40% of UK households now have broadband, a 12% increase on last year, however even within the same street the quality of service varies enourmously.

So what does it all mean, at Have2Have we have come up with a range of definitions which should should help get you started :

Jargon Buster

ADSL : Broadband supplier over a traditional copper wire.
ADSL max : Wishy washy term for enhanced ADSL that claims to squeeze higher performance from your line.
Bandwidth : Measurement of the speed of transfer over a broadband line, expressed as megabits per second, the speeds vary wildly.
Cable : Broadband supplied over optical fibres as used with Cable TV and Cable phone.
Caps : Limit on the user to steam the amount downloaded each month.
ISP : Internet Service Provider, the companies that supplies and bills you for your broadband.
LLU : (local loop unbundling) Process whereby the ISP's install their own never ADSL equipment in the BT exchanges.
Mac : (Migration authorisation code) Code required by your next ISP when you switch ADSL supplier.
Traffic Shaping : Data management techniques employed by many IPS, designed to resitrict the usuage of people doing heavy downloads.


How to choose your ISP?

One crucial factor when choosing your ISP is the monthly usuage Cap, this limits the amount you can download and stream. For mosting browing 2GB limit is ample. However the can easily get out of hand if you simply watch a little live TV or listen to music from a website or listen to local radio. If you pass the cap you often face being hit by extra charges or having to be moved to a pricier tariff.

In fact, any ISP claiming to offer an unlimited service is not telling the truth, "Anyone who says that they are offering an unlimited service is lying", "the way ISP's are billed by BT wholesale it is not possible to offer an unlimited service" says Neil Armstrong of the ISP PlusNet.

So what does 2GB actually get you??

2.6 football matches download from Sky
4 PC game demos
12 hrs of News video streamed
32 albums listed to on an internet jukebox.

Anything further to add or if you have any questions feel free to use our contact form to ask any questions you may have.