Cyprus-Forum.com

[Anthonychen0205]

Hey Guys,

I will be moving to Cyprus this year and would like to know some info before I go, esp. for the internet.

We will be living in Alassa which is 15km from Limassol, and I am wondering which company should I sign up for the internet package?

I know there is MTN, Primetel and Cyta, heard that Primetel is the best for home internet, just want to confirm.

Second, I am an Apple fan and I love the iPhone, now having the iPhone 5 and planning to get an iPhone 6 there in Cyprus. Which provider will be the best for me to get a nice deal? and also the connection, which one is the best?

Thank you

Anthony Chen

[Sotos]

For internet Primetel is cheaper, especially if you can get a good offer, so go with that if available to you. For the iPhone 6 it depends on what exact package you will need. Just go to the website of each provider and see what is the best offer you can get based on your needs. They are all more or less the same in terms of service.

[GreekIslandGirl]

Maybe slightly off topic but I am techno-blind and need to know this bit of info today ...

- If you are further from the broadband hub, and say you pick up 2 bars instead of 5 bars, why should your upload/download speed go down?

Why does it depend on the signal strength? Why isn't Internet On or Off?

Surely, the bars should indicate how far away you are from the source and not influence the speed (a separate thing, surely?).

[Sotos]

I assume you are talking about Wi-Fi? The reason is a bit more complicated.. but here is a simplified explanation:

Digital data such as that sent over a Wi-Fi signal is sent in packets, each of which is checked for integrity and assembled with other received packets to complete the data stream. This process ensures the data is kept intact; however, it does not overcome the fact that the digital data must always be transmitted over a physical analog signal (air, light, electromagnetism, etc.).

If the physical analog signal carrying the data degrades in quality, then the computer listening to the signal will have a harder time receiving intact packets that it can understand, and the system will spend a lot of time discarding incomplete packets and waiting for them to be resent over the poor-quality analog signal.

Therefore, as the analog Wi-Fi signal quality degrades, the first thing that happens is the speed of the connection drops since the system spends more time asking for duplicate packets than it spends steadily receiving them. As the signal quality degrades further, the system will have a much more difficult time maintaining other aspects of the connection than just the data stream, and you will begin to see the computer lose its handshake with the router, resulting in a dropped connection.

http://www.cnet.com/news/diagnosing-and ... -problems/

[Sotos]

Surely, the bars should indicate how far away you are from the source

No, the bars indicate how strong is the signal you receive, not the distance. The distance is just one of the parameters that can affect the signal strength.

[erolz66]

Why does it depend on the signal strength? Why isn't Internet On or Off?

Surely, the bars should indicate how far away you are from the source and not influence the speed (a separate thing, surely?).

All to do with shannons law

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/ ... annons-Law

and signal to noise ratio

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/ ... oise-ratio

If Vs = Vn, then S/N = 0. In this situation, the signal borders on unreadable, because the noise level severely competes with it. In digital communications, this will probably cause a reduction in data speed because of frequent errors that require the source (transmitting) computer or terminal to resend some packets of data.

Basically what Soto's link says.

[GreekIslandGirl]

So, the signal diminishes through distance because of noise?

[Get Real!]

So, the signal diminishes through distance because of noise?

The important thing for a consumer such as yourself is to aim for the 802.11n wireless standard when buying a new laptop (also called "Wireless N").

At the moment that's the latest and best protocol.

[Sotos]

So, the signal diminishes through distance because of noise?

Now you are getting into Physics... Here is how I understand it: The environment you live in can have various levels of "noise" which could be created by things like cordless phones, wireless devices or even things like microwave ovens and fluorescent lights! Then the "signal" has a specific power that diminishes as it spreads out or as it is absorbed and deflected by other surfaces. The Signal is not diminished because of noise, but if the Signal to Noice Ratio is too low, either because of too much noise or too weak signal reaching the destination (or both) then communication between the two devices is weak, as described in my earlier post. That is why sometimes you can achieve better speeds by changing to a less crowded WiFi channel.

[Sotos]

Think of it this way: Two people can be in an open field communicating with each other. Their "signal power" is how loud they can shout. The louder they can shout the longer the distance they can communicate. But how well they can hear each other also depends on how much noise there is in the environment. If it is night and perfectly quiet then they will be able to hear each other over much longer distance, than if it is day and the field is filled with screaming children and barking dogs.