through a mobile device. The broadband speed received is dependent on the technology offered by your mobile service provider.  In St. Vincent and the Grenadines our mobile providers offer mobile broadband services using HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access+) which offers an average download speed of 3 Mbps.

To determine whether you are getting the broadband speeds that you are paying for, it is recommended that using the device on which you are consuming the internet, browse to speedtest.net and run a speed test.

The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) ran a broadband speed test competition from August 21st to 25th 2017 in response to the numerous complains that are being received on Social Media regarding the broadband speeds being received by consumers.

Results of this competition will be published in a subsequent article.  If this is interest to you, please enter your email address below.  Your subscription is free and gives you access to our monthly newsletter, telecommunications articles published as well as telecommunications promotions that are run from time to time.