CLARKECONNECT
  • General Broadband Info
    • What is Broadband Internet?
    • What speed and capacity do I need?
    • What is the Broadband Implementation Committee?
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Useful links
  • Available ISPs
    • What are the different types of providers?
    • Links to ISP websites
    • Free WiFi Locations
  • News & Projects
    • VATI Rural Broadband Internet Access Project Explained
    • Clarke County Receives VATI Grant for Much-Needed Broadband Infrastructure
    • Supervisors Agree to Participate in VATI Grant
    • County Broadband Efforts
    • Clarke County Public Schools & Broadband Availability
    • Provider News >
      • Small-Scale Lattice Towers
      • Property Owner Broadband Options
  • Info for Providers
    • Zoning Ordinance Requirements
    • Telecommunications Infrastructure and Broadband Study 2020
    • Tower Inventory Maps
    • Procurement Opportunities

What is broadband internet?

The term “broadband” in recent years has come to be used interchangeably with “internet access.” However, “broadband” is a term defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a specific standard of high-speed internet access. The FCC periodically changes the definition of “broadband,” but it is currently defined as a download speed of at least 25 megabits per second and an upload speed of at least 3 megabits per second.

Broadband consists of two components – speed and data volume. While speed is the rate at which data is downloaded and uploaded, data volume is the capacity of the connection to handle multiple users simultaneously; and the rate at which speeds are adversely affected with increased data volumes. These two components together produce broadband connection upload/download speeds that are measured in megabits per second (Mbps).

Other factors can impact the speed of your internet connection including the technology that is used by your internet service provider (ISP), the ISP’s overall internet traffic at different times of the day, and the equipment that you use in your home to connect to your ISP.
  • What Speed and Capacity Do I Need?
  • What Are the Different Types of Providers?
  • Links to ISP Websites
  • General Broadband Info
    • What is Broadband Internet?
    • What speed and capacity do I need?
    • What is the Broadband Implementation Committee?
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Useful links
  • Available ISPs
    • What are the different types of providers?
    • Links to ISP websites
    • Free WiFi Locations
  • News & Projects
    • VATI Rural Broadband Internet Access Project Explained
    • Clarke County Receives VATI Grant for Much-Needed Broadband Infrastructure
    • Supervisors Agree to Participate in VATI Grant
    • County Broadband Efforts
    • Clarke County Public Schools & Broadband Availability
    • Provider News >
      • Small-Scale Lattice Towers
      • Property Owner Broadband Options
  • Info for Providers
    • Zoning Ordinance Requirements
    • Telecommunications Infrastructure and Broadband Study 2020
    • Tower Inventory Maps
    • Procurement Opportunities