For years, science fiction writers wrote about the digital home, a lifestyle of the future where everything is digitally controlled, from dimming the lights, controlling the Hi-Fi audio, to remotely controlling the cooking process in the kitchen, to checking on home security. Even home schooling and watching videos online will be enabled by digital processes. One thing crystal ball gazers were wrong about is their timing; in reality it is happening right now as you are reading this.
At the bottom of all this is broadband, for long a much debated subject until Telkom recently launched the Do Broadband concept.
Accessing the Internet
The first internet access most people were exposed to is the dial-up process, offering a bit rate of 56kbit/s which can also be written as 56kbps. Kbits or kbps is the measurement used for the speed of downloading or uploading information. The next step up was ISDN, which offered speeds between 64kbps - 128kbps. These access methods are charged at normal telephone rates and can become costly if the person surfs the internet for a long time. It takes over the telephone line, which means that no calls can be made or received during the internet connection and it is slow. Broadband, on the other hand, is fast, with line sync speeds faster than 256kbps. Line sync speeds refer to the speed of data transfer between your home or business premises and the Telkom exchange.
Broadband
The broadband definition varies from country to country, but most have accepted 256kbps as the minimum speed to be called broadband. Broadband can be delivered over various access mediums including ADSL, Wimax and Mobile access technologies. Telkom’s broadband innovation, based on ADSL, did not only bring about broadband, but also converted your telephone line into a multi-tasking tool that offers a constant connection to the internet. Although ADSL uses the normal telephone line it does not affect incoming or outgoing calls, which can be made while surfing the web.
The higher the broadband speed the faster emails, photographs, music or video can be downloaded or viewed in real time. A far cry from the old dial-up technology and it’s the first step towards a digital lifestyle.
How does broadband work?
The telephone continues to operate in the analogue mode, while a filter is used to stop the digital signal from interfering with voice communication. The DSL modem interacts with a DSLAM in Telkom’s network, which is a similar system to the modem, enabling high-speed internet access.
A broadband connection has a distance limitation. The ideal distance is between 3 and 5 km between the exchange and the broadband user. The ultimate maximum operational distance depends on the quality of the copper connection. In areas served by optic cables, the distance problem is no longer an issue as the digital interface is fitted in the street cabinet, which generally is very close to the broadband user.
Do Broadband
Telkom Do Broadband offers various speeds, data usage and modem options. Do Broadband users also get between 10 to 30 GB free local usage on promotion, which means you can download vast amounts of data from local websites, send and receive local e-mails and do local banking even after you have reached your initial usage limit. Customers who sign a two-year contract get a free wireless (Wi-Fi) modem, which allows Wi-Fi access fully password protected, virtually anywhere in the house or office as well as 4 Ethernet ports, which can serve 4 PCs.
DO BROADBAND OPTIONS
Now that you have broadband you can download photos, music and videos from the net, connect a media centre to your PC and stream all your media files straight to your television or sound system. Visit www.dobroadband.co.za for more information.
Do Broadband is available as a self-install option, which means you take care of the portion of the installation that takes place on your premises and save the R490 installation fee. Interested in starting your digital life today? Click here to apply.
Terms & conditions apply. Do SIO provisioning cannot be guaranteed. All prices include VAT and monthly internet charges. Prices exclude line rental, voice and fax call charges. The speed indicators relate to line synchronisation speeds between the customer’s premises and the Telkom exchange. Speeds are dependent on line quality and lengths and cannot be guaranteed.
