ADSL South Africa - ADSL Line Speed

 Click here for a full list of factors to consider when getting ADSL Broadband.

In this section of ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa) our focus will be on the different ADSL line speeds available in South Africa. ADSL line speed is an important aspect to consider when ordering an ADSL line...

You don't want to be stuck with a slow ADSL line speed (192Kbps) when you need a higher ADSL line (4Mb+) speed for online gaming, VoIP, et cetera. The faster you want to surf the Internet the higher the ADSL line speed need to be and vice versa.

There are currently six ADSL line speeds in South Africa:

• 192Kbps 

• 384Kbps 

• 512Kbps 

• 1Mb or 1 Mbps

• 4Mb or 4 Mbps

• 10Mb or 10 Mbps

A huge misconception is that Kbps is Kilobytes per second. IT IS NOT. Many companies advertise the speed in "Kbps" because people will think it is kilobytes when in fact it is kilobits. By the way 8 kilobits = 1 kilobyte , so the line is slower than it sounds. You do the math.

In addition to the above, bits  are used to measure data transfer rates, while bytes  are normally used to measure data storage capacity. Kilobits per second (Kbps or kbps ), Megabits per second (Mbps or mbps ) and Megabit (Mb or mb ) are therefore among the measuring units used to measure data transfer rates. The lower case "b" in Kbps, Mbps and Mb means "bit" and not "byte." On the other hand, 1MB is a "megabyte" and not a "megabit."

1MB (megabyte) = 1024KBps (kilobytes per second), so 1Mbps (megabit per second) or 1Mb is equal to 1024 Kbps (kilobits per second).

1 Mbps (Megabit per second) or 1Mb = 1,000,000 bits per second when megabit (Mb or mb) is used to measure data transfer rates.

• 192Kbps  is the slowest line, but is 3X faster than your average ISDN line. Itis totally sufficient for most purposes, including surfing the web, downloading email and downloading in general. 

• 384Kbps is the most common line for home use, and is good for downloading files, music and streaming media. 

• 512Kbps is perfect for the high end user - It is good for homes and businesses with large bandwidth needs. 

• 1Mb is for businesses with large data needs with multiple users. 

• 4Mb+ is for businesses and private individuals with high-end needs. 

Usually, it is better to buy a bigger cap than it is to buy a faster speed line. 192Kbps is actually pretty fast - sites open within about 5 seconds and even large mail downloads within a minute - so there's no waiting even with the slowest option.

Usually with more speed you will download more stuff, so don't buy a faster speed than you really need...