Choosing an Internet
Provider to Pre-Order Broadband
Now that we have a firm date for activation, you
can pre-order broadband with the ISP of your choice. One
needs to bear in mind, however, that pre-ordering
broadband is entirely different from pre-registering.
Pre-ordering definitely commits you to buying the service
as soon as it becomes available on 26th November.
There are many ISPs offering broadband to choose from.
They offer services which may be differentiated in terms
of speed, price and contract duration and there are many
other factors to be considered, including support, email,
webspace and other extras.
We shall indicate below some of the ways in which the ADSLGUIDE website allows for
in-depth comparison of ISPs. First a few more thoughts on
aspects to bear in mind.
- INSTALLATION
Installation by BT can be arranged by the
Internet Providers but for most home users this
is often too expensive and it's usual to
self-install.
If you are concerned about this aspect before
ordering, it's possible to contact someone who is
more knowlegeable or a local supplier of computer
support .
- COST
Don't just consider the monthly connection cost.
Think about:
a. total costs over the first year:
- monthly connection cost.
- connection charge(s)
- new hardware cost (bought from ISP or
elsewhere)
- additional installation costs (e.g. conversion
from an ISDN digital line back to an analog line
for ADSL broadband, removal of a shared line,
...)
- cost of support (i.e. cost of using the
internet provider's helpline).
and
b. cost for the following year(s):
- monthly connection cost.
- cost of support (i.e. cost of of using the
internet provider's helpline)
When buying new hardware, there can be
interesting "package deals" from
broadband providers but usually the prices are
lower from hardware suppliers.
The price of filters seems to vary very widely.
Prices range from around 2 pounds from some
sources to more than 10 pounds from some internet
providers. And it's not clear that performance
will necessarily vary in accordance with price -
the more expensive filters should be the
"active" type and more effective than
the lower-priced "passive" filters. One
needs to remember that every telephone socket
used needs a filter.
- RELIABILITY
Reputation for reliability, see www.adslguide.org.uk
- E-MAIL
Does your e-mail address come from your present
Internet Provider?
If so, is it a problem to change your e-mail
address?
There are a number of possible solutions to
retaining your present e-mail address without
having to remain with your present Internet
Provider, for example:
Ask your present Internet Provider "How long
will my e-mail address be maintained alive if I
were to change to another Internet
Provider?" You will find that some Internet
Providers will still maintain your mailbox active
(and readable) when you no longer have an account
with them.
Another possibility is that if you do not at
present have a "free" internet account
(i.e. pay as you go by means of the telephone
connection charges while on-line), you may be
able to switch over to such an account, enabling
you:
- to maintain your e-mail address and read any
mail sent to this address
- to use this dial-in service as a back-up for
broadband for emergency connection to the
internet or for e-mailing using your present
modem.
Some Internet Providers support Outlook Express
only.
Numerous Internet Providers offer web-based
e-mail, which is handy for use when you are away
from home. (Websites such a www.mail2web.com can
usually be used for the same purpose, even if
your provider does not offer a web-based e-mail
facility.)
Note also that there's another way to obtain an
e-mail address that will serve you in the long
term and avoid the need to change e-mail
addresses. This is to register a domain and use
an address on this domain as your principal
e-mail address while arranging for all mail sent
to this address to be re-directed to an e-mail
address with your new Internet Provider.
- SPEED
Currently the download speed of the most popular
services for home users is 512 Kbps.
Services exceeding 512 Kbps are generally more
expensive and more suitable for multi-user
business environments.
In the News
Archive of the ADSLGUIDE website one can
find their monthly reports on the fastest rated
ISPs. Below are links to some recent reports:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1351
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1289
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=1240
- CONTENTION
RATIO
For an explanation of the term contention ratio
see:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/howitworks/contention.asp.
A contention ratio of 50:1 is normal for home
broadband users and is likely to be offered in
the standard packages of ISPs. Lower ratios are
preferable as fewer users compete for the
available bandwidth but are more expensive.
- DIAL-IN
BACK-UP
It's a good idea to keep your
"old" modem and retain a dial-in
connection, just in case there's a disruption of
broadband.
It could serve for any emergency (and allow you
e.g. to e-mail your Internet Provider's helpline
or accessing website help pages).
- CONTRACT
PERIOD
What is the length of your present contract?
Are you willing to go to a longer contract (as
offered by many broadband providers)?
It's also worth planning to retain as a standy
the possibility of dial-up internet connection.
In choosing your broadband provider, some have a
minimum 1 year contract period, with others it
can be just on a monthly basis and some offer a
choice of duration with more advantageous pricing
for longer contracts.
And if you do subsequently decide to change, this
can require payment of a migration fee to your
new provider, thus one needs to read the
conditions carefully.
Remember to check the contract conditions for
your existing dial-up internet connections and do
not forget that this will need to be terminated
at the appropriate time.
- ACCESSIBILITY
Does the broadband package you are considering
offer 24/7 accessibility? (most do, but there are
a few non-24 hour services).
What about accessibility away from home?
- FUTURE
It's worth thinking about future needs without
making things too complicated too complicated for
yourself, e.g. someone remarked to us:
"Although we only have one computer at home,
I would like to keep my options open so may
probably purchase a wi-fi broadband router."
- SECURITY
It is nowadays important to use in addition to a
Virus Checker some sort of Firewall when on ADSL.
Windows XP has a built in Firewall and there are
free ones such as Zone Alarm (http://www.zonelabs.com) which
can be downloaded from the Internet.
- REPUTATION
OF ISP
Reputation of ISP not so much for speed, but for
reliability, for help, etc. is an important
consideration (there's information on adslguide.org.uk)
- WEBSPACE
This is not always a standard part of the ISP's
package but also not of interest to some internet
users.
- EXTRA
APPLICATIONS
Are there any new or special applications planned
for broadband - and are these supported by the
Internet Provider?
TIME
TO COMPARE ISPs
In considering your choice of broadband ISP and package,
there are a number of useful tools on the ADSLGUIDE
website:
Selective listing and searching of Broadband ISPs
according to a range of criteria can be accessed via the
site's "List" Page:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/summarylist.asp
You can, for example, list ISPs and their packages in
sequence of yearly cost of ownership for 512kB services:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/summarylist.asp?order=tco512k
Or search for services which fulfil your specific
requirements:
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/search.asp?type=advanced
You can compare up to 6 ISPs for Speed, Reliability and
Customer Service
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/compare.asp
And when you are closer to deciding, check the Message
Boards for user comments on each ISP:
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/threads.php?Cat=
|