Test Your Broadband IQ (NAPSA)—How tuned in are you to today’s communication technology? Taking this little test can help youtell. 1. Compared to dial-up, satel- lite Internet service is (a) faster (b) slower (c) about the same. 2. High-speed Internet access is used by (a) families (b) big busi- nesses (c) small businesses. 3. Satellite service cannot work in an office or home that’s networked? (a) true (b) false (c) it depends. 4. The geosynchronoussatellites used for communications are (a) 45,000 (b) 4,500 (c) 22,300 miles above the earth? Answers 1. (a) Much faster. In fact, with some service plans, companies and home offices can get download speeds up to 1Mbps, and upload speeds up to 200 Kbps. Files download in seconds, e-mail access is instant and information can be shared quickly and easily with customers, partners and suppliers. It is helpful to understand thatall Internet technologies (satellite or land-based) “share” available net- work bandwidth. Actual speeds vary based on the amountoftraffic on the Internet, the content on a particular Website or by the overall performance and configuration of a computer. With satellite, user experience is generally excellent when downloading Web pages, emails or large data files. Users have instant access to business- critical information without dialing in. You do not need a phoneline or dial-up data modem to access the Internet. 2. (a), (b) and (c). Anyone Because the signal musttravel into outer space, it takes about half a second for a computer to communicate with a Web site or host servervia satellite. @ can benefit from faster Internet access. A wide range of innovative and scalable network solutions are available to home offices and small-to-medium businesses as well as major corporations. For example, for small home offices, there’s Direcway Professional service. For small businesses with up to five concurrent users, there’s Direcway Small Office or Business Internet. It’s available even where DSL is not and your company can have always-on, always-secure and reliable broadband Internet access without tying up phone or fax lines. It can increase productivity in growing businesses. 3. (b) False. You can connect multiple comput- ers and laptops to a single Internet connection, so users can have fast downloading and instant Internet access. Small Office can accommodate up to three concurrent users, Business Internet, up to five. 4. (c) About 22,300 miles. This round- trip adds about a half a second delay to the total time your com- puter takes to communicate with a Website or host server. Most back- office applications, e-commerce transactions and common business applications work very well over satellite. How well did you do on this quiz? Even if you’re a techno- genius, you can probably learn still more at the DIRECWAY Web site, www.powermybusiness.com.
