All internet connection types explained

To access the Internet from a computer or a telephone, we can use various types of Internet connection, some available wireless, others accessible only after connecting a cable to the telephone socket (or to the socket dedicated to the fiber). With so many different names it can be difficult to understand what you are buying when you take out an internet connection subscription also because those who sell them often do not say how it works.

In this article we are going to explain, one by one, all kinds of internet connections that you can subscribe to nowadays. Knowing these basics, in addition to enriching your personal culture, you will be able to discover new types of connections to be considered the next time you look for subscription offers.

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1) Dial-up or analog modem

The first Internet connections available in the home were based on analog modems. The analog modem transformed these signals from the telephone line into digital signals for the computer (and vice versa).

The modem made a real phone call to the Internet provider, occupying the entire line and blocking the use of the landline (which was also busy if someone tried to call during an Internet connection).

Although modems have evolved over time, the principle always remains the same: the modem (or the modem component of modern connection devices) has functions of modulation / demodulation of the signal, which is converted into bits compatible with the PC (and vice versa the bits are converted into analog telephone signal, digital telephone signal or optical signal). The only thing that has changed is the means these signals use to travel and the type of signal itself.

With the dial-up modem, the signal is analog and the medium is a telephone line made of a pair of copper wires. The transmission of analog signals has now fallen into disuse: the modems reported 56k, in reality you could not go to more than 33 kbps on average.

2) DSL connection (first evolution)

The DSL connection is the evolution of the old 56k modems and the abbreviation means Digital Subscriber Line. As the name suggests, the signal that passes through the telephone socket is digital, so it is possible to use a higher frequency (broadband) to obtain a much higher speed than the traditional analog line.

The presence of a digital frequency on the same telephone cable made it possible to separate the analogue voice service: it was finally possible to make and receive calls on the fixed line without interrupting the Internet service.

In Italy the DSL connection is still of this type asynchronous (aka ADSL)to improve the download speed at the expense of the upload speed, which at the launch of the technology was certainly less interesting (today it is very important to have a good upload speed).

The latest developments in ADSL technology (known as ADSL2 e ADSL2+) allow to reach speeds equal to 20 Megabits per second, even if these values ​​are purely indicative (on average we travel on 7 Megabits per second). Currently this technology is out of date and is not suitable for providing the minimum speed required for all services on the web.

3) DSL connection (new evolution)

The latest frontier of DSL technology is known as VDSLan abbreviation that means Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line. The telephone socket on the house wall remains the same, but the house line is connected to a VDSL cabinetin turn connected by optical fiber to the telephone exchange.

This interlude with the optical fiber leads the VDSL line to offer speeds much higher than when seen on ADSL: the average speed of the line is about 50 Megabits per second, but it is also possible to use connections of 100 Mega, 200 Mega and (in some cities) 300 Mega. Currently it is considered the minimum connection to be used in order to connect to the Internet and take advantage of all its services.

To learn more we can read our guide to EVDSL, the alternative to optical fiber for fast Internet.

4) Cable connection (coaxial cable)

The coaxial cable is what is used today for satellite TV, with round connections and a copper wire inside of thick plastic that acts as an insulator. Coaxial cable had been used for decades to send multiple digital signals to which the Internet was added.

The standard used is called Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) which works in a similar way to DSL, using a higher rate for data and a lower rate for speech. The cable can also use asynchronous data transmission, such as ADSL.

The cable internet connection requires special modems to function and to separate the data from the TV channels from the data to be transmitted to the computer. At the moment this type of connection is totally out of use in Italywhile it is still possible to find such connections abroad.

5) Optical fiber (FTTH)

The technologies seen so far use (in whole or in part) copper cables to transmit the signal. The latest evolution in terms of Internet connection is the fiber optic connectioncomposed of a very thin cable with a special glass core capable of carrying a light signal over long distances, without signal degradation and with a high tolerance to interference and disturbances.

When we use this type of connection, the signal from the telephone exchange (already wired in optical fiber) sends the signals of light right into the house: therefore we can no longer use the old telephone socket, but we need a modem capable of converting these light signals into digital signals (and vice versa).

Thanks to the light signal within the optical fiber it is possible to reach the fastest speeds for a wired Internet connection: it ranges from a minimum of 1000 Megabits per second (1 Gbps) through 2.5 Gbps or 5 Gbps, depending on the operator chosen and the type of technology used for the diffusion of the light signal. If we want the best for our home, we must only choose FTTH connections.

To learn more we can read our guides on types of optical fiber FTTH come on how to choose the best optical fiber.

6) Wireless Internet access

The term ‘wireless’ is used to indicate any type of internet access that does not require a cable, but a transceiver antenna is used to carry the signal up to the home modem (which in turn has an external antenna or, more rarely, an internal antenna). Also in this case the type of signal used for the connection changes.

Internet on the mobile network

This is the type of connection of smartphones, tablets with SIM support, portable modems, gods modem FWA and the famous “soap bars” (modems to be used on a PC with a SIM). Providers of this service call it Mobile Wireless a banda largaeven if only if we are under LTE or 5G network we can talk about true broadband.

When the Internet offer via the mobile network includes a flat subscription, it is also called FWA: this acronym identifies a flat Internet connection (without duration and data limits) provided via a high-speed mobile network (usually 5G but also LTE), in any case able to offer speeds higher than ADSL (rarely equal to VDSL, never equal to optical fiber).

To learn more we can also read the guide on LTE and 5G data rates.

Dedicated radio links

The first wireless broadband connections are born by exploiting dedicated radio antennas (WiMAX) placed by operators interested in offering wireless Internet (such as Linkem). This technology has not spread as desired and, over the last few years, more and more operators have switched to the mobile network (FWA) to offer an Internet connection that is closer to users’ needs.

In fact, radio links to bring Internet connections quickly fell out of usereplaced by mobile radio antennas (less expensive and also more effective).

7) Internet via satellite

The satellite internet connection works through a dish similar to that of satellite TV. The Internet signal (in download) is transmitted by the satellite and received by the antenna positioned on the roof or on a balcony; to be able to navigate the dish must be oriented in the right way towards the satellite that provides Internet connection.

Satellite Internet connections have always been seen as a last resort in the absence of other possible alternatives. The problems are the much higher costs of normal connections and the distance the signal must travel from the sky, not to mention that a dedicated analog line was still used to send data (upload).

The limits of the satellite connection have limited its diffusion also in Italy, as in the rest of the world; things could change with the arrival of Starlink, the satellite Internet connection service provided by Elon Musk, capable of providing download and upload speeds equal to those offered by VDSL. Starlink users can expect to see connection speeds between 100 Mb / s and 200 Mb / s and latency as low as 20ms in most locations.

If this service spreads it could give A lot of trouble with older cable technologies (such as ADSL and VDSL)even if for now the price is still prohibitive for the majority of interested users (99 euros / month).

Conclusions

To surf the Internet and take advantage of all modern services (including multimedia content from Netflix or similar) we advise you to focus only on sufficiently fast connections, even if we do not plan to take advantage of all the Mega offered by the connection: the more Mega you have, the less problems we will have when we use a high-speed service.

To be on the safe side, we only focus on VDSL services (also known as FTTC) or FTTH and, if we cannot navigate fast with a cable connection, we try to take advantage of modern wireless technologies such as LTE and 5G combined with a truly flat subscription (FWA). .

Those interested only in high-speed Internet connections can also read our articles on how to get Gigabit 2.5Gbps fiber e which fast modem to use with fiber.