A team of engineers at Bangor University have developed a device which promises to increase the current broadband speed by 100 times and to also be 75 per cent cheaper than the cost of today's broadband.

The scientists at the university have been working on the EU-funded Alpha project and are now ready to create the prototype.

The device works by using the same telecommunications network that we are using at the moment but it processes the information a lot more efficiently.

The scientists claim that this improved internet access will allow download of 15 full-length Hollywood movies a minute, meaning that consumers will then have access to very fast and cheap broadband.

The team are hoping that this invention will revolutionise the communications industry and believe that this new broadband technology will not only deliver high speed HD films and television, but also high-power computer games and home video-conferencing facilities.

The group also hope that this device will offer other beneficial functions as well, such as; supporting older people in their homes and enabling other applications like tele-medicine to thrive.

It is believed that once the prototype is finished, it will look similar to a DVD player and be placed somewhere in-between the broadband outlet and computer.

As of yet, there is no idea how much the device will cost, however; with so many people discovering from a broadband speed test that they are receiving such poor speeds at present, there is no doubt that this new and improved internet device will be very popular with consumers in the future.

Although it may not be the most exciting thing to do, it is important for broadband users to take the time to check the small print to their contract.

So claims moneysupermarket in which a recent study showed that some eight per cent of people state they not bother reading the terms and conditions of their broadband service. Meanwhile, one in four consumers were indicated as only skimming over the details of their contract. However such inaction could potentially leave customers out of pocket, as the price comparison website revealed that just under a quarter (24 per cent) of Britons have been hit with charges and fees which they were not expecting to pay.

Among the hidden charges that consumers often discover that they are landed with include moving and installation costs. Meanwhile, paying for bills, exceeding download limits and the expense of calling a helpline were pointed out as additional ways internet users might find themselves inuring financial pressure. However, moneysupermarket indicated that such charges vary among broadband suppliers.

It was pointed out that Direct Save and Virgin charge their consumers 40 and 30 pounds respectively in one-off set-up fees. Research from the firm also showed that Virgin charges an extra five pounds per month for those consumers who do not pay their bills via direct debit. Meanwhile, those who decide to cancel their contract within the first 12 months of opening it up will find themselves charged around 50 pounds if they are customers with either Be or Direct Save.

Following on from facing a broadband bill which is much higher than expected, it may be possible that people encounter greater difficulties in paying for other household utilities such as gas, electricity and water. In addition, this might impact upon their capacity to meet other areas of financial demand such as personal loans, credit and store cards and mortgage repayments.

Commenting on the research, Rob Barnes, head of mobile and broadband for the price comparison site, said: "With so many offers out there it's easy to be blinded by the headlines and enter into a contract without thinking about what it entails. Remember, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. With this in mind its so important customers read their contracts. By not doing this, people are clearly unaware of what extra costs may be lurking in the small print and as a result, could end up with a huge unexpected bill at the end of the month."

In an attempt to counter receiving a shock bill, consumers were advised to check their contract to make sure they are aware of any charges for cancelling their service. Meanwhile, people should also know how much they will be charged for calling for technical advice and exceeding download limits.

For those consumers looking for a way in which to reduce financial pressures taking out a consolidation loan may be advisable. In selecting this type of loan, borrowers may find that they are able to merge demands for repayment across a number of sources, such as household bills and credit cards, into a single low-cost monthly outgoing. However as with a broadband package, it is advisable for those looking to take out a loan to check the terms to their contract before signing on the dotted line. Last month, Chris Tapp from Credit Action reported that many consumers are not fully aware of the financial products they sign up to, only to come under financial pressure later on.

Started as a Southwest ISP in 1995, Eclipse Broadband has achieved monumental growth as a reliable Internet Service Provider in the UK. It got off to a flyer this year by claiming 'Best Consumer Broadband Award'. Customers of Eclipse broadband provider attribute its success to its quality broadband connection and efficient service.

Some of the advantages that subscribers of Eclipse Internet Service Provider enjoy are high-speed broadband connection, excellent value added service like Managed Server Hosting and better customer support.

