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Navigating the world of home internet can feel like visiting an unfamiliar land where you don’t speak the language. Dense acronyms like DOCSIS or the difference between a modem and a router can trip you up when shopping for broadband services or trying to better understand the technology that keeps you connected and online. Sometimes, the terminology gets muddled, like when you hear “Wi-Fi” used interchangeably with “internet.” Let’s sort through some of the most common home internet terms you’ll encounter and make sense of them.
Use this guide as a companion on your home internet journey, especially when comparing plans from internet service providers. You’ll need to know about Mbps and Gbps when evaluating broadband speeds, whether a modem or router is included (or if you’ll have to rent one or both) and what to expect from the different types of internet technology. From fiber to fixed wireless, we’ve got you covered.
- 5G: You'll hear the term "5G" connected to cell phones and home internet. It's shorthand for wireless mobile technology's "fifth generation" standard. Instead of requiring a cable or telephone line, the ISP uses radio waves for sending and receiving data. The newer 5G standard offers faster speeds, more bandwidth and lower latency (less lag) than the previous 4G technology. Look to mobile providers Verizon 5G Home Internet, T-Mobile Home Internet and AT&T Internet Air for wireless 5G home internet.
Read more: What Is 5G Home Internet?
- Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data an internet service can transfer in a certain amount of time. The concept is usually measured in megabits per second (Mbps) or gigabits per second (Gbps): 1 gigabit equals 1,000 megabits. Higher numbers indicate the potential for higher bandwidth, so 1,000Mbps home internet is “faster” than 300Mbps service. Your actual internet speeds will vary depending on your provider, equipment and network congestion, but bandwidth is a useful measurement for comparing plans and can give you an idea of how fast your internet will be.
Read more: What's a Good Internet Speed for Your Home?
- Broadband: Broadband is more than just any old internet connection. It’s a high-speed internet connection. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission has a specific definition for what counts as broadband. An internet connection needs to offer at least 100Mbps downloads and 20Mbps uploads. That’s a big boost over the previous benchmark of 25Mbps downloads and 3Mbps uploads. If your speeds are below the FCC threshold, you might want to shop around for a faster option.
Read more: The FCC Quadrupled the Definition of Minimum Broadband Speeds. Here's Why It Matters
- Cable internet or coaxial cable: Cable internet is one of the most common types. It delivers internet to homes through coaxial cables, usually consisting of copper wires surrounded by insulation and shielding material. It’s typically faster than DSL but doesn’t reach the top speeds of fiber internet. A cable connects to a modem (more on this later) at your home. Xfinity, Cox and Spectrum are examples of major cable ISPs.
Read more: The Best Cable Internet Providers in the US
- Data: Think of data as pieces of information or content. If you’re watching Netflix in your living room, you’re transferring video and audio data through your internet connection to your television at home. When shopping for home internet, consider how the ISP and plan you choose will handle your data. Gamers, for example, need to transfer data up and down quickly, so they might look for a fast fiber plan that prioritizes the speedy movement of data for both downloads and uploads.
Read more: The Best Internet Providers With Unlimited Data
- Data cap: Some internet providers limit the amount of data you can transfer each month. Some providers will slow your internet down once you reach the cap or charge an additional fee if you exceed it. That might not be a problem if you’re a casual internet user, but it can be annoying (and potentially expensive) if you move large files or lots of data through your connection. Take note of whether or not a data cap applies to your chosen home internet plan.
Read more: Managing Your Home Internet Plan's Data Cap
- DOCSIS: “Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification” is a telecommunications standard to consider when shopping for a cable modem. DOCSIS allows your modem to deliver internet from your cable provider to your home. There are different versions of DOCSIS, so it’s important to get the right version with the right modem for your needs. The newer DOCSIS 3.1 standard supports faster speeds than the 3.0 version.
Read more: How to Choose Between DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 Modems
- DSL: Digital Subscriber Line is an older method of data transmission, but it’s still widely available in many parts of the US. It uses telephone lines (the same tech used for landline phone calls) to provide an internet connection. It has since been eclipsed by cable and fiber internet, both of which offer faster connections. CenturyLink is one of the most well-known DSL providers.
Read more: The Best DSL Internet Providers
- Ethernet: Ethernet is a computer networking technology most visible to home internet users through the use of ethernet cables to create a wired network. Ethernet allows for the transfer of data. For example, you might connect a desktop computer to a router using an ethernet cable. It has a reputation for speed and stability but requires running physical cables between devices. Some home networks use both wired ethernet and wireless components.
Read more: What's the Difference Between Wi-Fi and Ethernet Connections?
