Common Connection Types

In the years since 1996 when Cnx Web Solutions was first created the internet has seen a massive explosion in the number of users, and the amount of information available. As the internet grows larger and the amount of high bandwidth media increases there is a constant need to be able to transfer data at ever higher speeds, not just between individual users, but also across the entire global community. The following page describes some of the most common types of connection available and will hopefully prove useful when deciding which system to use.

Dial-Up

The original method for the home user to connect to the internet, Dial-up requires the use of a MODEM (MOdulator DEModulator) to convert the binary data signal from your computer into a series of analogue sound signals that can be transmitted along your standard telephone line. For this reason the technology is limited to a maximum speed of 56Kbps (Kilobits per second) but users will rarely achieve this speed as a great deal of signal loss occurs as a consequence of using standard telephone lines.

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line or more commonly Broadband is the latest internet connection technology to hit the home user market. Introduced as an added benefit of digital telephone networking and the conversion of many telephone exchanges to the digital format ADSL is able to provide high speed data transfer from 128Kbps all the way up to 8Mbps (Megabit per second) via an upgraded telephone line and ADSL modem.

The only major drawback to the ADSL system is that similarly to dial-up the quality of the telephone line being used and the distance from the local exchange have detrimental effects on the maximum speed of connection.

T1 & T3

Used primarily in business applications the T1 line is able to cope with data rates of upto 1.544Mbps and is not usually a cost effective method of connection for the home user.

T3 connections on the other hand are able to cope with data traffic at a maximum rate of 44.736Mbps. These high speed lines are what form most of the internet's backbone connections and are normally only available to the larger ISPs

Leased Line

Also known as a private line. A Leased Line can be provided by your communications company to create direct connections between two specific points. Consisting of a permanent dedicated circuit this system allows high data transfer rates. Cnx Web Solutions use leased line technology to serve all of our websites on to the internet thus providing the most stable bandwidth for our clients.

ISDN

The Integrated Services Digital Network system lies somewhere between dial-up and ADSL using a telephone line to transmit the data, increasing transfer rates to a maximum of 128Kbps (using two separate telephone lines in parallel) though more commonly found in its single line (64Kbps) configuration. This was to be British Telecoms method of providing internet connections but found greater use in business applications due to the relative expense of converting a telephone line to use the system.