Eclipses' broadband packages can be broadly classified into Eclipse Business Broadband, Eclipse Evolution Broadband and Eclipse Home Broadband. Business Broadband includes four Options namely Option1, Option 2, Option 3 and Teleworker. These options are suitable for large size, medium size, small office and home office network respectively. With download speed up to 8Mbps and free phone calls up to 1500 minutes, the upload speed and usage allowance varies for each Option. A free Wireless Router is provided to broadband users subscribing to Options 3 and 2. Broadband users subscribing to Option1 and Teleworker Option will receive a Free Router. Availability of prioritised support in all four Options offers real value for money.

As additional benefits, internet users receive up to 100 email addresses with 250MB of web space at a cost of extra £1 per week; free multiple static IP addresses, enhanced & easy-to-use security features to get rid of devastating email viruses.

Talk More Business is a telephone service offered by Eclipse that provides national and local calls (Numbers start with 01 and 02) free of charge. Besides, users can save on international and mobile calls as well.

Eclipse broadband service provider has a dedicated customer and technical support desk that operates round- the-clock that resolves technical and customer related issues. Finally, flexibility has been the watchword of Eclipse as it allows users to upgrade broadband online instantaneously.

Why on earth would someone make a statement like that..."The backbone of the commonplace internet?" What exactly is that suppose to mean? It means what it says. DSL is the workhorse of the internet as we know it today. Many people would argue with me that things like T3, DS3 or direct fiber lines carry the most traffic.

That may be well and true, but the majority of Americans who actually use the internet, don't have a DS3 or T3 or even a T1. They live in the real world where usually the best they can have offered is some form of DSL or cable service. Yes, there are some newly constructed areas which have fiber connections available, however, they are far from being a majority or even a number significant to be noticed in the total number of overall internet users.

Yes, there are a large number of cable users who have their internet service delivered via the local cable company. Cable claims great speeds up to 20mbs, and possibly on rare occasions you might actually see speeds that approach about 2/3rds or that threshold. But the moon is probably blue and its 3:30 a.m. when the rest of the neighborhood is in bed. When internet service via cable was first introduced it was a great deal because few people had it. Now that more and more people are using it, it is becoming less and less effective because of the shared feed system that most systems use to deliver bandwidth over cable.

What this means is that the junction point from where cable internet service is provided in your local neighborhood only has a finite amount of bandwidth available. The more people who are connected to that junction point, the less bandwidth is available to each user of the shared access point. This didn't use to be a big concern. However, more and more, with internet activity becoming more a part of everyday life for a greater amount of people it has become apparent to many cable users that the great deal isn't such a great deal after all.

DSL speeds vary from 256kbs to 8mbs depending on your service plan and distance from the main switching station of the local telecom company. The advantage that DSL has over cable is that it is fairly consistent speed wise, and in many places is now cheaper then service provided by cable.

Then, of course, there is still dial up. New companies claim to have access speeds approaching those of DSL which, of course, is a bit of a stretch no matter how you slice it. What they don't tell you is "those speeds approaching DSL speed are burst speeds that might actually reach the 56k limitation of simple modem to modem dial up access. One needs to look closely at the fine print in the ads of those companies which claim super fast dialup service. For example one company states in fine print at the bottom of their ad that their fast service is not a broadband service and actual data transmission rates are not faster than standard dial-up Internet service.

One other avenue to the internet for home users is satellite internet service. Again, satellite is one of those services that never quite live up to its tout. Many companies claim up to 1.5mbs speeds when in actuality the speeds are more in the range of 512 to 756kbs. That is if you are lucky to have a good clear sky and a strong signal. The down side of satellite internet service is the cost. It is generally about double or even triple the cost of a similar DSL service. The advantage that satellite service has is it is virtually available anywhere, making it a popular choice of those who live in very remote areas where cable and DSL service is not available.

So back to my original statement that DSL is the backbone of the internet, meaning it is the workhorse of the internet. Studies have proven that clearly 77% of those connecting to the internet these days have chosen some from of broadband service. Of that 77% DSL is currently edging out cable. Not so much because it is dramatically superior to cable, but because satellite television has gained market share. Those who once subscribed to cable and now use satellite television no longer have cable accesses for internet service and have generally opted for DSL service.

In conclusion I think it would be safe to say that without all the people who use DSL service those big companies who invest in large fiber optic trunk lines to transfer copious amounts of information and sell billions of dollars of products each and every year, would find the internet a far less profitable place to do business if it were not for all of the DSL users in the world today.

Broadband is becoming an increasingly important feature of our everyday lives. From the way we run our businesses to the way we spend our free time, broadband is here to stay and if you haven't found a supplier yet it's about time you did. That aside, broadband can be an expensive business unless you're entirely familiar with the tricks of the trade required to get a good deal. After all, most broadband services are generic and it's just a case of paying for specification - therefore there's no reason not to realize these savings on your broadband package.

The first thing that often determines pricing on a monthly basis is contract length. A month to month rolling contract will be far more expensive to maintain than a twenty-four month fixed agreement. Because you are committing more value to the provider the longer you sign up, the more you can be incentive for doing so. As a result, simply by tying yourself in for longer you can save a great deal of your monthly spend for the same level of service whilst also removing the hassle of having to continually change broadband providers.

Next, most customers fail to understand that their residence can actually have a significant bearing on their level of broadband service. Depending on where you live, it's something of a lottery as to the speed of broadband you can receive. Some homes can receive top speed broadband and other can receive only a fraction, yet there are still people paying for up to 8meg broadband despite a physical inability to receive that speed. Rather than paying for what they can receive, these people pay through the nose for no extra service - a simple way to lose money on a monthly basis. Check out the broadband speed in your area and only pay for what you can receive - it makes sense, but is so often overlooked.

Finally, the free modem and/or router problem is one that plagues money-conscious broadband customers worldwide. Obviously, the unit cost is spread through the monthly payments depending on your contract length, but could this still provide good value for money? It all depends on the cost of the router and what you would have to pay for your broadband on a monthly basis if you were to forgo the free model. By sizing it up on that basis, you should be able to calculate whether you're getting a good deal.

Securing a broadband package is something we all like to do with haste whenever we move house or finish up on our existing contracts. However that doesn't mean that we have to rush in blind to a bad deal. By thinking laterally about the services offered by the providers it is possible to understand where you can realize cost savings to help make sure that your broadband bill is as low as it possibly can be without compromising the service you can expect to receive from your provider, to leave you with more money in your pocket to spend once you actually get online.

'Broadband' can seem like a totally different language - MAC codes, line speed, capacity, routers, modems, LAN, WAN - does anyone really understand what all these mean? Unfortunately, this is an area of heavy jargon and it's important that you are able to come to terms with these factors in order to understand when you're getting a good deal, and to assist you in making your broadband package selection. Additionally, the contract terms offered by some broadband providers are in themselves equally confusing, and making sense of what's going on can be a tricky process. So what should you look for in selecting a broadband package, and what does it all mean?

Well, luckily for you you don't really have to understand what they all mean. But you do have to have a rudimentary knowledge of what you can expect. The most common base line is maximum speed, which will be expressed as KBPS, or kilobytes per second. Alternatively, it's just cited as being '2 meg' or '8 meg', as in 'megabytes per second'. Whilst the speed you choose will depend on what you use your broadband for, it will also turn on the quality of your broadband access and some local areas are physically incapable of receiving some faster speeds as a result of their current infrastructures. That said, bear in mind when you're buying an expensive package to investigate whether or not you can actually receive the full benefits of your contract.

Another common thing that is a feature of broadband packages is router inclusion. Many providers run special promotions that give away routers in order to encourage sign up. What many customers don't realize is that routers are essential components of the broadband setup if you intend to use more than one computer on that package, and thus it may actually prove to be a good value proposition if you can get a router thrown in for no extra cost.

Where this is an issue, just be sure that you understand the terms of the contract you're getting into. Some providers have contracts on a rolling monthly basis which can be good for students or for those that move a great deal for business reasons. However the vast majority look to tie down customers for twelve or even eighteen months at a time, with heavy 'get-out' penalties which can be quite restrictive. What that means is that you have to take care to ensure you end up choosing the right provider to begin with to avoid encountering any problems with long contract terms.

Broadband packages can present the opportunity for good value for money. Whether you are a consumer or a business, it's a crucial service in modern life and understanding what it is you require is half the battle in getting on your way to a bargain. By understanding both the technical aspects of the package as well as the terms and conditions of the contract to which you are agreeing, you can be fully prepared for any nasty surprises that happen to arise later down the line.

How does Virtual Private Network service work in banking?

Whenever you use the internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or at
another site, your computer is given an address on that provider's network. While
you can reach your bank from the Internet, you will normally be denied access to
services that are restricted to bank network addresses because your computer is
using an address from an external network.

But, if you are on the internet, you can still connect to the Bank's VPN service, in two ways. From a web browser or with a software VPN client. A VPN need not have explicit security features, such as authentication or content encryption. Virtual Private Network setup, can be used to separate traffic of different user communities over an underlying network with strong security features.

Seek secured private connectivity across public IP networks!

Extends geographical connectivity

Improves productivity

Improves security

Reduce transit time and transportation costs for remote users

Reduce operational costs versus traditional WAN

Simplify network topology

Provides global networking opportunities

Provides broadband networking compatibility

Provides faster ROI than traditional WAN

Provides telecommuter support

VPN are categorised into two types:

• Remote access VPN

• Site to site VPN

What is site to site Virtual Private Network in banking?

Such Site to site VPN allows you to have a secured connection between locations across the open internet. With the help if site to site VPN your bank can save a great deal of money, as you can use cheaper means always - on connections such as domestic broadband rather than expensive leased lines between sites.

What about Remote access VPN?

Remote access VPN also known as Virtual Private Dial up(VPDN) is used by banks who have staff regularly working in locations outside the office. You can connect into the office network over dial up phone/isdn lines or over broadband from anywhere.

Broadband is becoming an increasingly important feature of our everyday lives. From the way we run our businesses to the way we spend our free time, broadband is here to stay and if you haven't found a supplier yet it's about time you did. That aside, broadband can be an expensive business unless you're entirely familiar with the tricks of the trade required to get a good deal. After all, most broadband services are generic and it's just a case of paying for specification - therefore there's no reason not to realize these savings on your broadband package.

The first thing that often determines pricing on a monthly basis is contract length. A month to month rolling contract will be far more expensive to maintain than a twenty-four month fixed agreement. Because you are committing more value to the provider the longer you sign up, the more you can be incentive for doing so. As a result, simply by tying yourself in for longer you can save a great deal of your monthly spend for the same level of service whilst also removing the hassle of having to continually change broadband providers.

Next, most customers fail to understand that their residence can actually have a significant bearing on their level of broadband service. Depending on where you live, it's something of a lottery as to the speed of broadband you can receive. Some homes can receive top speed broadband and other can receive only a fraction, yet there are still people paying for up to 8meg broadband despite a physical inability to receive that speed. Rather than paying for what they can receive, these people pay through the nose for no extra service - a simple way to lose money on a monthly basis. Check out the broadband speed in your area and only pay for what you can receive - it makes sense, but is so often overlooked.

Finally, the free modem and/or router problem is one that plagues money-conscious broadband customers worldwide. Obviously, the unit cost is spread through the monthly payments depending on your contract length, but could this still provide good value for money? It all depends on the cost of the router and what you would have to pay for your broadband on a monthly basis if you were to forgo the free model. By sizing it up on that basis, you should be able to calculate whether you're getting a good deal.

Securing a broadband package is something we all like to do with haste whenever we move house or finish up on our existing contracts. However that doesn't mean that we have to rush in blind to a bad deal. By thinking laterally about the services offered by the providers it is possible to understand where you can realize cost savings to help make sure that your broadband bill is as low as it possibly can be without compromising the service you can expect to receive from your provider, to leave you with more money in your pocket to spend once you actually get online.