Providing High Speed Broadband Internet Connection

Kauffmann, and then recommends suitable means of connecting each location to the Internet. Each technology or means of accessing the Internet has its advantages and disadvantages; also the method of connectivity chosen for each location was arrived at by comparing the limitations of each technology of access to the Internet coupled with the availability of such technology in the area.

For example, the VAST technology has a simple setup and can be used anywhere, both in big cities and rural areas where access to other technologies like DSL and GAPS are difficult. In Kauffmann, DSL would not be an option because of the poor state of the Telephone company infrastructure. Again, for both locations, recommendation on the means of connectivity is given based on whether the connection is for private (personal) use at home or for corporate organizations such as Government offices and institutions.This is because deploying each technology has its cost implications, with that of VAST and BEDS high compared to wireless broadband from mobile phone companies, therefore, when considering cost, it will be reasonable to get access to the Internet through the technologies provided by the mobile phone companies for personal and home) use instead of VAST technology.INTRODUCTION The Internet The Internet consists of several networks, it is being defined a global network of computers (What is the Internet, 2012); though the Internet was designed originally for communications such as sending of files and e-mails, the Internet has grown larger; this could be seen as a result of the increasing need to send and receive information as quick as possible and to share ideas irrespective of geographical location.

Information sent and received via the Internet today comprise not only text but also voice and video and in most cases live streams of activities going on in efferent locations. It is a common thing today that users of the internet will want to access the Internet from any location (at home, school, in the bus etc). Today small and portable devices have been built and are still being improved upon with new technologies that allow access to the internet anywhere so as to meet the ever increasing needs of the busy population who need access to the Internet anytime anywhere.Various means of broadband access to Internet There various means of connecting to the internet and each means depend so much on your location as some technologies are new and found only in large cities. Some of the available means of broadband access to the Internet are: Access via Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) DSL is a technology provided by telephone companies to allow clients' access to the Internet over the same cable line used for telephone (POTS); it has become a generic term used to represent the family of digital data services over the telephone company's infrastructure (Gaskin, 2004.Peg 53).

DSL, often written as sods to denote different flavors, includes Asynchronous DSL (ADDS) and Synchronous DSL (SODS), among others. To enjoy the DSL services, you will simply need to have a telephone nine to your home or office or wherever you want the service installed. It is also important to note that DSL is a technology that is distance sensitive, the quality of DSL decreases as the distance between the clients' homes and nearest local telephone exchange point increases.To get the best in terms of bandwidth from BEDS (a flavor of DSL), there must be an upgrade from copper telephone line to fiber, installed from clients' home to street cabinets close to the clients, this upgrade is quite expensive. The table below shows the sods bandwidth versus distance capability.

Technology Maximum upstream capacity Maximum downstream capacity Maximum distance Downstream cap @ maximum distance ADDLES Kbps Mbps(0. Km) 5. 4 km 1. Mbps SODS Mbps 2. 7 km Mbps ADS+ 1 Mbps Mbps(0.

Km) 3. 6 km Mbps BEDS Mbps Mbps(0. Km) 1. 3 km Mbps (sods bandwidth versus distance capability: www. Corning. Com/docs/apothecaries/ WPAD .

PDF) (Table 1) However, nowadays most people no longer have these telephone lines running to their homes or offices as they rely mostly on mobile cell phones for calls, text messages and even access to the Internet. Access via mobile phone companies Mobile phone (GSM) companies that provide mobile phone services to people now eave the ability to connect their clients to the Internet using technologies like GAPS, EDGE, 26, 36, 46, HASPS, HASP.These technologies allow packets to be transferred over the mobile network at considerable speeds. Mobile phones (smart phones) and modems equipped with these technologies are now available for users to access the Internet wherever there is GSM service. Some of these technologies, EDGE for example, give data rate of up to Mbps. Technologies like G and Long Term Evolution (LET) pushes bandwidth up to Mbps and 1 Kbps.

These technologies are available in big cities and not rural areas.Access via satellite( VAST) Clients' computer systems connects, via a modem, to Very Small Aperture Terminal (VAST) system; VAST is a two way ground base station used to connect to geostationary satellites orbiting at about 36,000 km above the earth surface. The geostationary satellite acts as a relay station, and in so doing, connects the clients' computers to the Internet backbone. It gives a bandwidth of up to 155 Mbps for download. Unlike other technologies, VAST technology can provide access to the Internet from anywhere; you Just need the VAST to be properly aligned to the satellite in space.

However, satellite links usually have higher latency compared to other methods of connection (typically around moms for a round trip). Generally, the higher the bandwidth (speed), the better because higher bandwidth means you can download e-mails, web pages etc, much faster. Considering these technologies, it is evident that each has its limitation; therefore, the choice of deployment will vary much depending on these limitations coupled with availability of the technology in the area of intended deployment, whether access is for personal use or corporate organization, and the cost of deploying each technology.This research on finding suitable means of connecting two locations to the Internet is broken into two scenarios, scenario one discussing about getting Internet connection to the McDonald's Vamoose Resort in Scotland, I-J, and scenario two discussing about getting Internet connection to Kauffmann, Jam's LAG of Sudan State Nigeria.

