Internet Service Providers (ISP)

There are many different types of internet service providers. The four that we will discuss here are Dial-up, DSL, Satellite, and Cable.

Dial-Up Internet
Dial-up internet is very slow. The fastest speed that can be reached by law is 56Kbps, though you will not even usually connect at this speed. The service usually costs around twenty dollars for most providers. Some go down to as low as ten dollars, and we have seen it as high as twenty four dollars. If you will require a second phone line for this service, it is worth it just to upgrade to high speed internet instead, if it is available in your area. For dial up service, you must dial out each time you want to access the internet. The average page will take five to ten seconds to load, and sometimes longer. It may take around fifteen minutes to download one digital camera picture over the internet.

DSL Internet
DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It is a high speed internet broadband connection that connect to your computer through your existing phone lines. It uses a different area of the existing phone lines and allows you to be on the phone at the same time that you are using the interent. It is a high speed connection that ranges from 144Kbps to 1.5Mbps which is 2.5 to 25 times faster than a standard 56kbps dial-up modem. DSL is not available in all areas. Check with your local ISP to see if it is available in your area. The average cost ranges from thirty dollars to fifty dollars for DSL service. Pictures download almost instantly with this high speed connection. Internet pages load in about a second. One draw back to DSL is that it is possible that the connection will not allow your house alarm system to function. Check with your DSL provider to see if they have the proper hardware to avoid this from happening before you have the system installed.

Satellite Internet
Satellite internet is available everywhere. There are two-way satellite systems available now, which are much faster than the old one way system, which still left you dependent on a phone line for uploads. Now with two way satellite system, you can have high speed internet now even in areas where cable and DSL providers will not go. With speeds up to 500Kbps (about nine times faster than a 56Kbps dial-up connection), you can download pictures and large files almost instantly. We pages will load in about a second. The connection is always on and does not tie up your phone line.

Cable Internet
Cable internet is growing in popularity and is available in most areas where cable television is available. Cable internet speeds can vary greatly. They average between 500Kbps to 3Mbps. At any rate, it is a very fast and always on connection. The prices range from thirty dollars to sixty dollars a month. You can download a digital picture almost instantly and web pages load in about a second. Cable internet does not tie up your phone line.

Kbps stands for KiloBytes Per Second (1000 bytes)
Mbps stands for MegaBytes Per Second (1,000,000 bytes)