Every internet term, in plain English.

A monthly credit — often $5 to $10 — for letting your provider charge a card or bank account automatically. Advertised prices usually assume you've taken it.

The maximum amount of data your connection can carry at once, measured in Mbps or Gbps. More bandwidth means more devices can do more at the same time.

Always-on, high-speed internet. The FCC now defines it as at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.

An FCC-mandated nutrition-style label every ISP must show at the point of sale, listing the real monthly price, fees, speeds and data limits in a fixed format.

Lag caused by oversized network buffers holding onto data during heavy use. It's why a video call stutters while someone else uploads a big file.

The pause while a video pre-loads data to play smoothly. Frequent buffering usually signals too little speed or a weak Wi-Fi signal.

Broadband delivered over the same coaxial lines as cable TV. Widely available and fast to download, but uploads and peak-hour speeds trail fiber.

Carrier-grade NAT — when your ISP shares one public IP address among many customers. It can complicate gaming, hosting servers and some VPNs.

The round copper cable that carries cable internet and TV into your home.

Slowdowns when too many people use the same network segment at once — common on cable during evening peak hours.

A monthly limit on how much data you can use before overage fees or slowdowns kick in. Most fiber and many 5G plans have none.

The amount of high-speed data a plan includes each month before the provider slows you down. Common on satellite plans sold as "unlimited", like Viasat's.

A spot in your home where Wi-Fi barely reaches, usually fixed by better router placement or a mesh node.

A one-time fee Starlink adds at checkout in areas where its network is busy. Reported at $250, and up to $750 in some places.

The Domain Name System translates website names like shophighspeed.com into the numeric IP addresses computers use. A slow DNS can make browsing feel laggy on a fast line.

The standard that governs cable internet. DOCSIS 3.1 and 4.0 enable gigabit and multi-gig speeds over existing coaxial lines.

How fast data travels from the internet to your device, in Mbps. It drives streaming, browsing and downloads.

Digital Subscriber Line — older broadband over telephone lines. Common in rural areas but much slower than cable or fiber.

Routers that broadcast on two (2.4 and 5 GHz) or three bands. More bands serve more devices without bogging down.

What you pay to cancel before a contract term ends. Usually a fixed amount for each month left, such as Viasat's $15 per month.

A monthly fee to rent the modem, router or satellite equipment from your provider. You return the equipment when you cancel.

A SIM card built into your phone as software, so a carrier can activate a line without shipping you a plastic card. It makes switching carriers a same-day job.

A wired connection between your device and router. Faster and more stable than Wi-Fi, and ideal for gaming consoles and desktops.

Internet delivered over fiber-optic glass lines straight to your home. The fastest, most reliable option, with symmetrical upload and download speeds.

The built-in software that runs your router or modem. Keeping it updated improves speed and security.

Home internet beamed from a nearby cell tower to an antenna at your home, including most 5G home internet. A strong option where wired service is limited.

Fiber to the curb or node — fiber runs partway to your neighborhood, then older copper covers the last stretch, so it's slower than true fiber to the home.

A combined modem and router in one box, often rented from your ISP. Convenient, but a separate modem and router can perform better.

Gigabits per second — 1,000 megabits. Multi-gig plans (1–8 Gbps) are overkill for most homes but useful for large households and heavy uploaders.

A satellite about 22,000 miles up that stays over one spot on Earth. Viasat and HughesNet use them. The distance adds about 600 ms of delay.

A connection of 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps) — fast enough for very large households and heavy uploaders.

A device or phone feature that shares a cellular connection as Wi-Fi for nearby devices.

A unique number identifying your device or network on the internet — like a mailing address for data.

Internet Service Provider — the company that sells you your connection, such as AT&T, Xfinity or Starlink.

The variation in latency over time. High jitter causes choppy calls and games even when average ping looks fine.

Local Area Network — the network of devices inside your home, wired or wireless.

The delay, in milliseconds, before data starts moving — also called ping. Low latency matters far more than raw speed for gaming and calls.

A satellite a few hundred miles up that circles Earth quickly, so thousands are needed for steady coverage. Starlink uses them, which keeps delay to about 25–60 ms.

Megabits per second, the standard unit of internet speed. Note: 8 megabits equal 1 megabyte, so a 100 Mbps line downloads about 12.5 MB per second.

A system of multiple units that blanket a home in one seamless Wi-Fi network, killing dead zones better than a single router.

The device that connects your home to your ISP's network. It hands off the raw internet signal to your router.

Multi-User, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output — router tech that serves several devices at once instead of one at a time, improving busy-network performance.

Network Address Translation lets many devices share one public IP address. It's standard in every home router.

The principle that ISPs should treat all internet traffic equally, without blocking or slowing specific sites or services.

Optical Network Terminal — the box that converts a fiber-optic signal into an Ethernet connection your router can use.

A charge for using more data than your plan's cap allows, often around $10 per extra 50 GB.

When data packets fail to reach their destination, causing stutter in calls, games and streams. Usually a sign of congestion or a bad connection.

A measure of latency — the round-trip time for data, in milliseconds. Lower is better; under 20 ms is excellent for gaming.

The traditional model: you use the service, then get billed at the end of the month. It usually requires a credit check and comes with promo rates that expire.

Service you pay for before you use it, with no credit check, no deposit and no contract. The advertised price is usually the price you actually pay.

A provider's promise not to raise your rate for a set period. The details vary widely — some cover only the base plan, not equipment or fees.

Quality of Service — router settings that prioritize important traffic like video calls over background downloads.

The device that creates your home Wi-Fi network and directs traffic between your devices and the internet.

Internet delivered from orbiting satellites, like Starlink. The best option where no wired service reaches.

A quick check of your real download, upload and latency. Run one over Ethernet to measure your connection rather than your Wi-Fi.

The name of your Wi-Fi network that appears in the list when you connect a device.

An IP address that never changes, useful for hosting or remote access. Most homes get a dynamic IP that's reassigned periodically instead.

When upload and download speeds match — a hallmark of fiber. Great for video calls, cloud backups and uploading large files.

When an ISP intentionally slows your connection, often after you pass a data cap or during network congestion.

A plan with no monthly data cap, so heavy use never triggers overage fees or throttling.

How fast data travels from your device to the internet. It matters for video calls, cloud backups, gaming and posting content.

The share of time a connection stays online. Higher uptime means fewer outages — important for remote work.

A Virtual Private Network encrypts your traffic and hides your IP address, adding privacy but sometimes slightly reducing speed.

Wide Area Network — the network outside your home that your router connects to, i.e. the internet itself.

The latest Wi-Fi standards. Each adds speed and handles more devices; 6E and 7 open the faster, less crowded 6 GHz band.

The frequency your Wi-Fi uses. 2.4 GHz travels farther through walls; 5 GHz and 6 GHz are much faster at closer range.

Wi-Fi Protected Setup — a button on many routers that connects a device without typing the password. Convenient, though less secure.

Home broadband over 5G cellular networks from carriers like T-Mobile and Verizon. Cheap, contract-free and quick to set up.