To go Broadband or not? That is the question! Internet has become a fad striking each and every household’s computers. It’s a bandwagon where everyone gets the enjoyable ride. It has become a craze diligently patronized by small and large scale businesses with an online set up or even those who have decided to put up with the Internet. Customers compete in terms of connection that they have, proudly speaks of having a fast access and sincerely encourages their friends to make that decision. Why are then, some people, refusing to go broadband? It is but noteworthy to understand the basics of broadband, high speed or fast access.

There are so many terms attached to it. Many people call it different names but they all mean the same thing. According to Merriam-Webster, broadband “relates to or being a high speed communications network and especially one in which a frequency range is divided into multiple independent channels for simultaneous transmission signals.” Imagine an expressway, it has wide roads and numerous vehicles speeding their way on it. That is what broadband is like.

Broadband technology advances like no other. Telephone and cable companies have provided conduits for this connection to pass through. The highway described earlier approaches to one stop, the Internet. It is like a huge door that opens up every household’s computer to access the Internet and no longer prolong the agony of waiting from opening one website to another.

To start up with a broadband connection, it is then imperative to know if whether your telephone or cable providers support these connections. The area must have access to that type of connection in order to land on the faster service. There are several advantages to acquiring this connection. The first is the well obvious speedier connection or access. You can now use the telephone and the fax machine while using the Internet. You can make outgoing and receive incoming messages. The perennial problem of sluggish connection and telephone use interruption is finally put behind you. With broadband access, you can enjoy multitasking doing research for paperwork, listening to your favorite songs and your computer is downloading the attached pictures from an email while you get to enjoy a cup of latte on the other hand. Yes, these can all be done at the comfort of your own room. Some broadband service companies provide free technical support if you need help but the safety and security tools can now run smoothly with software that are auto updating and always online.

There are still several means to define how broadband can greatly affect the market’s use of internet nowadays, the business potential increases at the same time while more and more are switching to broadband. The basic savings however on this is time; doing more in such little time, your precious time. To the first question posted at the beginning of this article, it will rely on your call. But for anyone who values time and believes that time is gold, it should not be a question anymore.

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If you have grown tired of borrowing the home phone line to check your email, then you will appreciate the speed and “always on” aspect of broadband Internet. Even if you already have a dedicated line to an Internet Service Provider, a high speed connection will make a dramatic difference in how you use the Internet. Until recently, choices were very limited. However, there are a number of options now and it is worth considering the following before making the leap to the 21st century:

Speed
Even though the slowest broadband service will be faster than your pokey modem, there are different speeds (and of course prices) with broadband service. The minimum target should be in the 512k BPS, which would make the service approximately ten times faster than the best standard modem for downloads. Uploads are faster than modems but still lag well behind on upload (sending files) speed. Make sure that your provider has an upgrade plan when you want to turbo-charge your connection for movies and other bandwidth-hungry media.

Price
Those who say that money is no object have not opened a phone bill recently! The highest speeds (upwards of 3M BPS) are typically reserved for business users, who can afford the steep monthly charges. But most home and small office customers can find a provider with a 1M BPS plan that should only cost two times the price of their former dial-up ISP. This is a tremendous bargain when you consider the time and productivity advantages you will gain.


Commitment
Often the “same as dial-up” prices will only be valid for a few months, or require a lengthy contract commitment to maintain the bargain. You may have to maintain all products, and at least the same level of service. Check the fine print on the offer, and if it sounds too good to be true, well, you know the rest.

Phone
A consideration is whether you want to get rid of your home phone line when you ditch your old ISP. It is typically less expensive, although make sure all the features you liked from traditional phone service are in place. Since digital phone service is now possible, investigate a combined plan that bundles Internet, phone and perhaps even cable or satellite TV service.

Wireless
If you do not already have a wireless router, many providers will lease (or sell) you one to make your broadband connection truly a charm. Not only will you be surfing and downloading at lightning speed, but you will do it without a cable in sight.

Disappearing are the days of busy phone lines and creaky dial-up speeds. Consider these simple points before launching your speed skyward and putting your old modem out to pasture.