SCENARIO ONE Broadband Internet Access to McDonald's Vamoose Resort McDonald's Vamoose Resort is a large hotel complex located in a small town called Vamoose in the Highland Region of Scotland. This town receives large number of visitors every year who come in as tourists.The McDonald's Vamoose Resort is one of the hotels that carter for these large number of tourists. To carter for the Internet needs of guests at the resort, it is expected that facilities for access to the Internet be installed with latest technology that can transmit data, voice, and video at considerable speed. The broadband technologies currently available in Vamoose are Mobile broadband provided by the mobile phone companies and broadband provided through DSL technology: some of the mobile phone service providers include mobile Broadband, Virgin Mobile Broadband, 02 Mobile Broadband, E GBroadband, Avoidance Mobile Broadband, and T-Mobile broadband.

The mobile broadband service provided here is 36. The postcode for Vamoose Resort is PH 1 PAN, and a search reveals that there is a good 36 coverage in this area (3 Mobile Broadband phone provider), which allows you to make calls, send texts messages and data, both indoor and outdoor; however, the signal strengths may vary indoors (http://www. Three. Co. UK/Support/Coverage? Id=1203).

ADDS technology is also available including BEDS which offers up to Mbps through fiber. Vamoose Resort is approximately 0. 5 miles (about 0. M) from the telephone local exchange point.

A look at the various technologies provided above suggests the following issues: I. Access via DSL will mean multiple telephone lines from the telephone company to each room in the hotel, the distance between Vamoose Resort and the local telephone exchange point is approximately 0. 5 mile (0. Km), which is quite good for deploying BEDS, however, it is also good to note that deploying BEDS will require an upgrade from copper to fiber optic line and then cabinets located close to client to take advantage of the high bandwidth offered by BEDS.

'. Access via mobile phone companies is available but quite good for personal use; however signal strengths may vary indoors. On the other hand, satellite can be accessed anywhere so long you can afford the VAST and it is aligned appropriately to the orbiting satellites (which acts as relays), when this is done, connectivity can be spread to other rooms and various locations using Local Area Network (LANA). In view of the above, it is recommended that satellite technology (VAST) be deployed at McDonald's Vamoose Resort for access to the Internet because of the following reasons: 1.It will cost less marred to BEDS deployment which requires an upgrade from existing copper line to fiber optic cable (if there are phone lines, else it will mean laying fiber optic cables afresh), and each user will require one line.

2. Though VAST introduces some level of latency, it will be better compared to the distance that the cables will be installed between the hotel and the nearest local telephone exchange point considering the fact that the quality of DSL degrades with long distances (see Table 1 above). Besides providers make contents of web pages access readily fast through the use of Internet caching (Gaskin, 2004.Peg 85, 86), this takes care of latency to a certain level. When connection is gotten, it can be spread to other rooms and different locations using the LANA. 3.

Though weather conditions may affect VAST technology (only once a while), it can be seen as much reliable and secured compared to wireless networks provided by mobile phone companies. 4. VAST setup is simple consisting of the dish and the modem. SCENARIO TWO Internet Access to Kauffmann, Jam's LAG of Sudan State (My Location) Kauffmann is in Jam's Local Government Area of Sudan State - Nigeria, Latitude 9,5833 (93459. 988" N), Longitude 8,3000 (8180.

0" E). It has a population of about 79,529 people. An aerial view of Kauffmann can be seen from satellite images on this link: http://www. Topologies.

Com/city? N=Kauffmann=79529s Kauffmann is one of the railway Junction points for the Nigeria Railway Corporation. It has a few primary and secondary schools around and tertiary institutions (both government owned and private). Majority of residents in Kauffmann are self employed owning computer business centers, others are traders, and artisans. A few of the residents in Kauffmann work in the government institutions around. Access to the Internet via DSLAs mentioned earlier, DSL is a technology provided by telephone companies to allow clients' access to the Internet over the same cable line used for telephone (POTS). The Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (INTEL), the provider of the POTS services (at a point in time was the only provider of phone services in Nigeria), is no longer in a position to offer good services mainly due to neglect and mismanagement, among many other issues; all over the country, its facilities which includes buildings, telephone exchanges, transmission channels, cables, warehouses and offices, were all abandoned and at present are in a sorry state.

The introduction of GSM in 2001 also made matters worse as INTEL lost its customers to the new mobile telephone companies (Madame, 2013). The introduction of GSM services and licensing of private firms to provide telephone and Internet services using GSM, CDMA, and Fixed wired/ wireless technologies, made competition intense and INTEL could not cope, therefore, the Government resort to prevarication, several attempts have been made to privative INTEL and all attempts were unsuccessful (Hosannas, 2011).People now rely on the services of the mobile phone companies; with this it is evident that DSL service will tot be an option when it comes to Internet connectivity in Kauffmann. Access to the Internet for Home and Personal use GSM service was introduced in Nigeria in 2001, and since then the number of users continues to grow, this increase has brought about difficulty in maintaining the network on the side of the providers and thus led to poor quality of service; users do experience various challenges including difficulty in loading recharge cards for making calls, constant network failures due to unstable power supply etc (Cassia, 2010).

Today there about six mobile phone companies (Glob Mobile, MINT, Distillates, Retailer, Coatrooms, Evasions) operating successfully in Nigeria, but only four providers operating in Kauffmann area (Glob Mobile, MINT, Distillates, and Retailer). Glob Mobile, in 2003, introduce 2. 56 and 36 network which gave the benefits of Multimedia Services (MS) and Mobile access to the Internet, then MINT brought about HASPS-enabled 3. 56 network in June 2008, and in early 2009, Gain (now Retailer) launched 36 service (Pyramid Research, 2010).Even though one can have high speed access to the Internet through any of these mobile phone companies, they still struggle with instable power supply, difficulty in managing the growing number of users and as a result of all these users are not always guaranteed access to the Internet. It is now a common thing that users now have multiple SIMI cards from the different mobile phone companies for backup purposes, in case one network fails the other will serve; all networks rarely fail at once.

For home and personal use, it is recommended that users connect to the Internet through any of the technologies available via the mobile phone companies (Glob Mobile, MINT, Distillates, and Retailer); this can be achieved using mart phones and modems equipped with the support for 36 technology, the mobile phone companies have packages designed based on users browsing habit for access to the Internet( daily, weekly, and monthly data plans), (General Data Activation Codes, http://Africa. Retailer. Com ).To connect to the Internet, a user simply needs a modem which costs about $25 (NO, 000), or a phone at the same price which supports 36 technology, and with the necessary configuration settings from the providers, then pay a subscription fee (buy a card to load, lowest is ONION for IAMB) based on the cakes designed by the providers and lastly, a SIMI which costs at least ONION, less than a dollar.

In a nutshell, with about $30 (NO, 800), one can have access to the internet for personal use such as connecting with friends on social networks and checking of mails, etc, using a mobile phone.Access to the Internet for Office use Very Small Aperture Terminal (VAST) is a ground based station used to connect to satellite in space for access to the Internet. Using the VAST technology one needs the outdoor unit and indoor unit, usually purchased from the ISP; the Out Door unit (ODDS) includes a dish (antenna) ranging from 1. M to 2. Mm in diameter.

The dish is located outside with a low-noise block converter (LBS.). The purpose of the LEN is to receive satellite signals.Also attached to the dish is the Block-up converter (BUCK), which transmits signals, usually the LEN and the BUCK are bundled into one device on the dish. The indoor unit which is satellite modem has the necessary configuration settings in place and is responsible for the connection between the ODDS and the computers in door. The modem allows transfer of data using the satellites in space as relay.

Both outdoor unit and indoor unit, cost of installation will be about $800 NINE, 000); subscription for bandwidth usually depends on the bandwidth capacity one need.With this, it should be noted that connecting to the Internet via VAST for personal use is quite expensive compared to connectivity via the mobile phone companies, hence the recommendation to connect via mobile phone companies for home and personal use. For government or private institutions, and offices, connectivity can be through the satellite (VAST). There are lots of Internet Service Providers (ISP) that provide access to the Internet using the VAST technology, some of them include, Emperies (whom. Merino. Net), Hacking Nigeria (http:// whom.

Lolling. Us/). Judging from people's experience and according to reports published by news agencies in Nigeria (Recurring issue of poor quality of Telecoms service in Nigeria, http://www. Tribune. Com. Nag it should be noted that the services from the mobile phone companies are not so reliable and are of poor quality therefore the most reliable means of accessing the Internet in this area is through the VAST technology.

CONCLUSION When connecting to the Internet, various questions should be considered, such as, what the connection is meant for (private/personal use or for a corporate body), location to be connected and cost implications. If for personal use, it is advisable to connect via the mobile phone companies because it is cheaper and offers the advantage of mobility when compared to other means like DSL and VAST, but if the user already has a telephone line, same can be used to provide DSL access to the Internet.It should also be noted that wireless access to the Internet from mobile phone companies sometimes have problems of coverage, and even in areas where there is coverage, the signal strength varies when a user is indoor compared to outdoor. For corporate organizations, government and private institutions, hotels, etc, t will be best to provide access via VAST, which has a simple set up and the connection can be spread to other locations within the organization through the installation of a Local Area Network (LANA).