Choosing A Broadband Internet Provider

Speed, price and convenience seem to be the most important factors when it comes to choose a broadband internet provider. The following are some of the choices you could have and their pros and cons:

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): This is broadband internet provided over copper telephone lines. Voice and DSL occupy different frequency bands, therefore people can use DSL and talk at the same time.
DSL offers convenient plans according to speed. DSL also gives you the possibility of upgrading to a faster plan whenever you want to.
DSL is distributed around neighborhoods using special routers or Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs). The further the signal travels from the DSLAM, the more it degrades, undermining speed. Living far away from the local DSLAM is a disadvantage. It is always a good idea to ask how close you are to a DSLAM before taking up the plan.

DSL may come in over the phone lines but sometimes your telephone company is not the one providing the service. If you get DSL from your telephone company they will probably add it to your phone bill in order to have everything in only one bill. If this is not the case, usually customers sign a one year contract with a third party provider.

Cable Internet provided by the cable TV company. It offers broadband Internet courtesy of the same cabling that brings in your television signal at speeds of 3-20 Mbps. Cable broadband usually is a one-package deal, which means one plan offered for one price. The speed is usually high and so is the price. They are generally more expensive than introductory DSL plans.

Cable broadband Internet is, in theory, faster than DSL with possible speeds up to 30 Mbps, but it's usually restrained back to 3-20 Mbps. The best quality DSL plans are able to compete with cable plans limited to 6 Mbps or less, and DSL is generally cheaper. The quality of cable Internet is not affected by location. However cable Internet has one disadvantage, if the local load becomes too high, service can slow due to less available bandwidth.
Cable broadband Internet can be useful if you already have cable TV service, because you can pay a single bill by simply adding high-speed Internet to the package. Another advantage is that digital phone service may also be included. Cable Internet is also a good option if DSL service is not available.

Fiber Optic Broadband Internet: Sometimes copper telephone lines or cable, are not available, but fiber optic lines are. Fiber optic cable can manage more bandwidth than copper or standard cable lines. The local telephone company generally offers digital phone, television and broadband Internet in a packaged deal, very similar to cable but with greater capacity. Broadband Internet over fiber optic provides the fastest speeds of up to 50 Mbps, however it has a first-class price.

Cellular Internet: People who travel a lot may want broadband Internet through a cellular company. It is flexible because the connectivity is provided over cell towers. You can get online anywhere there is cell service by popping a cellular broadband card into a mobile computer's PC Card or Express Card slot. The drawback is that it is very expensive.

Satellite Broadband: This is a good option in rural areas where choice is limited, but again, it might be expensive. Take into consideration that there might be delays when surfing since the signal has to travel back and forth to the satellite.