Common Technical Definitions
Broadband
In telecommunications is a term that refers to a signaling method that includes or handles a relatively wide range of frequencies, which may be divided into channels resulting in higher transmission capacity than regular 56K modem dial-up connections. Broadband is commonly associated with "high-speed" internet.
Fiber Optics
Optical fibers are widely used in fiber-optic communication, which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher data rates than other forms of communications. Glass fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss, and they are immune to electromagnetic interference. Light is kept in the "core" of the optical fiber by total internal reflection. This causes the fiber to act as a waveguide. Fibers which support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called multimode fibers (MMF). Fibers which support only a single mode are called single-mode fibers (SMF). Multimode fibers generally have a large-diameter core, and are used for short-distance communication links or for applications where high power must be transmitted. Single-mode fibers are used for most communication links longer than 200 meters.
High-Speed Internet
A generic term used by people to describe an Internet connection speed that is faster than dial-up. Also referred to as Broadband.
Private Microwave
A privately owned, wireless radio link used to transmit data between two or more locations used where landline wiring is not feasible or is cost prohibitive. Generally requires good LOS (Line of Sight) for proper operation. Can be installed quickly and wired into standard communication panels.
Redundant WAN's
Wide Area Network - a network of interconnected resources (hardware) that are generally not physically within the same building. Redundant WAN is a method a providing an alternate route of connectivity in the event of a failure of the main connectivity link, can be wired or wireless.
Upload/Download Speed
The speed that data passes from one networked device to another. Traditionally download speed is the rate in Kbps (Kilo bits per sec) which data is received by one's own computer, upload speed is the rate one's own computer transmits data to the remote device.
VLAN
A method of interconnecting computers and peripherals together so they appear to be on their own private local area network. VLAN's can be used to interconnect remote office locations using the Internet to enable workers to have access to each other's resources, just like they were physically there. Users must be a member of the same VLAN in order to share resources or talk to other users on that VLAN segment.
VOIP
Voice over Internet Protocols - a protocol optimized for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet-switched networks. VoIP is often used abstractly to refer to the actual transmission of voice (rather than the protocol implementing it). This latter concept is also referred to as IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband, broadband telephony, and broadband phone. Voice-over-IP systems carry telephony signals as digital audio, typically reduced in data rate using speech data compression techniques, encapsulated in a data-packet stream over IP.