Broadband High Speed Internet: Choosing The Right Service

What is broadband high speed Internet? First, let us find the basis for comparison for in-home broadband services, often called consumer class, which is basic dial-up. Dial-up access streams at 56 Kbps (Kilobits per second), and it requires the use of a phone line. One cannot surf and talk at the same time. The cost for dial-up is $10-$25 per month. Reading further, one finds that with broadband high speed Internet, there is no comparison to dial-up Internet.

Satellite broadband has a 400 Kbps speed downstream and upstream speed. A satellite connection can be used when DSL and Cable are not available. Unlike dial-up, satellite is an instant connection; multiple PC’s can share the connection, and there is no need for a second phone line. Home satellite broadband high speed connections run approximately $60-100/month.

In comparison, DSL has a speed of 128Kbps to 1.5 Mbps downstream speed. 64 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps upstream speed which is up to 50 times faster than dial up, but one still has to have a landline for DSL. Downloading and streaming music, videos, movies, and playing online gaming just became faster and easier. Home-based DSL costs about $40-$50 per month.

Cable modems have 200Kbps to 2 Mbps downstream & upstream speed. Cable modems are always on with instant access, and there is no hassle with having a second phone line. Cable modems have comparable cost to DSL.

Units of Measurement - Broadband Internet Access Speed

bit= smallest unit of digital information, i.e. ones & zeros
byte= a set of bits
bps= bits per second
Kbps= kilobits per second =1000 bits per second
Mbps = Million bits per second =1,000,000 bits per second
Gbps = Gigabits per second = 1,000,000,000 (one billion) bits per second
Tbps = Terabits per second = 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) bits per second

Consumer class broadband differs in costs and services offered from high speed Internet for businesses. For instance, DSL for business runs at 128Kbps to 1.5 Mbps downstream, and 64Kbps to 1.5 Mbps upstream for a cost of $90-$400 per month, depending upon the bandwith speed required.

Another variation of business broad band is Fractional T1. Provided at the speed of 128 Kbps to 1.0 Mbps, Fractional T1 speed has some of the 24-64 Kbps channels turned off. Prices are approximately $220-$500 per month depending on fractional bandwidth speed required, which includes local loop. Hardware and installation costs vary.

DSL and Fractional T1 can be combined for a broadband speed of 1.544 Mbps using a digital circuit. T1/DS1 is dedicated Internet access, point-to-point or integrated (voice & data). Prices are approximately $500-1000 per month which includes local loop. Hardware and installation costs vary.

Fractional T3, which is 3 Mbps to 44.736 Mbps basic T3 with some of the 67-264 Kbps channels turned off, comes at a hefty price of approximately $3000-$5000/month, depending on fractional bandwidth speed required.

T3/DS3 has a broadband speed of 44.736 Mbps digital circuit. It can be dedicated Internet access, point-to-point or integrated. Prices are approx. $5000-15,000 per month plus local loop. Set up costs will be additional.