Overview of Broadband Technologies

Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) is a fiber-optic network connected all the way to the subscriber's home. It is the most reliable, fastest technology available.

Fiber-to-the-Home gives you:

- Extremely fast internet, with identical upload and download speeds.
- TV services, including numerous channel packages and video-on-demand.
- Telephone services, including a wide variety of business-oriented service.

DSL stands for "Digital Subscriber Line". There are several flavors of DSL.:

SDSL (Symmetric DSL) - Download and upload speeds are the same.

ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) - Download and upload speeds are different.

DSL is delivered over copper phone lines, and allows you to use your phone and the internet simultaneously. Performance of DSL varies, depending on the type, on the distance from the central office, and on the quality of the copper lines delivering the signal. All forms of DSL are limited to a maximum of 18,000 line-feet from a central office.

A box in your home allows you to connect a computer and a phone.

The primary provider of cable in this area is Comcast, who recently purchased Adelphia. Their network is predominantly fiber, with coaxial cable delivering the signal to the home.

A box in the home allows you to connect your computer. If you are also subscribed to cable TV service, you are also provided with a television connection.

This is the technology originally recommended by the Vermont Rural Broadband Council for our area.

It starts with one or more base stations, each with a high-speed connection to the internet, (known as a "backhaul"). At the base station, a radio transceiver transmits and receives data, to and from one or more repeaters, generally located at high points in the subscription area.

At each subscriber's home or business, an antenna is connected to a transceiver, which is in turn connected to a computer or network in the home.

Wireless systems use several frequencies: typical ones are 5.8Ghz, 2.4Ghz, and 900Mhz. The higher frequencies provide only line-of-sight coverage. 900Mhz allows the signal to send through trees, and occasionally around shallow corners; pine trees have been known to cause problems.

Several vendors - Dish Network, WildBlue, Hughes and Starband to name a few - provide satellite service. It is faster than dialup, beginning around 512Kbps, and going up to about 1.5Mbps for download. Original versions used analog phone lines for outgoing data and requests. Newer versions uplink to the satellite. The upload speed is usually significantly less than download. There is a delay in the signal, which makes it unsuitable for Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol applications, such as Skype.