Picking out an Internet provider in the good ol' days of the Internet was easy. All you had to do was pick a company that wasn't owned by AOL and you'd be OK.
Today the choice is much tougher because you must choose between dial-up and broadband. And if you choose broadband, you must choose which type of broadband is best for you.
Here is a handy guide to help you decide.
Dial-up – Dial-up Internet the slowest way to connect to the Internet, but it is usually the least expensive if you are comparing actual costs of service. However, there are other disadvantages besides lack of speed.
If you are on dial-up Internet you will most likely have an out dated system. By this I mean that your computer will not have the antivirus and Windows updates it needs to prevent the latest viruses and many bugs will go unfixed because updates may take hours to download. If you are not connected to the web long enough and at the right times, you computer will go unprotected.
If you have a second phone line setup exclusively for the Internet and fax, you are wasting money. Switching to broadband will almost always save you money, read on to see how.
Broadband Internet – No one company provides broadband Internet, it is a way of connecting, not a provider. In order for an Internet connection to be classified as broadband, it must meet four requirements.
1. It is always on – If your computer is turned on, you are on the Internet, there is no connection time, no dial-up and no pesky checking of user name and passwords while you wait to connect.
2. It does not occupy a phone line. This means that you can talk on the phone and be on the Internet at the same time.
This is why I say that people with a dedicated phone line for their dial-up Internet are typically wasting money. The price of a dial-up Internet service and separate phone line almost always is higher than a single phone line and a broadband service.
3. It is very very fast. Imagine that you are on dial-up and a friend sends you a picture of the funny position that his or her cat was sleeping in last night. You may wait as long as an hour for that single message to download only to find that it is just a picture of a cat.
On broadband that same picture would download through in a matter of seconds – as in 20 seconds or less.
4. Broadband Internet can be shared among multiple computers. If you have two or more computers in the house, they can all be online at the same time at not additional monthly cost. It's not illegal and it works great.
Now for the types of broadband connection. There are several ways to connect to broadband Internet. The service you choose depends on your needs, availability and budget.
Cable – cable broadband connections come through your TV cable. Thus, you must contact your cable company to subscribe to this type of broadband. Cable broadband is typically the fastest but the most expensive.
DSL – DSL broadband comes through your phone lines, but it does not occupy your phone line (You can still talk on the phone and be online at the same time). Some areas have multiple providers. Companies like SBC Yahoo, Qwest, and Verizon are all big DSL providers. DSL typically is cheaper but slightly slower than Cable. The pricing is usually tiered meaning that the more you are willing to pay, the faster the service gets.
Wireless – The term Wireless here refers to microwave wireless tower service, not the type of wireless Internet that is offered in coffee shops and hotels. Microwave Wireless broadband users towers similar to cell phone service to broadcast the Internet to a tower on your house.
To receive microwave wireless broadband you must have a tower in visible range of the antenna location. It also costs a little more to setup, but monthly fees and speed are comparable to DSL.
Satellite – Satellite broadband has the best coverage but it is the most expensive and slowest type of broadband. Satellite broadband uses a dish on your home, motor home or tripod in the desert to connect to the web. It makes the Internet available almost anywhere on the planet, but due to the fact that the signal must bounce around through space, the connection is always a little sporadic.
Satellite broadband can cost as much as $500 to setup and monthly fees are between $45-$99. But, it is still much better than dial-up.