- Fiber internet or fiber-optic cable: Often just called "fiber," fiber-optic internet is a wired broadband connection delivered over fiber-optic cables as opposed to coaxial cables (cable) or telephone lines (DSL). Fiber-optic cables consist of a bundle of tiny glass or plastic strands that transmit data using light. They're capable of much faster top speeds than DSL or cable internet, and typically, uploads are as fast as downloads. Google Fiber, Quantum Fiber and Verizon Fios are examples of fiber ISPs.
Read more: The Best Fiber Internet Providers
- Fiber to the home (FTTH): A fiber-to-the-home connection is one where the internet provider runs a fiber line directly to the home. This is important to know because some providers use a hybrid network where the internet connection runs through fiber part of the way and then runs to the home through a coaxial cable. That usually means slower upload speeds and overall speeds than you might get with FTTH, which is desirable for its fast, symmetrical speeds.
Read more: Brush Up on How Fiber Internet Works
- Fixed wireless internet: Fixed wireless sounds like two words that shouldn’t go together, but it refers to the use of radio waves to wirelessly send data from a tower to a receiver mounted on or within your home. A direct line of sight to the tower is best. Fixed wireless is often associated with rural areas that don’t have cable, fiber or DSL infrastructure. Verizon and T-Mobile’s 5G home internet services are also a type of fixed wireless internet.
Read more: Learn How Fixed Wireless Stacks Up Against Other Kinds of Internet Connections.
- Geosynchronous orbit or geostationary orbit satellite internet: Satellite internet ISPs Hughesnet and Viasat use satellites positioned in high orbits to provide internet to their (mostly rural) clients. This type of satellite sits in the same spot above Earth. Hughesnet’s latest geostationary Jupiter 3 satellite, for example, hangs out 22,300 miles above the planet and covers much of North and South America. Viasat’s satellite fleet is also in a high Earth orbit and would appear to someone on the ground to stay in the same place. These satellites can each cover a large area with internet access.
Read more: The Best Satellite Internet Providers
- IP address: An Internet Protocol address is like a numerical fingerprint for internet devices and networks. Everything from your laptop to your router has an IP address for identification, so internet communications go to the right place. Your internet router has a unique public IP address, but you will also have private IP addresses assigned to devices like computers or televisions on your home network.
Read more: How to Figure Out Your IP Address
- ISP: This is shorthand for "internet service provider." That's the company you pay to get access to the internet. Different ISPs use different technologies to hook you up, so you might have a fiber, cable, DSL or fixed wireless ISP. Big names in the ISP world include Xfinity, Spectrum, Verizon, AT&T, Optimum, Cox and Frontier.
Read more: How to Find the Best Internet Providers in Your Area
- Low Earth orbit satellite internet: We already discussed Hughesnet and Viasat and their geosynchronous satellites. Starlink does things a little differently with its low Earth orbit (sometimes called “LEO”) satellite constellation. Instead of using a few satellites that sit in one place in a high orbit (over 22,000 miles up), LEO employs thousands of small satellites that are on the move in relation to the planet’s surface. They orbit at a distance of about 342 miles above Earth. You can sometimes spot a Starlink satellite “train” trucking across the night sky under the right conditions.
Read more: Starlink vs. T-Mobile Home Internet: Clash of the Broadband Disruptors
- Mbps: Megabits per second (or Gbps for gigabits per second) is a measurement for data transfer over a network. Essentially, it’s your internet speed. For example, you might sign up for fiber internet that offers 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) downloads. You might get 10,000Mbps (10Gbps) speeds with fast fiber. Slow-poke DSL? You might max out at 100Mbps. Actual home internet speeds can vary, but it will help you compare plans.
Read more: What's the Difference Between Megabits and Megabytes?
- Modem: The word “modem” is short for modulator-demodulator. It’s a piece of hardware that converts the data from your ISP into data your devices can use on your home network -- and vice versa. It acts like a translator that keeps your internet flowing. Modems are typically used for cable and DSL internet connections. If you sign up for 5G home internet from the likes of Verizon or T-Mobile, you will get a gateway device that combines the capabilities of a modem and a router.
Read more: Learn the Difference Between a Modem and a Router
- ONT: An optical network terminal isn’t the same as a modem but plays a similar role. It translates signals so your devices can use the internet. ONTs are used with fiber networks. You’ll still want a router to manage where the data goes.
Read more: How to Find the Best Fiber Internet Providers Near You
- Router: A router is one of the cornerstones of your home internet network. It connects to the modem and acts as a hub that routes data to and from the devices on your network. It’s essentially a network traffic manager. Most routers these days allow for wireless connections.
Read more: Should You Buy or Rent Your Router? The Wrong Decision Nearly Cost Me $1K
- Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity. It’s a wireless communications technology that uses radio waves to connect devices like laptops, computers, smart thermostats, televisions and phones to the internet. In your home network, a Wi-Fi router is the go-between that helps your gadgets talk to the internet without having to physically connect them with a cable.
Read more: The Best Wi-Fi Routers