About internet set up, broadband connections and home networks!
Types of internet connections:
- ADSL & VDSL Broadband via your telephone line
- Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)
- Satellite Broadband
- Mobile phone networks
- Hotspots
- Dial-up modem via telephone line
ADSL & VDSL and Fibre Broadband
ADSL – domestic broadband
VDSL – commercial broadband
Broadband connections seem to be improving all the time.
Areas previously without broadband due to distance constraints are becoming a thing of the past. BUT!
Connections in outlying areas with slow (512Kbps) connections can and still do suffer with regard to the options for running reliable networks. There are unfortunately some small communes which have no broadband available at their telephone exchange.
Fibre
More and more areas are now obtaining Fibre broadband and this is by far the best option if available.
WiMAX can provide broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 – 10 miles (5 – 15 km) for mobile stations.
Satellite broadband in France is now only available through Orange Telecom/Nordnet
NOTE: Elon Musk’s StarLink service may be fully available soon but there is a high up front cost (around 500€) and the monthly fee is around 100€.
4G/LTE mobile broadband is now available in more and more areas and if you can get it but it is not stable, external aerials can (subject to survey) be installed to improve it. Best alternative to fibre if available.
These are WiFi networks sometimes also called ‘Cloud networks’ and may be public, semi-public or private. Public would be the equivalent of hooking up to an unsecured WiFi router. Semi-public could be the equivalent of the UK’s BT Total Broadband system where if you elect to allow your WiFi router to operate as a hotspot as well as a private WiFi router you pay a reduced charge for broadband and other BT Total Broadband customers benefit from a large network of hotspots (several million). Private hotspots where you pay for the privilege of using someone’s WiFi network, some hotels and shops do this.
Dial-up modem via telephone line
Most of us won’t have to suffer this any more. Websites are, generally speaking, not now designed with connections of this type in mind and most would feel unbelievably slow to display.
