Re: FN-FORUM High speed, reliable Internet connection

date posted 7th January 2002 12:34

On Mon, 7 Jan 2002, Peter Small wrote:

> I've now had enough of my dialup ISP's: Demon and TeleWest. Time to move on
> to a high speed connection.
>
> The question is which one?
>
> TeleWest haven't got digital in my area so the cable option is out. What
> other options are open?

ADSL - check for comparisons and news.

Tele2 - wireless IP

ISDN - but you probably knew that, and besides, 128Kbits/s doesn't really
count as *broad*band, does it?

> How much does it cost?

ADSL - from 0 to 250ukp for installation, thereafter, 30 to 200pcm depending
on how much bandwidth you need. I'm looking at going for a 512kbps
downstream/256kbps upstream business (e.g. 20:1 contention ratio, rather
than 50:1 consumer) via a "wires-only" (0ukp installation, 150-250ukp to buy
an ADSL router and I can break out of the contract with a month's penalty)

Tele2 - 149 (or 199 danger money if your property is more than 2 storeys
high!) installation, 40pcm or 55pcm ,
with upstream and downstream upgrades available seperately, which is nice.

> How reliable are they?

Depends on the provider, and, in the case of ADSL, BT.

> What differences are there between upLoad and download speeds.

ADSL goes up to 2Mbps downstream, 256kbps upstream. That'll cost around
200pcm. Most folk seem to go for either Home or Office 500 (512/256) for
between 30-100pcm depending on provider and service.

Tele2 - 256Kbps increments to 1Mbps, upstream and downstream speeds
selectable seperately (e.g. if you're browsing, get high downstream, low
upstream, but if you're serving rich media, you might well do better with
the converse).

> Any suggestions or advice will be gratefully received?
> peter

HTH,
Alex.
--
Alex Butcher Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Berkshire, UK Is *your* company hiring UNIX/Security/Pen. testing folks?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950 http://www.cocoa.demon.co.uk/cv/