Connection Comparisons

If you access the Internet from home, you've probably been using what's known as a dial up connection; in other words, you dial a telephone number on your computer, hear a series of weird sounds, and end up surfing the Internet about a minute later. Sometimes you get busy signals, or the connection speed suddenly drops to a snail's pace, or somebody in the house picks up the phone and cuts your connection right in the middle of an important download. Depending on your service provider, you might even have to carefully limit the amount of time you spend online, or else pay extra hourly fees.
Dialup is the conventional way of getting on-line by using a phone line to transfer data to and from your computer with a modem. A dialup modem can reach speeds of up to 56kbps. Most people also have a second phone line in their home or office to assure there is always a line available to access the Internet. With the dial up modem there are delay times of 150-200 milliseconds. A dialup account usually has a monthly cost of $20-$25 plus the cost of a second phone line.

Cable Modem:
The main disadvantage of cable is that the speed of the system is dependent on the number of people who are online at the same time; if many people in your neighborhood are using their cable modems at once, your connection speed may drop considerably. Cable modem performance can undergo significant fluctuations; at its best, it's the fastest of all consumer-level broadband services, but at its worst, it's almost as slow as a dial up service.

DSL:
With DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), data is transferred digitally to and from your computer over a phone line. It can reach speeds of up to 1500k with delay times of less than 50 milliseconds. DSL is very dependent on the distance of your home or office from the phone company's central office. If your home or office is located too far away from this office then you will not be able to receive DSL. DSL fees for speeds equivalent to NetPort can be $50 or more per month and must also purchase the DSL modem. The main disadvantage of DSL is that its speed is dependent on your physical distance from the phone company's nearest central switch (known as a Central Office); the farther you are from the switch, the slower your average connection speed will be. Your home or business will have to pass a loop qualification test run by your phone company before you can have DSL installed. Also, DSL setup can be complex; in many cases, separate visits from the broadband provider and your phone company will be required


Satellite:
Using a satellite connection is another way to access the Internet. The satellite uses a dish to transfer data to and from your computer. A satellite connection can reach speeds of up to 600k with the delay time of 400-500 milliseconds. The satellite connection is an extremely expensive way to get onto the Internet. There are expensive set up fees, and equipment that must be purchased by the customer. These costs can reach the thousand-dollar range. On a monthly basis it can costs between $50-$100.
There are many downsides to using satellite. The performance of a satellite broadband connection can be degraded by bad weather, local interference, or a misaligned dish. Also, because of the way the satellite data transfer works, satellite service is not well suited to applications that require constant transmission of small data packets; these include online gaming, web page hosting, video conferencing, and multiple small file downloads.


Wireless:
Wireless broadband (also known as fixed wireless to distinguish it from the mobile wireless system used by some pagers and mobile phones) is a new technology that uses an antenna placed on or in your building to send and receive data. The data is transmitted to and from your building via your city's wireless network, which consists of antenna towers placed three to five miles apart. If you can get wireless, you're getting an excellent broadband connection. The connection speed is not limited by your distance from the wireless antenna or by the number of wireless users in your area. Wireless' speed is currently comparable to ADSL; however, the theoretical maximum is much higher, so you can expect the speed of wireless connections to increase in coming years. Wireless is also an always-on connection that doesn't tie up your phone line.