Digital Communication Facts

The term ‘digital divide’ refers to the connectivity gap, meaning the gap between regions and demographics that have access to today’s communications and information technology, and those that have limited access or no access at all. This technology can comprise telephone, TV, personal computers, as well as the internet.

Before the twentieth century, the term referred mainly to the division between people or regions with telephone access and those without it. After the late 1990’s though, its use primarily started to describe the divide between those with and without access to the internet, especially broadband.

This divide usually exists between people in cities and rural areas, between educated and uneducated sections of society, socioeconomic groups, and the more as well as less industrially developed countries. Even among a population with some access to today’s technology, the divide can be apparent in the form of slower personal computers, lower-speed Wi-Fi connections, and restricted subscription-based content access.

In this day and age, the digital divide is a reality even in developed nations. For instance, not all areas in the United States of America have access to the broadband internet. Even as technology keeps becoming more and more affordable and internet access keeps expanding across the country, studies have revealed that millions of Americans still lack a cheap and reliable internet broadband connection. Many of them who lack the access to it reside in rural areas.

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The digital divide affects peoples’ lives in many different ways. Since they are deprived of access to the internet, some of them have to rely on public internet access spots. However, this divide deprives them of job or education opportunities.

While adoption of smartphone technology is growing even among low-income and minority groups, data plans’ rising costs and the complexity of doing tasks as well as transactions on phones can hinder the closing of the connectivity gap in some ways. Still, the US takes steps to tackle the digital divide. The best internet service providers have a commitment to reach out to underserved or unserved areas in the country to the Federal Communications Commission. They also offer low-cost or best internet service that unserved or underserved subscribers can afford.

Besides, major internet providers take initiatives to improve the digital literacy of rural or low-income people. Some of them even provide free laptops or computers to those who do not have the same, to access the web.

Internet Speed Tips

Many things affect internet speed, including peak usage or network traffic. If you are experiencing slowness in your internet connection, try these things to improve speed. While it is a good thing to have high-speed tiers in your best internet service, what you do with it is equally important. While it is not possible to boost the speed of your internet connection beyond the speed for which you are paying your internet service provider, you still have to make sure a few things to get the maximum possible speed.

Note that these are general pointers, which most carriers recommend to improve speed. Also, check out other suggestions for that from your internet service provider. For instance, if your best internet service provider has announced a latest and upgraded speed tier plan, then it will tell you to reset your router or modem to get it.

Test the Speed First

Testing your actual downstream and upstream speeds will give you an idea of how close they are in relation to the advertised speeds. Many internet providers advertise download speeds of up to a certain a megabits or gigabits per second. If you are getting close to what is advertised in your best internet service, then be sure your carrier is only adopting industry-wide standards. If, however, the speed tests reveal a noticeable disparity, then get in touch with your carrier. It is likely it will suggest some changes to improve speed.

Reduce the Distance between your System and Router

If you are further away from your wireless router, you will notice speed drops. Thus, stay as proximate as possible to it. Also, ensure your computer and router have sufficient space all the way around in order to avoid overheating. If you have more room to cover at home, then consider adding wireless range extenders to maximize signal strength. You can buy it from your best internet service provider at an affordable cost than a new router.

Limit Access to your Network

If they are configured for it, some devices connect to a network as and when they come within range. If there is a setting in your smart device that receives the signal and then gets connected that way, then it is best to turn it off. Also, ensure only the devices you know have access to the network. If someone else is accessing it without your permission, perhaps it is time to change the Wi-Fi password.

Keep Line of Sight Obstacles Out of the Way

If the signal of your router has to pass through even an appliance, it will not be strong as you expected it to be. As a rule of thumb, keep your router in plain sight from where you are using your system or smartphone. Obviously, if it is on a distinct level than your device, then you will face signal problems.

Use Ethernet Connection in Place of Wireless

Plug in an Ethernet cable at the back of your computer to work around the delay taken by your system to receive a wireless signal. With the right Ethernet cable, you can get steady and fast speeds than perhaps what your wireless connection offers.

Other Ways to Improve Internet Speed

Restart your Internet Devices

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Restart your computer, and turn off and turn on your modem or router. These can resolve most connection issues as well.

Update the Firmware of your Router

If your router’s firmware is outdated, then it can prevent the equipment from maintaining a stable connection. This is important if you have been using it for over a year or two. If a replacement is due, then consider buying a new router to improve its signal reception.

Clear the Temporary Internet Files

Most internet providers recommend customers to clear caches and/or cookies to have an impact on page load speed. Although cached data allows a website to load quickly after accessing it once, it will lead to connection issues or errors in case the cache of a site does not match the records of your web browser.

Update your Browser and Operating System

An outdated browser can lead to slow page load times, choppy streaming of videos over the web, and many other things. Keeping your browser up to date makes it stable. The operating system update can also help in this respect.

Get Rid of System Malware

Viruses or malicious files slow down a computer, not to mention installed programs in it. Run a system scan and quarantine malware and get rid of potentially unwanted programs if required. This can improve the performance of your computer performance too. Therefore, it is worth running a system scan from time to time.

However, try not to activate the default update feature of your antivirus program as that could consume the remaining data in your internet plan and thereby affect speed.

One Click Conferencing App

Comcast Business^® has announced that it had added a new VoiceEdge™ Conferencing app to its cloud phone service. The addition of this new app will radically improve the service by making it easier to carry out and manage conference calls.

With the VoiceEdge™ Conferencing app, a single click can help in initiating a conference call and resolve any of the issues for a smoother calling experience. Available to all Comcast Business^® VoiceEdge™ subscribers, this new facility can add up to 50 participants for a conference call and initiate the call using the “click to start conference” feature.

John Guillaume, the Vice President for Product Management at Comcast Business^® said, “With an increasingly distributed and mobile workforce, conference calls are an important tool for keeping teams connected, but this can become challenging from a user standpoint when different people are trying to access a conference call while traveling, in remote locations, from a different office.”

“We’re continually innovating and evolving our voice platform with a focus on improving the end-user experience and overall business impact,” he further added. “With Comcast Business^® VoiceEdge™ Conferencing, the days of remembering long phone numbers and PINs or asking ‘who joined the call,’ are now a thing of the past – saving our customers both time and resources.”

The Conference app for VoiceEdge™ will also make it easier for users to join a conference call by simply clicking on the “join conference” link. The app comes with several management tools and options that allow those who host the conference calls to view and identify the users who are connected to the call.

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The VoiceEdge™ Conference app is an award-winning feature developed by Comcast Business^® that was conferred the 2018 Internet Telephony Product of the Year by TMCNet. Comcast^® being one of the best internet service has made a new development by introducing this feature as it allows business services to become more advanced and user-friendly. Besides, the VoiceEdge™ Conference app is also available for many of the standard tools and software used for business, such as Microsoft OWA, Skype for Business, and Google Chrome.

The VoiceEdge™ Conference allows the addition of 50 participants along with a moderator for making the conference call. It essentially takes away the elaborate processes of making a conference call by providing a one-click access feature. This makes it much easier and fast to make and manage conference calls with multiple users.

It also provides improved security with the feature of PIN-protected conferencing, which is crucial for business communications. The VoiceEdge™ Conference app is compatible with various PC and mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows.