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FAQGeneral
How does the AT&T Alascom Wireless Broadband Network reach my home?
Security
What are the security issues relating to broadband Internet services?
Support
Who will supply the needed equipment?
GeneralHow does the AT&T Alascom Wireless Broadband Network reach my home? Our wireless broadband network consists of wireless base stations located throughout the city and connected to the AT&T Internet backbone. The radio waves reach you from the base station via a small antenna mounted to the exterior of your home. They are then carried through a small cable into your home and terminated in a wall jack. You just connect your computer's Ethernet port and go. How does wireless broadband compare with DSL and Cable? Wireless broadband through AT&T Alascom is one of the fastest, most dependable, and affordable high speed options available today. We conscientiously manage our network to avoid the congestion that causes cumbersome delays and have successfully diminished the limited speeds that result from an increased distance between the telephone company's central office and your home. Because of our commitment to quality, AT&T Alascom's High Speed Internet delivers consistently fast connections at extremely competitive rates. Likewise, the use of wireless broadband technology enables us to go where DSL and Cable can't go - right home to you. In terms of the Internet, Broadband generally refers to any type of data communication in excess of 128 Kbps (Kilobits per second). This is at least twice as fast as your modem. It is also generally assumed that any "broadband" connection will be "always on", meaning that there is no dialing or disconnecting of service involved. Most common broadband connection types (to the Internet) are Cable, DSL and Wireless. Digital Subscriber Line. This is a broadband transmission medium using various means. Your local Internet provider will usually deploy this kind of service. DSL can typically support up to a maximum 6 Mbps (typically), although when offered as a service for the Internet, common speeds are 320 Kbps up to 1.5 Mbps (Megabits per second). When you use your modem to connect to an Internet Service Provider, then you are using a "dial-up" line to connect. What is "High-Speed Internet access"? This is another term for Broadband. High-Speed is generally understood to be above 128 Kbps. What is an Internet Service Provider (ISP)? An Internet Service Provider is the company that provides an Internet connection to you, the end user. ISPs offer services such as e-mail, web and other hosting services to their clients. Short for Web browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. When you use a Web Browser and go to a website on the Internet, you are "browsing". Using a Web Browser to search or use the Internet is also commonly referred to as "Surfing the Web". Short for electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk. Most mainframes, minicomputers, and computer networks have an email system. Some electronic-mail systems are confined to a single computer system or network, but others have gateways to other computer systems, enabling users to send electronic mail anywhere in the world. Most email systems include a rudimentary text editor for composing messages, but many allow you to edit your messages using any editor you want. You then send the message to the recipient by specifying the recipient's address. You can also send the same message to several users at once. This is called broadcasting. Sent messages are stored in electronic mailboxes until the recipient retrieves them. To see if you have any mail, you may have to check your electronic mailbox periodically, although many systems alert you when mail is received. After reading your mail, you can store it in a text file, forward it to other users, or delete it. Copies of memos can be printed out on a printer if you want a paper copy. USB means Universal Serial Bus, an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12Mbps. A single USB can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as a mouse, modem or keyboard. USB also supports Plug-and-Play installation and hot plugging. A specific geographical location in which a wireless access point provides public wireless broadband network services to mobile visitors through a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). Hotspots are often located in heavily populated places such as airports, train stations, libraries, marinas, convention centers, and hotels. Hotspots typically have a short range of access. What is a "wireless home network"? This term refers to hardware used to create a wireless network in a person's home. Most Wireless Home Networks consist of an Access Point and one or more client wireless devices connected to laptops or desktop machines. A device that forwards, "routes", data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs (Local Area Networks) or WANs (Wide Area Networks) or a LAN and its ISP's (Internet Service Provider) network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. What is a Wireless Network Adapter? A wireless network adapter is a device that connects to a computer that converts a computer's network data to a wireless transmission medium. Examples are: PCMCIA card, USB wireless adapter, ISA wireless adapter. Short for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, and pronounced as separate letters, PCMCIA is an organization consisting of some 500 companies that has developed a standard for small, credit card-sized devices, called PC Cards. Originally designed for adding memory to portable computers, the PCMCIA standard has been expanded several times and is now suitable for many types of devices. There are in fact three types of PCMCIA cards. All three have the same rectangular size (85.6 by 54 millimeters), but different widths.
