How does a wired Internet connection work?
How does a wired Internet connection work? Internet connectivity is nothing less than a necessity these days. This is why there are 320 million more active users today than there were years ago. Without the Internet, people cannot conceive of as optimal functioning as they would with its support. The world of the web has brought great comfort to human life. Searching for information, communicating across continents, conducting business transactions, working from home, operating smart tools, downloading data and transferring files has become fast and efficient thanks to the Internet.
One of the most common forms of Internet access in today’s world is coaxial cable. This type of copper cabling covers about 89% of the United States, which is a prodigious percentage compared to other types of the Internet. The cable infrastructure offers fast and reliable Internet speeds to 194 million residents, although the provider’s plans may vary from area to area. Most cable companies rely on the latest DOCSIS 3.0 modem technology to deliver higher-end speeds in their plans. Charter Spectrum OffersFor example, start from an Internet speed level of at least 100 Mbps and go up to 940 Mbps, due to the incorporation of the latest DOCSIS standard.
Cable Internet has several appreciable merits and a number of unavoidable demerits. This post will cover cable broadband in detail and address its pros and cons at the end. Stay tuned.
How does cable Internet work?
If you were born before the year 2000, you may have heard of the type of Internet called DSL. Digital Subscriber Line was all the rage before cable internet made its debut. It’s still available around 90% of the US, but its low-speed support pushes it behind Cable. Both DSL and cable Internet use copper cabling to transmit Internet speeds to a community. The main difference between the two is that DSL uses telephone lines, while cable Internet uses television lines capable of carrying voice and video to transmit Internet signals. These TV lines are also called coaxial cables.
Coaxial cables
The word “coaxial” is made up of “co,” which means shared, and “axial,” which means axis. The ‘shared axis’ means that the distance between the center copper conductor and the outer jacket is uniform on all sides, creating a stable environment for data signals to move easily and without interference.
If DSL is like a bus on a highway, coaxial cable is like a subway train, it has more isolation from external influences and carries more signals stably.
The “capacity” of a coaxial cable consists of three main channels. The first channel that takes up the most space transmits television signals in one direction. The second and third channels are for bidirectional broadband distribution. They divide the data signals between the “download” and “upload” frequencies, which is how you receive the “asymmetric” Internet speeds from a cable Internet connection.
Cable modems
Once these speeds reach your home, a cable modem receives them and translates them into digital signals. If the modem supports the latest DOCSIS technology standard, then it will keep the flow as efficient as possible. The newest DOCSIS standard is 3.1, which allows a modem to translate a download spectrum of up to 10,000 Mbps and an upload spectrum of 1,000 Mbps. Most cable providers have not yet instilled this technology and can only offer speeds up to 1 Gig down / 300 up, competing well with fiber internet.
Network components
Today, most cable Internet connections are modified with a fiber optic node to give speed a new boost right from the start. They are called HFC or hybrid coaxial fiber connections.
A fiber optic backbone cable carries data in the form of high-speed pulses of light and runs from the provider’s station to an optical node. Once it reaches the optical node, it converts the light pulses into copper-compatible electrical signals. From the node, these electrical signals are carried by coaxial cables, which branch out to various homes when they reach a community of consumers. Every 600 meters, an amplifier boosts the signals so that they do not lose their veracity.
Should I Get Wired Internet?
For people who are not heavy internet users, but like good internet speed, a wired connection is nothing less than ideal. Although it does not offer as much speed as a fiber optic connection, the HFC modification allows 1 Gig download range and 200-400 Mbps upload speeds to captivate consumers and meet their high to moderate usage requirements. Also, here are some pros and cons of wired internet:
Pros
- 1. Cable Internet takes advantage of today’s television infrastructure to deliver broadband to people’s homes, making it less expensive than fiber optics and more readily available than fiber. You can combine TV and Internet to save more costs.
- 2. Coaxial cables are sophisticated and offer higher Internet speeds than DSL.
- 3. Cable Internet is fast, direct, and “the last mile,” so unlike satellite, you don’t have to travel a data roundtrip to reach consumers’ homes.
Cons
- 1. Since a cable connection “splits” when it arrives in a community, bandwidth is often “shared” between houses, reducing cost but also slowing home Internet speed, especially during hours. Rush hours.
- 2. Almost all cable Internet plans have asymmetric speeds, with excessively higher download speeds and excessively slower upload speeds.
- 3. Unlike fiber optics, the cable infrastructure is much more susceptible to electromagnetic interference.
The bottom line
Although cable Internet has many advantages and disadvantages, it offers fast and reliable broadband. So choosing it, especially if you live in the suburbs, will prove valuable. You can take our word for it.