| A | B |
|---|
| a company that connects computers to the Internet and World Wide Web | Internet Service Provider (ISP) |
| The connection to the Internet is tiered means that | the ISP may link to a larger regional ISP, which in turn might connect to one of a number of nationwide computer centers. |
| When connecting to an ISP, the computer becomes a | remote client on the ISP local network. |
| Point of Presence (POP) | access point, on the Internet |
| The current U.S. Internet infrastructure consists of a commercial backbone and a high-speed service known as | the Very High-Speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS). |
| companies that provide the commercial backbone | UUNET - a division of WorldCom, Cable & Wireless USA, Sprint, AT&T, BBN Planet |
| In the United States, much of the physical cabling for the Internet is still owned by | the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). |
| A regional Internet provider links to the national backbone through a | Network Access Point (NAP). |
| A Metropolitan Area Exchange (MAE) is the point where | ISPs connect to each other and traffic is switched between them |
| Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is an always-on technology. | always-on technology. |
| ADSL average speeds | downstream speeds of 384Kbps to 6 Mbps, upstream speed slow |
| ADSL pros | most widely implemented of all current DSL varieties. Relatively inexpensive |
| ADSL cons | much slower upstream speed. Installed only within 17,500 fr of the Telco Central Office |
| SDSL average speeds | up to 3 Mbps for both upstream and downstream |
| SDSL pros | same upstream and downstream data speeds |
| SDSL cons | Generally more expensive and also less widely available than ADSL |
| IDSL average speeds | 144Kbps for both upstream and downstream |
| IDSL pros | Can be installed in many locations where other DSL varieties are not available due to distance |
| IDSL cons | Considerably slower speed, but more expensive than ADSL |
| Upstream is the process of | transferring data from the end user to the server |
| Downstream is the process of | transferring data from the server to the end user. |
| ADSL uses a technology called Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM) to | split bandwidth in order to create multiple channels. |
| The cable modem connects a computer to the cable company | network through the same coaxial cabling that feeds cable TV (CATV) signals to a television set. |
| cable modems are designed to | provide Internet access only, whereas analog modems or ISDN adapters allow dial-in to any service provider or service in a remote access server. |
| The cable modem service is also an | "always-on" technology, similar to DSL |
| On a cable modem one port is connected to the | TV outlet and the other is connected to the subscriber's PC. |
| The cable modem will then communicate over the | cable network to a device called a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS). |
| If you use a cable modem, a dial-up connection may be required for | data upload using the local phone line. |
| Cable modems are capable of receiving and processing multimedia content at | 30 Mbps |
| Cable modem subscribers can expect to download information at speeds of between 0.5 and 1.5 Mbps because the | bandwidth is shared by a number of other users in the neighborhood |
| Most internal cable modems are in the form of | PCI cards. |
| An external cable modem is a small box with a | coaxial CATV cable connection |
| There is currently no standard for | cable modems in the cable access industry. |
| DSL is also backward compatible with | analog voice and makes good use of the existing local loop |
| DSL's downstream and upstream Internet channels are seen as just another | v |
