Mobile Broadband  and  Mobile Internet Connection Glossary

Broadband:  Broadband or high-speed Internet access provides users access to the internet and internet-related services. Broadband speeds vary significantly subject to the specific type and level of service ordered and often vary from as little as 200 kilobits per second (kbps), to six megabits per second (Mbps), or even more.

3G broadband: What is 3G broadband? It’s currently the most common way the majority of mobile phones and mobile computers access the internet using a signal from a mobile internet service provider. It is referred to as 3G because it is the ‘third generation’ of mobile technology.  Most of the US, UK and Europe is now covered by 3G network signals from the leading suppliers.

Anti-spam: Used to prevent e-mail spam; which is also referred to junk e-mail or electronic junk mail.   Email spam typically involves sending nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by e-mail. A common synonym for spam is UBE which stands for unsolicited bulk e-mail. There are numerous anti-spam techniques.
Anti-spam techniques can be divided into four broad categories: those that need actions by individuals, those that are automated by e-mail administrators, those that can be automated by e-mail senders and those utilized by researchers and law enforcement officials.

Anti-virus: This is software that attempts to guard computers, laptops, and smartphones from malicious internet (including email) transmitted malware.  Malware is malicious software applications normally intended to be intrusive or damaging.  Computer viruses, Trojan horses and worms are common forms of malware.

Malware will often damage your computer, notebook or cell phone and can even copy your personal information or just be annoying.

There are many bad people out there making problems and some kind of anti-virus software application is essential on a broadband-enabled computers, laptops, and or mobile phones.   

Namebrand anti-virus software programs like Norton or McAfee are often included by mobile internet service providers and supplied for free.  Other people rely on free versions of services such as Avast and AVG.  One way or another – the reality is an anti-virus software application is essential to protect computers, notebooks, and cell phones.

Anti-spyware: Spyware is wide category of malicious software that can insert itself on laptops, and mobile phones from broadband internet connections. Spyware is designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer or mobile phone operation without permission from the device’s owner or legitimate user.  Spyware does other mean things such as slow down processes and alter programs and settings. Some internet service providers provide good quality anti-spyware in broadband packages.  Many anti-virus packages include anti-spyware.

Capping:  In mobile internet connection  terminology capping describes a cap, or limit, on the data allowed to download under terms a specific contract.  When the cap is exceeded, additional charges often apply.

Dongle: In mobile broadband  terms dongle has been almost universally adopted to describe the small device that plugs into another internet-enabled device to pick-up a mobile broadband  signal.  Often just referred to as a stick, the dongle allows devices to access mobile broadband just like a mobile phone.

Bandwidth Download speed: Bandwidth Download speed refers to how quickly a file (of information) can be downloaded from a remote source.  This mobile data connection term  describes how fast a connection can deliver data to a computer.  To “download” something means to put it on your computer, commonly by the internet.    The download speed is measured by how much of the file is transferred to you over a certain amount of time.  It used to be most download speeds were measured in kb/s, kilobytes per second, or thousands of (data) bytes per second; however fortunately currently it is more likely to measure this connection speed it megabytes or millions of bytes per second.

Femtocells: Femtocells use broadband and boost the 3G signal to make cell phones - and devices with a dongle – work better.   A femtocell is a wireless access point that provides localized 3G broadband coverage.  Typically it is very small base station that receives broadband provider or ISP signals and boosts it around a small area, such as your house, office or event center.  They are expected to become quite common and will be important in location based services and marketing.

Firewall: A firewall is a software component used to stop unwanted traffic arriving on computers, laptops or mobile phones over the internet. The firewall will evaluate arriving data that connect to the computers, laptops or smartphones, and if it doesn’t meet the settings allocated to it, the data connection will be halted.

Firewall virus software applications are often included with anti-virus software programs as well as sometimes offered as free versions.    Firewall software programs   should work with anti-spyware, anti-virus, and anti-spam software to be most effective.

Fixed-line: Fixed-line broadband is a term used to describe either cable or ADSL internet connections.  The term is mostly used to differentiate fixed-line broadband from mobile broadband which is wireless and uses a mobile network signal network.

Gb (or gigabit): Giga means one billion. Gb  (note the small b) an abbreviation of   gigabit, a unit used to express the speed at which data travels across an internet connection (also sometimes written as Gbps, or gigabits per second). Current broadband connections are measured in Mb (megabits per second) - there are 1024Mb in 1Gb.

GB (or Gbps, or gigabyte): GB is a contraction of  gigabyte, which is often used to describe the size of computer files and memory storage capacity. There are 1024 bytes in a kilobyte (KB), 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte (MB), and 1024 megabytes in a gigabyte. To give a better idea of usage, a small Notepad file is typically measured in bytes, a basic Word document in kilobytes, a music file in megabytes and a DVD movie in gigabytes.

HSPA, HSDPA, HSUPA: HSPA stands for ‘high speed packet access’. HSDPA stands for ‘high speed download packet access’ and HSUPA stands ‘high speed upload’ packet access’, each describes the same technology either sending or receiving data.  It is the latest advancement in quality for mobile broadband usage, working on various 3G mobile data connection networks to improve the speed of data transfer.

HSPA Evolved, HSPA+: The next generation of HSPA is Evolved HSPA (or HSPA+) with possible mobile broadband speeds up to 42Mb.

ISP:ISP stands for internet service provider.

Kb (or kilobit): Kb is a contraction of  kilobit, which is a term used to describe the speed at which data travels across an internet connection also written as Kbps, or kilobits per second.  This was commonly used to measure dial-up internet speeds and still  crops up with slower mobile broadband connections.

LTE: LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, and is one of the next generation of mobile broadband technologies.  It is said to be capable of data transfer rates 15 to 100 times faster than current 3G mobile networks.

Mb (or Mbps, or megabit): Mb is an abbreviation of Megabit, and also written as Mbps, which stands for megabits per second.  Mb commonly is used to express the measurement of internet speeds. A Mb is 1024Kb, while there are 1024Mb in a Gb.

MB (or megabyte): MB is an abbreviation of for megabyte, which is a term used to express the size of computer files and storage capacity.

Mi-Fi (or MiFi): Is hardware that, like a dongle, receives a mobile broadband signal. However, unlike a dongle (which plugs directly into a laptop or other internet enabled device), the Mi-Fi device distributes the signal wirelessly via Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi: Pronounced ‘why-fye’, Wi-Fi is a contraction of Wireless Fidelity. It is a trademarked term of the Wi-Fi Alliance certified as working in tandem with other products that belong to a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards.

In mobile network terms, the most common usage is when referring to Wi-Fi hotspots:  public areas that supply internet connectivity either free or for a charge.  Because of the close relationship with its underlying standard, the abbreviation Wi-Fi is often used as a synonym for IEEE 802.11 technology.

WiMAX: This expression is a contraction of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access - a new broadband technology that claims to offer a wireless broadband alternative without the need for cables. Similarly to LTE, WiMAX is being touted as the next generation of mobile broadband.
WLAN: WLAN is short for for wireless local area network, and is more commonly called Wi-Fi.

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