BandwidthBar

Shaped ADSL is a broadband offer that many people may have heard of before but one that very few actually understand. At its simplest, shaped ADSL is an ADSL service offering where the bandwidth available is ‘shaped’ to allow the user fast access to certain websites and slow access to other websites.

 

But what does this actually mean? The websites a shaped ADSL account has simple access to include banking websites, email account and certain other addresses as decided by the service provider. These can include but are not limited to news websites, university websites and government websites. If you surf to addresses outside of the ‘shaped’ addresses then you will experience a drop in bandwidth as the sites you are visiting no longer take priority on the server.

 

So how is this useful? For starters shaped ADSL offerings are often less expensive than unshaped ADSL offerings making it a lot more attractive for the average home user. And that is exactly where the shaped ADSL packages are aimed at. The average home user uses the Internet for banking, checking email, online shopping and maybe a few downloads here and there. When they logon they can do all the things they want to do on the Internet quickly and efficiently.

 

The few times these users do visit sites outside of the shaped bandwidth the reduction in quality will not really bother them too much. Since the average user stays inside the shaped bandwidth they always receive the bandwidth that they expect.

 

By virtue of the relatively limited scope of Internet usage most businesses have, shaped ADSL is the perfect solution. Aside from checking email, communicating with clients and banking online, most businesses don’t require much more bandwidth than that which is offered by shaped ADSL. After all, why pay more for bandwidth that you are probably not going to be using anyway.

 

For people that use the Internet for a variety of other applications like chatting, online gaming, torrent downloads, web design, research and the like; shaped ADSL is not the ideal option. While the bandwidth will be ‘okay’ for sites outside the shaped zone as soon as the servers become loaded with users your bandwidth will suffer as the servers prioritize all the bandwidth to those users surfing inside the shaped zone.

 

So for the average user shaped ADSL is more than enough. It is the cheaper option that allows you a fast, always on connection to the Internet. For power users or gamers, however, shaped ADSL is just going to be an exercise in frustration – best to go for an unshaped ADSL option.

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