Seeking to narrow the definitions of 'broadband'

Broadband is a surprisingly hard-to-define Internet service that so many consumers covet for faster access, whatever their needs, and that borders on a national obsession as we fret about competing with technology leaders in Europe and Asia. What exactly is "good broadband"? That's the $50-a-month question -- or the $100, $150, or $200 question. And the answer remains as oddly fuzzy today as when the term emerged in the 1990s and pretty much meant "faster than the usual dial-up."

Even the National Broadband Plan, which sets goals for hooking up the whole nation to this essential telecommunications service, doesn't exactly define broadband. What do leading Internet service providers promise and actually deliver? And what level of broadband do you really need? Answers to those questions are harder to come by, which is one reason the Federal Communications Commission jumped into the fray this week, seeking public comment on how to help consumers understand the "need for speed" when they choose an Internet provider. In the next few weeks, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to publish results from a broadband service study of 10,000 U.S. households conducted for it by SamKnows.com and designed to find whether consumers are getting what they expect.

Here's five tips to help you understand broadband speed needs: 1) Some uses are data hogs. 2) Speed isn't the only concern -- another key factor is called latency, which measures how quickly the broadband network responds to an input. 3) What you're promised by your Internet service provider may not be what you get. 4) Your ISP may not be to blame. 5) Sharing service slows your speed.