Broadband - what is it?

Broadband refers to data connection speeds faster than modem on voice telephone line. This is 56K which is really up to 33.6 Kbps (b=bits not bytes) from the 56K modem on the voice line (at your house) to the 56K digital modem (at the ISP) and up to53Kbps in the other direction. examples are DSL, Cable, and Satellite internet connections for the home user and ISDN, T-1, and T-3 usually for the businesses.

Broadband transmissions is a type of data transmission in which a single medium (wire) can carry several channels, communication path, at once. Baseband transmissions allows only one signal at a time. (tech glossary at http://webopedia.lycos.com/TERM/B/broadband_transmission.html) Broadband is usually offered from cable and telco (DSL) providers. There are a number of articles out there (including several from Techrepublic) about which is better, cable or DSL. Some say they offer the same transfer rates, only difference is companies offering services.