As with the cards, PCMCIA slots also come in three sizes:
In general, you can exchange PC cards on the fly, without rebooting your computer. For example, you can slip in a fax modem card when you want to send a fax and then, when you're done, replace the fax modem card with a memory card. What is a Wireless USB Network Adapter? A wireless network adapter that uses the USB to communicate with the host computer. What is a Laptop Wireless Network Adapter? A wireless network adapter, typically in the form of a PCMCIA card. However, many current laptops have wireless network adapters built into them now. Can I send and receive fax while on the Internet with Broadband? Assuming you have a fax machine, yes. DSL will typically allow you the use of your phone while online. In the case of cable or wireless broadband, these topologies don't use the phone line at all, so are independent of any fax or voice lines. What hardware is needed for Broadband? Depends on the connection mechanism:
Abbreviated IM, a type of communications service that enables you to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the Internet, analogous to a telephone conversation but using text-based, not voice-based, communication. Typically, the instant messaging system alerts you whenever somebody on your private list is online. You can then initiate a chat session with that particular individual. There are two meanings to this term: Streaming or File downloads. In the case of streaming, this means listening to radio stations or other musical content providers across the Internet. The music is sent in a continuous data stream as it happens (thereby the term "streaming") and the user listens to it on their PC speakers. Internet Radio companies are typically the primary providers of this type of service. File Downloads: This term refers primarily to the downloading of music files, typically in MP3 format. Anyone downloading music should make sure they are not violating copyright laws. Short for modulator-demodulator. A modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over, for example, telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored digitally, whereas information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms. While the modem interfaces are standardized, a number of different protocols for formatting data to be transmitted over telephone lines exist. Some, like CCITT V.34, are official standards, while others have been developed by private companies. Most modems have built-in support for the more common protocols - at slow data transmission speeds at least, most modems can communicate with each other. At high transmission speeds, however, the protocols are less standardized. Aside from the transmission protocols that they support, the following characteristics distinguish one modem from another:
To get the most out of a modem, you should have a communications software package, a program that simplifies the task of transferring data. This is the standard that defines how some types of Wireless Local Area Networks operate. It comes in different "flavors", depending on the radio technology used. Examples are 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, etc. Devices that adhere to a standard are then interoperable with each other, regardless of manufacturer. What is meant by the term Wi-Fi? Short for wireless fidelity and is meant to be used generically when referring of any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc. The term is promulgated by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Any products tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. A user with a "Wi-Fi Certified" product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is certified. Typically, however, any Wi-Fi product using the same radio frequency (for example, 2.4 GHz for 802.11b or 11g, 5GHz for 802.11a) will work with any other, even if not "Wi-Fi Certified." Formerly, the term "Wi-Fi" was used only in place of the 2.4Ghz 802.11b standard, in the same way that "Ethernet" is used in place of IEEE 802.3. The Alliance expanded the generic use of the term in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability. A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets. A passive hub serves simply as a conduit for the data enabling it to go from one device (or segment) to another. So-called intelligent hubs include additional features that enable an administrator to monitor the traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in the hub. Intelligent hubs are also called manageable hubs. A third type of hub, called a switching hub, actually reads the destination address of each packet and then forwards the packet to the correct port. Does Broadband use the phone line? Older versions of DSL do. What's the difference between a Broadband and a cable modem? Those are two different types of terms. A cable modem is a type of broadband connection. If I have Worldnet (dial up), do I cancel it once Broadband is established? Only if you want to. Does the service include spam filters? Yes. Metering is a different type of billing utilized primarily by the local Cable Internet service. Metering means that all the traffic in a specific period of time (typically monthly) to a customer's location is counted. If a customer transfers more data than they are allowed based on their metering level, then the service provider charges additional fees. For example: Consider a customer with a service level of 512 Kbps and a metering limit of 5 Gigabytes of data per month. For normal Internet usage, this customer may never transfer more than the 5 gigabytes of data in a 30-day period. However, if this customer now engages in peer-to-peer file sharing and starts transferring data continuously during that same 30-day period, then they may end up transferring much more than the 5 gigabytes allowed by their metering level. The excess usage is charged for typically at a premium price. There have been several occasions where a $40/month cable modem customer who has engaged in peer-to-peer file sharing is billed over $400 in a month because they exceeded their metered limit by a large amount. Metering is the primary mechanism to control the abuse of the Internet feed by customers through peer-to-peer file sharing, music downloads, video downloads, etc. SecurityWhat are the security issues relating to broadband Internet services? As an "always on" service, your computer is always connected to the Internet. Most ISPs will use a function called Network Address Translation to "hide" your network from the Internet so that it cannot be reached by someone from outside (Internet) to the inside (your network). This is typically the primary security issue for broadband connections. Additional Firewall software for each computer is also highly recommended. As a general rule, all Internet communications should be considered insecure, whether dial-up or broadband. What is meant by "authentication"? "Authentication" means establishing the true identity of a network node or user. This can be accomplished through many different protocols or procedures. A username/password request can be considered a form of authentication. What is meant by "encryption"? The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain text; encrypted data is referred to as a cipher text. There are two main types of encryption: asymmetric encryption (also called public-key encryption) and symmetric encryption. A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria. What is meant by "virus protection"? Running a program on the computer that actively examines all incoming and outgoing communication for attached viruses. The programs will either quarantine or remove viruses found. Most viruses are spread through the use of email. Antivirus programs will scan email messages and automatically delete attached viruses. All professional anti-virus programs will require a subscription in order to download and install the latest virus definitions in order to provide ongoing protection from future viruses as well. What is meant by "parental control"? Some network appliances or Firewall software will provide a function whereby parents can restrict access to the Internet from certain machines on their home network. SupportWho will supply the needed equipment? For wireless, we supply all the equipment needed to bring the Internet communication to the house and it remains the property of Borealis Broadband. The customer plugs his computer or his home network into the Ethernet port of the wireless router. During what hours is technical support available? Technical support is available from 7AM to 8PM (Alaska Time), Monday to Friday, and from 9.30AM to 5PM (Alaska Time), Saturday & Sunday. Is there a charge for technical support? If the technical support is related to your Internet service then there is generally no fee charged. If the support request is for something other than a service issue, then you may incur a technical support fee. What is the technical support contact number? You can contact technical support at 1-800-620-6520. |