Broadband history

Like all good things, the internet has been around since the 80s. It gained popularity in the 90s and has sky rocketed since then. Back in the day people used to connect to the internet using their home telephone wires using a system called “dial-up”... Some people still do... Why??

This was painfully slow and prevented or restricted people's ability to downloaded songs, video clips and movies. In addition to turtle-esque speeds, dial-up internet was also extremely inconvenient as it took up full use of the telephone wire. Hence people either used the internet sporadically or had to install a separate phone line to use the internet from.

... And then there was broadband

Broadband breathed new life into the internet in the early noughties at about the same time that people thought that the mullet was once again acceptable. Unlike this 80s relic, broadband has since gone from strength to strength by giving internet users faster connection speeds without disrupting their telephone usage.

Enabling people to download files, songs, TV shows and movies at greater speeds and, thus, with more convenience. The problem was that broadband was extremely expensive when it was first launched so take up was slow to begin with.

Once prices became more competitive, however, ISPs began to compete with each other on things like offering the fast broadband, the best "heavy use" broadband and best broadband bundles.

Gone are the days of dial-up, gone too are the days when two or three big-players dominated the market – it’s a buyer’s market with plenty of great offers to choose from. For more detailed information on broadband, you may be wise to check our broadband jargon guide because we are fully aware that there are a lot of broadband terms that need describing!

To find out more about downloading music via broadband. Or compare for the best broadband deals and offers.