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After a long wait, the broadband service bundle has emerged into a welcoming, but hotly contested marketplace, with different solutions vying for the immediate attention of consumers and their money. These services are grouped into a package that includes both phone services and a high speed Internet connection, all for one low price. Offerings include the packaging of all TV, telephone and other services in a single bill. Usually this consumer service bundle is sold for a single price based on the customer’s selected bandwidth capacity and number of access lines.

If you choose to go with a service bundle offered by Time Warner Cable or AT & T, be sure to compare the VoIP (or Voice Over Internet Protocol) portion to that provided by the several major companies in the market. There are a few chosen ones that specifically stand out and are worth a look; one being Vonage. This company is well-known for being a market force and leading provider of telephone services in the world, and are particularly now known for their involvement with VoIP technology.

The award winning technology utilized by Vonage enables the general consumer around the world to be able to make and receive calls from almost anywhere that a high speed Internet connection is available. Vonage is known for offering feature-rich and cost-effective communication services that provide users an experience that highly rivals landline telephone services.
Another company offering VoIP is Verizon, a stiff competitor on the communications industry. Verizon offers the VoiceWing option which gives you the power to track your calls, check voicemail online and many more features.

VoIP providers can offer amazing international rates, unlimited nationwide calling packages, choice of area codes, various calling features, voicemail access via the Internet, and the ability to control just about any feature with the Personal Account Manager.

There are some disadvantages to the consumer of having broadband services being sold together. You cannot choose the digital TV service separately: the television, landline phone, and broadband bundle is compulsory and subject to a 12 month minimum term with stiff cancellation penalties.

These are some interesting notes on service providers:

Point Topic projects that in the medium term an IP telephony service will be expected by consumers from their broadband operators in the same way a TV and broadband bundle is expected from cable operators.

Roadrunner is growing well while the AOL bundle is no longer actively marketed, and is losing customers.

Covad, TalkSwitch Team on SMB Communications Package companies say the voice and high speed access bundle is affordable and easy for SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses) to install. Just the same way a TV and broadband bundle is expected from cable operators.

The No Limits-Broadband bundle is marketed to residential customers at a price that varies slightly by location.

Carphone’s cheap voice bundle is certainly a major step forward, comparable to the way in which Freeserve introduced the Internet to the masses.

A Toucan broadband bundle is one of the may be an excellent deal for you if you want to switch both Internet and home phone suppliers.

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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.

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If you have been anywhere near a computer in the past five years, there is hardly any way that you could have gone without having at least heard something of DSL internet. There are many DSL internet providers out there, and there are many types of other internet providers as well. People have a tendency to lump all of the various types of high speed internet into the category of DSL and with good reason. Although they do not work the same, to the untrained eye cable internet and DSL internet appear to be just the same type of thing and they get the same benefits from using them.

DSL internet and dial up internet do have one thing in common; information is transmitted through the use of a copper telephone wire, just like the ones that allow you to make and receive calls from your landline phone every day. This is just about where the similarities between the two types of internet end, because DSL internet is multiple times faster than even the most hyped up dial up internet access could ever claim to be.

The only thing about DSL when it comes to its dominance over other internet types is that it is not available everywhere. The further away from the central office or internet hub a person goes, the weaker the internet signal is going to be. This means that any residences that are not in the vicinity of a DSL providers’ office are probably not going to be eligible for DSL service through that company.

As the information is transmitted through the telephone wire, it is also transmitted into the computer through the use of a DSL internet modem. Many times a DSL provider will give their customers the software and modem that they need to be able to use DSL internet, but some may charge leasing fees for use of the modem or require the customer to actually purchase the unit.

Many people choose to go with cable internet over DSL internet, but the fact is that DSL internet is just much harder to find. Cable internet is substantially more expensive than DSL internet, sometimes twice the price but it is also faster. Depending on what your internet needs are, it may be more affordable time wise to go with cable internet and easier to get such service as well.

Finding a DSL provider in your area is not the hard part, although finding one that actually has service at your home may be tougher. It is important to be able to tell whether or not a DSL provider will give you the type of internet you required for your needs. If so, take out the phone book and find a DSL provider in your area today.

Link-Connect are a long-established communications provider offering internet and telecoms services for businesses of all sizes. dsl provider provide everything relating to connectivity, telephony, websites, networks and security.

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