Mobile Broadband  and  Mobile Network Glossary

Broadband:  Broadband or high-speed Internet access provides users access to the internet and internet-related services. Broadband speeds vary widely depending upon the specific type and level of service ordered and often range from as little as 200 kilobits per second (kbps), to six megabits per second (Mbps), or even more.

3G broadband: What is 3G broadband? It’s currently the preferred manner most smartphones and mobile computers access the internet via a signal from a mobile internet service provider. It is called 3G because it is the ‘third generation’ of mobile technology.  [LeadingPrimary] European and American suppliers have 3G available for mobile users.

Anti-spam: Used to prevent e-mail spam; which is also known as junk e-mail or electronic junk mail.   Email spam typically involves transmitting nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients using e-mail. A common acronym for spam is UBE which stands for unsolicited bulk e-mail. There are various anti-spam methods.
Anti-spam techniques are divided into four broad categories: those that need actions by individuals, those that are automated by systems administrators, those that are automated by e-mail senders and those utilized by researchers and law enforcement officials.

Anti-virus: This is software that attempts to protect computers, notebooks, and mobile phones from malicious internet (including email) transferred malware.  Malware is malicious software applications normally designed to be intrusive or damaging.  Computer viruses, Trojan horses and worms are typical forms of malware.

Malware will often damage your computer, notebook or mobile phone and may copy your personal information or just be annoying.

There are many bad people out there causing problems and some kind of anti-virus software program is required on a broadband-enabled computers, laptops, and or cell phones.   

Namebrand anti-virus software applications such as Norton or McAfee are often included by mobile internet service providers and supplied for free.  Many people rely on free versions of services like Avast and AVG.  One way or another – the reality is an anti-virus software program is highly recommended to protect computers, laptops, and smartphones.

Anti-spyware: Spyware is broad category of malicious software that can insert itself on notebooks, and cell phones from broadband internet connections. Spyware is designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer or cell phone operation without permission from the device’s owner or legitimate user.  Spyware is nasty computer software programs that surreptitiously obtain, monitor and report data from a user’s computer without their knowledge or permission.  This can include sensitive information such as details of sites visited, and even e-mail.

Capping:  In mobile broadband  terminology capping describes a cap, or limit, on the allowable quantity of data to download on a specific contract.  IF the cap is exceeded, additional fees often apply.

Dongle: In mobile broadband  terms dongle has been almost universally adopted to describe the small device that plugs into another internet-enabled device to pick-up a mobile broadband  signal.  Also sometimes called a ‘stick’, these devices plug easily into a USB port on a laptop or PC and contain a SIM card from a mobile network provider, in the same way a smartphone accesses data and the internet.

Bandwidth Download speed: Bandwidth Download speed refers to how quickly a file (of information) can be downloaded from a remote source.  This mobile network term  describes how fast a connection can deliver data to a computer.  To “download” something means to put it on your computer, usually by the internet.    The download speed is measured by how much of the file is transferred to you over a certain amount of time.  It used to be most download speeds were measured in kb/s, kilobytes per second, or thousands of (data) bytes per second; however fortunately currently it is more likely to measure this connection speed it megabytes or millions of bytes per second.

Femtocells: Femtocells use network and boost the 3G signal to make smartphones – and devices with a dongle – perform better.   A femtocell is a wireless access point that delivers localized 3G broadband coverage.  Often it is very small base station that receives data connection supplier or ISP signals and boosts it around a small area, such as your house, office or event center.  They very likely are going to become very common and will be important in location based services and marketing.

Firewall: A firewall is a software component used to stop outside access on computers, laptops or mobile phones via the internet. The firewall will analyze incoming data that connect to the computers, laptops or cell phones, and if it doesn’t meet the settings allocated to it, the data transfer will be suspended.

Firewall virus software applications are often included with anti-virus software programs as well as sometimes being available free versions.  Malicious data can sometimes get around  firewall restrictions and a firewall alone is not sufficient to  maintain computer  and cell phone protection.

Fixed-line: Fixed-line broadband is a term used to describe either cable or ADSL internet connections.  The term is mostly used to differentiate fixed-line broadband from mobile broadband which is wireless and uses a mobile data connection signal network.

Gb (or gigabit): Giga means one billion. Gb  (note the small b) short for   gigabit, a unit used to express internet data speed (also sometimes written as Gbps, or gigabits per second). Current broadband connections are measured in Mb (megabits per second) – there are 1024Mb in 1Gb.

GB (or Gbps, or gigabyte): GB is an abbreviation of  gigabyte, which is often used to describe the size of computer files and memory storage capacity. There are 1024 bytes in a kilobyte (KB), 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte (MB), and 1024 megabytes in a gigabyte. To give a better idea of usage, a small Notepad file is typically measured in bytes, a basic Word document in kilobytes, a music file in megabytes and a DVD movie in gigabytes.

HSPA, HSDPA, HSUPA: HSPA is an acronym for ‘high speed packet access’. HSDPA is an acronym for ‘high speed download packet access’ and HSUPA is an acronym ‘high speed upload’ packet access’, each expresses the same technology either sending or receiving data.  It is the latest advancement in quality for mobile broadband usage, working on various 3G mobile network networks to improve the speed of data transfer.

HSPA Evolved, HSPA+: The next generation of HSPA is Evolved HSPA (or HSPA+) with possible mobile broadband speeds up to 42Mb.

ISP:ISP is an acronym for internet service provider.

Kb (or kilobit): Kb is an abbreviation  kilobit, which is a term used to express internet data speed also written as Kbps, or kilobits per second.  It was commonly used to measure dial-up internet speeds and still  appears with slower mobile broadband connections.

LTE: LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, and is one of the next generation of mobile broadband technologies.  It is supposed to be capable of data transfer rates 15 to 100 times faster than current 3G mobile networks.

Mb (or Mbps, or megabit): Mb is a contraction of Megabit, and also written as Mbps, which stands for megabits per second.  Mb commonly is used to describe the measurement of internet speeds. A Mb is 1024Kb, while there are 1024Mb in a Gb.

MB (or megabyte): MB is a contraction of for megabyte, which is a term used to express the size of computer files and storage capacity.

Mi-Fi (or MiFi): Is a wireless router that, like a dongle, receives a mobile broadband signal. However, unlike a dongle (which plugs directly into a laptop or other internet enabled device), the Mi-Fi device distributes the signal wirelessly using Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi: Pronounced ‘why-fye’, Wi-Fi is short for Wireless Fidelity. It is a trademarked term of the Wi-Fi Alliance that refers to certified products that belong to a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards.

But, in common usage it means any electronics that function over a Wi-Fi network, technically but less likely called a WLAN.  Because of the close relationship with its underlying standard, the the term Wi-Fi is often used synonymously for IEEE 802.11 technology.

WiMAX: This expression is a contraction of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access – a new broadband technology that claims to offer a wireless broadband alternative without the need for cables. Like LTE, WiMAX is being promoted as the next generation of mobile broadband.
WLAN: WLAN is short for for wireless local area network, and is more typically known as Wi-Fi.

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