Halleynet Web Media provide web hosting, design and development services in Central Scotland. We also advise on technical support matters concerning home, small home office and small businesses. Your Web Browser does not appear to support the Cascading Style sheets standard, or you have optionally turned it off. For best results on this website we advise you utlise some of the latest browsers for best performance and security. Go to our useful links page to get these and other useful utilities that will improve your vision of the web.
We have over 25 years experience in the fast moving technology sector. We have been involved in the very first steps towards the internet as you know it today.
In the early '80s the internet was little more than a private network used by US government agencies and academic institutions. The telephone had reached mass market utility status but was analogue in nature from end to end and computers were run by tape fed programs on huge mainframes with simple clunky terminal on the end, operated by specialist operators. Home computers were still some way off but if you wanted a data line runing at a few hundred baud point to point, you had to pay major money only accessible by large businesses.
In the UK the mid 80's digitalisation started to go from a discussion topic in technical journals to a reality with the widespread introduction of PCM systems (Pulse Code Modulation), Optical Fibre Carrier systems up to 140MBps, with PDH multiplexing technology becoming widespread. At last in the UK Universities started to hook up together with first, JANet, then SuperJANet. We were there.
The eighties also saw the introduction of the first mobile telphones, the first ones would only fit in the boot of a Rolls Royce and you would have needed a Rolls Royce income to fund its use.... and it only worked in London. Soon though analogue mobile telephony appeared with Vodaphone and then BT Cellnet. What was initially seen as a YUPPY tool for use in London only, started to spread to the provinces fed by the recent introduction of digital to the doorstep service like Kilostream and Megastream. We were there.
Digital Microwave radio started to make an appearance and brought faster data rates with better voice and date services to more and more locations. Indeed the Western Isles of Scottland probably had the most advanced digital carrier system anywhere in the UK and ISDN take up became popular with small businesses, bringing 128kBPs data rates to the small business and home worker.
By the early nineties, the first personal computers had appeared and were being taken up by enthusiasts and businesses. The first ISPs started to appear providing dial up access to the fledgling Internet over 9.6 or 14.4 KBPs analogue modem, for a "tenner a month". We were there too!
The Web was made up of simple HTML based documents almost always in Times New Roman font and with a grey background! But it was radically different at the time. Halleynet was introduced to HTML authoring at this point in time.
Mobile technology moved from analogue to digital with the advent of first 2G services like GSM900, then GSM1800. Fir the first time we had digital mobile connectivity for data right to the end user- not fast (typically 9.6kBps and 14.4kBps) but still ahead of anything before. Enhancements to 2G came in the form of so called 2.5G, the introduction of HSCSD and GPRS. Both are technologies we were at the forefront of the introduction of in the UK, and indeed provide ongoing support to.
As the 90's rolled into the 21st Century, the host of changes on fixed and mobile networks have continued. Broadband with initially ISDN and ADSL services for home users and small businesses have brought new levels of data performance to practically everyone. 2MBps is not uncommon and 8MBps is available too for affordable rates. PC power has taken massive leaps with grpaphics cards with more memory than whole PC's from a few years back.
On the Web server side technologies and multimedia began to appear as usable. Websites now had variety in style and content withthe CSS enabled browsers coming along. Open source server technology like php and relational database systems like MySQL brought enterprise end technologies to those who cared to learn. Halleynet Web Media cared.......
WLANs and 3G technologies have brought broadband like speed on the move too, 384kBps to a mobile phone is widespread, WLAN's provide hotspot service too while you are out and about. Mobile 3G technology is about to take another jump in performance with the introduction of HSPA services and WiMax coming along too. Fixed line performance too looks set for a boost with ADSL2 coming soon along with LLU services. These will change the fixed line performance envelope again, with competition hotting up for ISP's
Things do not look set to slow down, with VoIP on the new 21CN or NGN packet based core networks which are now converging to cover fixed and mobile networks in one service platform the IMS. Halleynet are there now!
