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Selecting an Internet Service Provider

Buying a computer is only half the battle. Once you have the system home, the next step is to find a reliable provider of Internet content. For most users, the measures of reliability for Internet service are accessibility, ease of use, content, and price. Although the at-home user may not attain the Internet access speeds of systems at a workplace or university setting, a service provider should offer excellent service, support, and content. The following section discusses primary categories of Internet providers including standard Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and web hosts.

ISPs combine Internet access with a selection of specialized content and community areas. Earthlink, America Online, and Prodigy are all examples of on-line services. Most on-line service content is proprietary in nature, meaning the service itself develops and posts the data to the service files. ISP  content will often include Internet versions of major magazines, newspapers, television networks, and financial services.  

ISPs  typically emphasize ease of use, usually having clear, well-defined screens and excellent instructions. They cater to the new user who is interested in a one-stop-shop approach for Internet service.

While most ISPs  provide a flat monthly payment option, many subscription features (financial management programs, some magazines and research services) are often offered only on an hourly rate basis. This can become very expensive to students searching for reference and other research materials.

Many ISPs, act as an intermediary between the local computer user and the Internet. ISPs provide much less in the way of proprietary content and much more in the way of Internet access and web-development features. ISPs typically provide a fully featured web browser, web-publishing tools (to upload your own web pages), and integrated e-mail and newsgroup access all in the basic package. In most cases, the price for level of service ranges from free monthly access to $23.95 per month.

ISPs use industry-standard, web-browsing software (Netscape and Internet Explorer) almost exclusively. Since most websites are written to work with these packages, the user is more likely to receive clear and understandable web pages with ISPs. This is especially important for users interested in publishing their own web pages or webmasters interested in having a stable and consistent web development tool. However, many on-line service web browsers are proprietary, built to work well with that service only. This can cause comprehension problems when web pages written with standard programs are opened in an on-line service, proprietary web browser.

Cable Television Companies and Digital Subscriber Line service (DSL) are the most recent additions to the Internet service provider mix. Cable and DSL companies, such as Media One and Comcast are moving quickly to capitalize on the emerging high speed Internet market.

What sets cable and DSL companies apart is speed and continuous connection. As mentioned earlier, cable and DSL can provide data throughput at speeds of at least 50 times faster than standard 56K modem service. What this means from a practical perspective is this. A download that would take 10 minutes with a 56K modem takes five seconds or less with a cable modem. To experience this speed, access a corporate or government Intranet after hours and download a data file. These are the speeds that are available in many areas now with cable modems.

The second factor, continuous connection, also speeds web surfing. Cable and DSL Internet service is similar to cable television in that when the computer is turned on, the Internet is available immediately. You do not have to dial your ISP. You only have to wait for your web browser to load. For most users, this saves significant connection time.

Cable and DSL services differ mainly in delivery mechanism.  While cable service is provided via coaxial cable television cable, DSL is provided via standard telephone line.  In either case a special modem is installed in your personal computer.  You are able to use cable television service or telephone service at the same time as Internet service is being used.

There is also a difference in installation time among the various services.  While standard ISP service may be user installed immediately, cable and DSL are not so simple.  Cable service can be user installed, but usually requires the cable company to assist.  This usually happens within a week or so.  DSL service is similar to cable, except that it has been known to take up to three months for DSL installation to take place.

Finally, cable and DSL are not available in all areas.  Obviously, without cable television service, cable internet is not available.  DSL is theoretically available wherever a phone line exists.  However, since DSL is a point to point connection, it is limited by the physical distance the user computer is from the service provider.  For all practical purposes, DSL speed drops considerably after about three miles.

Cable and DSL service comes at a premium price. You will pay up to $45, twice what a typical dial-up connection will cost.

In summary, keep an open mind when selecting an internet service.  While standard ISPs are simple to install and relatively inexpensive, one cannot take advantage of the rich array of video, voice and high bandwidth data available via DSL and cable.  

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Copyright © 2001
Dale Nesbary, Ph.D.