The world of tech is full of barely comprehensible anacronyms, abbreviations and …yep. Jargon. At Legend we know that we can help spell it out for our customers so they know what they’re really getting, what they are buying and what they want.
We’ve looked at some of the most commonly used words, phrases and tech lingo and turned it into good old plain English.
Have you got a new word or jargon we’ve missed? Tweet us at @FibreLegend using #legendjargonbuster and we might just add it on here.
Asymmetrical Speeds
– This means that your Internet connection’s upload speed will be much slower than your download speed. For example; 1Gbps download speed and 100Mbps upload speed. (See Upload & Download Speed and Gbps and Mbps)
Bandwith
– When we talk about Internet bandwidth we refer to the capacity of the Internet connection rather than the speed of the data. If you think of a hosepipe as an Internet connection, and the water running through the hosepipe is the data, then the thickness of the pipe is the bandwidth and therefore the thicker the hosepipe (or the greater the bandwidth) the more water (or the more data) you can get through it.
Buffering
– When your internet speeds are not fast enough to connect to the server you experience a pause. For example, you might experience a pause viewing a tv show whilst it waits to receive the rest of the message/ content.
Cloud
– Most people just assume that “The Cloud” is a place in the Ether space where software operates from. It is in fact just a term used to simplify the complexities of hosting and operating services from data centres around the world.
Data Centre
– A data centre is an extremely secure location which provides secure rack space where businesses can hold business servers and network equipment, giving them safe and reliable access from the Internet or even private and secure access from multiple locations while acting as a secure hub.
Dark Fibre
– (Not Darth Vader’s broadband service) This is the technology used by Legend and offers the fastest speeds of any fibre optic cable connection, by offering virtually limitless speeds. In fact the only thing which limits the speed is the network equipment attached at each end.
Download Speed
– The speed at which you are able to download data. The faster your download speed, the greater the amount of data you are able to download in a shorter time.
Ethernet
– Ethernet is a cable using twisted pairs of copper wires and is capable of transmitting data at speeds up to 1Gbps. You might be familiar with Ethernet cables that you use to connect your laptop to a socket in the wall.
Full Fibre
– (a large bowl of bran flakes?) Term used to describe broadband fibre which goes all the way from the local Exchange to the customer property.
FTTP or FTTH
– Fibre-to-the-Premises or Fibre-to-the-Home: This is the technical name of the “Full Fibre” broadband service which delivers Gigabit capable speeds.
FTTC
– Fibre-to-the-Cabinet. Typically, the broadband technology most people have today, and possibly the one you have at your home. This broadband service has a maximum download speed of 80Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 20Mbps. Although this broadband technology has fibre from the Exchange to the street cabinet, the last bit between the street cabinet and your home is a copper phone line.
Gigabits
– See Gbps.
Gigafast
– This is marketing speak for Vodafone’s FTTP service – It’s not actually a technical term.
Gbps
– (Not GBPS) It’s important not to confuse Gbps (Gigabits per second) with GBPS (Gigabytes per second or Great British Pounds!). A Gigabyte is 8 times bigger than a Gigabit so therefor if you had an Internet connection which had speeds of 1 Gigabit per second, and you wrote it as 1GBPS, you would actually be saying 8 Gigabits per second. What you should write is 1Gbps and not 1GBPS. There are 1,024Mbps (Megabits per second) in 1Gbps.
ISP
– Internet Service Provider – These are companies that provide houses and businesses with an internet connection.
IXP / Internet Exchange
– An Internet Exchange is the “Gateway” to the Internet. It is the place from which all of your Internet traffic leaves for, and returns from, the Internet.
LAN
– Local Area Network – This is the secure and private network that you operate within your office or within your home. This can be both hardwired and WiFi.
Mbps
– Just like Gbps, it is important not to write this as MBPS. There are 8 Megabits (Mb) to 1 Megabyte (MB) so 100 Megabits per second written as 100MBPS would mean 800 Megabits per second. It should be written as 100Mbps not 100MBPS.
Pixel Perfect
– Crystal clear connection for video calling with no buffering.
Smart technology
– have some automation and can be easily programmed through an intuitive user interface. For example, think a simple microwave, coffee maker, or toaster. However, more and more are now connected to a network, helping to blur the line between a smart device and a connected device. Examples are smart coffee makers, smart bulbs, smart speakers, and smart security cameras.
Smart connected devices are remotely controlled and monitored via Bluetooth, LTE, Wi-Fi, and cellular connectivity. Apps or voice are the gateway. In the real world, most people equate smart with connected. And as more automated devices are redesigned, it could well mean there will no longer be a distinction.
IoT devices are software-defined products that are a combination of product, application, analytics, and the Internet/networking. Think of smart cities, smart factories, and smart homes. IoT devices also create more value than smart or connected devices. Examples might be smart locks, AI security cameras, luggage trackers, irrigation sprinklers, and programmable dash buttons.
Super fast
– This is marketing speak that describes broadband speeds between 30Mbps and 300Mbps.
Symmetrical Speeds
– means that your Internet connection’s upload speed is the same as its download speed. For example; 1Gbps download speed and 1Gbps upload speed.
Ultra fast
– This is marketing speak that describes broadband speeds of more than 300Mbps.
Ultra HD Streaming / 4K Streaming
– Although 4K is actually a professional production and cinema standard, and UHD (Ultra HD) is a consumer and broadcast standard. Despite both being slightly different in resolution, they now seem to have been converged into everyday life and are the highest standard resolution for broadcasting. When watching UHD and 4K on one of the many online streaming video services, the extremely large size if these video files means that to watch them you will need a fast and reliable Internet connection with close to zero network latency in order to watch them.
Upload Speed
– This refers to the speed at which you are able to upload data. So, if you have a large file to upload, the faster your upload speeds is, the quicker you will be able to upload the file.
WAN
– Unlike a LAN which is a secure network within your property, a WAN (Wide-Area-Network) is a secure network outside your property which connects multiple properties together. This can cover great distances such as connecting multiple offices together at different parts of the country or even internationally.
WiFi
– WiFi is the network technology that we all use to connect our devices to the Internet or to a private network wirelessly.
Wireless Network
– Wireless doesn’t necessarily mean the same as WiFi. Wireless Internet for example is a term used to describe how a broadband service is delivered through the airwaves in the sky as opposed to a fibre in the ground. You may also hear people using the term “wireless fibre”.
Zero Lag / Zero Latency
– A network with zero latency, or next to zero latency (you can never have an absolute zero latency network) means that there is almost no delay from when your data leaves your computer to when it returns. This is sometimes referred to as “ping time”, especially with online gamers. Network latency is determined by the distance the data from your computer has to take to reach the Internet and then return. The further the data travels, the longer it takes, the greater the ping times. The closer that your ISP is to the Internet Exchange, the faster your Internet connection will be. Fortunately, Legend has one such Internet Exchange operating from the Legend data centre so our Internet speeds will always be fast.
