High Speed Cable

Not so many years ago, accessing the Internet was a ‘one size fits all’ technology. When you wanted to surf the web, send and receive emails, post files to a web site, or just play around on AOL, you accessed it all through your telephone line using a modem and a standard dial-up account. Most of us didn’t mind because we realized that the slow speeds we endured were shared by everyone else. The notion of Internet ’speed envy’ had yet to emerge.

Well, those days are long gone! Nowadays, in ever-increasing numbers, people are dumping their old dial-up modems and those slow connections for a much faster Internet experience through DSL, cable, and satellite technologies. In 2002, only 21% of Internet users had broadband connections at home. As of late 2005, that number had risen to 53% [Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project].

For the remaining 47% still using dial-up access, it’s often because they live where DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and cable technologies are not available. Yes, there are still lots of rural areas that do not have access to either. Among those who do have access to broadband connections, it is most often older and poorer Americans who choose to keep dial-up access.

Which Internet Access Option is Best for You?

You may be wondering which broadband solution is the best option. While much depends on what’s available in your area, for many users it comes down to a personal choice, centered on convenience, speed, and cost. Let’s examine the various technologies and the relative advantages of each.

Cable Internet Access

Using your home’s existing cable television lines, you can get Internet access included for an additional fee. Expect a large speed increase versus dial-up access. In fact, in many cases cable Internet access is the fastest alternative. Installation is usually completed quickly with just one visit from your cable company’s technicians. You will also need a cable modem (supplied by the cable company in virtually every instance, but can be purchased separately as well).

Clearly, the biggest advantage of going with cable access is speed. All things being equal, it is the fastest of the three broadband alternatives, with a top speed of 10 Mbps (Megabits per second). Having said that, cable speeds can be substantially reduced if you share a local network with a lot of other subscribers. People living in densely packed areas, or locations where the cable company has a lot of users on the same network, will only realize a fraction of that top speed. It’s a good idea to call your cable provider and ask some pointed questions about these issues before you order. Better yet, ask neighbors who have cable Internet what kind of speed they get.

DSL Internet Access

Digital Subscriber Line access utilizes your existing telephone line in an innovative way to greatly increase your Internet speeds. While cable is usually faster, DSL is substantially speedier than traditional dial-up access and offers a much-improved experience for a modest increase in cost. Installation is quick, usually only requiring a simple change at your home’s phone box outside of the house by a phone company technician. You will need a DSL modem, which is included at no extra charge by most providers when you sign an extended service contract.

If you live where DSL is not currently available, be patient. Major providers like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T are spreading their coverage areas quickly. Even many rural areas can expect to have DSL access in the coming months.

The two big advantages of choosing DSL are cost and speed. You will only need to get the modem and follow some simple instructions to configure it. If you agree to a one-year contract with your phone service provider (most major carriers), the modem will cost you nothing. And the service itself is generally in the $15-$40 per month range, making it a good bargain.

Speed is a bit trickier with DSL. It is slower than cable (top speed is about 6 Mbps), and the major providers offer different packages that limit speeds based on the price you pay per month. To further muddy the waters, DSL is what’s known as a ‘distance limited’ technology. This means that how far you live from the nearest telephone company switching station determines your actual speed. Those living within a few yards will experience the highest speeds, while those at the other end of your street or block may only get half that speed. As with cable, call your local phone provider and ask questions about the various services and what kind of actual speed you can expect based on your exact physical location in relation to the switching station for your street or neighborhood. If you have a next-door neighbor with DSL, ask what his or her experience has been, as yours will probably be very similar.

Satellite Internet Access

Satellite Internet access uses a small mounted dish and group of electronics to send and receive data through satellites orbiting the Earth over the equator. Users must have a clear view of the Southern sky (in the U.S.) from the face of the dish, unobstructed by trees, buildings, and other obstacles. Coaxial cabling connects the outdoor equipment to indoor send-and-receive equipment that then connects to your computer through a standard USB connector or network card.

The major advantage with satellite Internet access is faster connection speeds for people who live where cable and DSL are not available. Users can expect to download data at a rate that is about 10 to 30 times faster than dial-up access. While satellite Internet connections are significantly faster than dial-ups, they are slower than cable and DSL, and should not be the first choice for those who do have cable or DSL available to them. Satellite access is also more expensive than DSL or cable and can suffer outages when the weather turns ugly. Clearly, the other two are better options unless you live where they are not available.

The Bottom Line

Overall, cable and DSL are terrific broadband Internet access solutions for the majority of people who live in urban or suburban locations. Satellite access adds a much-needed alternative for folks living in rural areas, completing the coverage area for the vast majority of America and Canada. While proponents of both cable and DSL have legitimate arguments in favor of their services, deciding between them should be made on an individual basis, determined by the actual speeds and costs for each in your location.

If speed is your top priority and you live where there are not a lot of other users sharing the local cable network, go with cable (especially if your neighbors report high speeds and good service). If not, look into DSL. If cost is your main consideration and speed isn’t as important, a lower-end DSL service will probably be a better fit, as long as you don’t live too far from the nearest telephone switching station. Finally, if you live in a rural area, satellite Internet access may be right up your alley, especially if you long for faster downloads and web site surfing.

If you do live in a rural area where cable or DSL are not an option then your best bet would be to go with the new WildBlue Satellite System.

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Do you remember the days? Firing up your 200Mhz turbo PowerPC, dialling up using your 56k modem, waiting an age for your hotmail page to show up, waiting some more to check your e-mails only to have your connection die just as you hit the send button! How times change.

It’s funny, once you’ve used broadband you quickly forget how painful the dial up connection was. I used to run my business on dial up and looking back I managed rather well. But these days there’s no way I could do without my broadband connection.

There’s no doubt about it, broadband is well and truly here to stay. It is of course a logical progression - streaming audio and video demand much higher bandwidth and broadband connections are the only way to achieve anything which is at all usable.

A recent survey revealed that 53% of Americans who use the Internet now use a broadband connection. What they failed to point out is that obviously this means 47% still use a dial up connection. This actually equates to around 60 million people. These kind of statistics are mirrored in other developed countries. When you consider a large chunk of the developing world still uses dial up then you realize that’s an awful lot of people still using a slow Internet connection.

So is it possible to speed up your dial up connection?

Well actually yes it is. There are quite a few services online these days allowing you to “accelerate” your dial up connection. These Internet accelerators claim to be able to boost the speed of your dial up connection by as much as six or seven times.

Before you scream with delight at this prospect I feel I should point out right now that these accelerator services are not high speed broadband Internet services. They use a different kind of technology based on the same idea as things like zip files and mp3 files. These files use a compression algorithm to dramatically reduce the file size.

Internet accelerators work in the same way and most providers have also implemented a caching technology whereby they store local copies of popular web sites. These local copies are pre compressed and can be sent to the user very quickly. The user has a piece of software sitting on their PC which decompresses the data as it comes in. This is how the dramatic speed increases are achieved.

Many people report excellent success with these systems. Some people are even comparing the accelerators with broadband services

So while this is a really good thing for basic web pages, the technology falls down as soon as you start working with large video or audio files etc. Since an mp3 file is already compressed there’s not much more compression that can be done and so the Internet accelerator has little effect. Plus many services have a file size limit meaning they will not even attempt to compress anything as big as a regular pop music mp3 file.

But if you’re just loading up normal web pages without too much flash animation and all the other bells and whistles, then I highly recommend you get yourself an accelerated service. If your ISP doesn’t offer it there are plenty that do so vote with your feet and check out some of these excellent services.

For more information simply search Google or Yahoo! for the term “dial up accelerator” or something like “speed up my dial up connection”. You’ll find lots of providers ready to supply you with service.

Some popular services in the USA are NetZero and Earthlink. In the UK you want to be taking a look at someone like Mistral or Onspeed.com

Fabio writes for many niches and is an experienced researcher. He has written articles covering a wide range of subjects and enjoys plying his trade especially on the Internet. He is currently sponsoring Ambient Modem News and Blogs and can be reached on fabio@linkz-and.info

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DSL - which stands for Digital Subscriber Line - is a great way to get high-speed internet service, without having to get a cable modem, or live in an area that has cable lines. DSL providers have very fast and comparatively cheap internet connectivity.

To explain DSL, it is a way to enjoy high-speed internet using your telephone line, just as you would for dial up. Except that it has so many more advantages than a regular internet service could provide.

Have a look at some of the great ways that DSL internet can benefit your home or business:

- With a DSL installation, you can keep your internet connection open, and still use the same telephone line for phone calls; both incoming and outgoing.

- The internet speed that you can obtain with a quality DSL provider is much greater than that of a regular dial-up modem. To compare, you can get an average of 1.5 Mbps with a DSL modem, as opposed to only 56 Kbps with a dial-up connection (that’s 10 times faster!).

- DSL connection doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll need any new wiring. As long as you have a phone line with which to connect, then you’re already all set.

- Many DSL providers will supply you with the right kind of modem as a part of the DSL installation.

There are a few minor disadvantages to DSL that you might want to note. But it is pretty clear that DSL is far superior than any standard connection to the internet, and if you have the choice, you should most certainly aim for the convenience of high-speed. Some of these disadvantages include:

- DSL connections work best when you are located close to the DSL provider’s central location. If you are, indeed, close, then this should not be a concern.

- DSL internet is faster for receiving than for sending. However, the sending is still a great deal faster than standard internet services.

- DSL service is not available universally. You’ll need to check your local suppliers to find out if they are DSL providers.

If you want reliable, high-speed internet, then you’ll likely be looking into a quality DSL provider to supply you with precisely what you’ve been looking for.

Dave Gonzalez
http://www.broadband-dsl-directory.com

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