Choosing the best internet service for your online needs may not be an easy task. Especially when you consider factors such as local availability of the service, connection speeds required, the method of delivery, costs involved, lifestyle demands, and service providers. Without enough knowledge of what service to go for, you might encounter a tough decision problem. Good news is, this guide contains everything you’ll need to know about different internet services and how to choose one that best suits your online needs. Please read on.
Common Internet Services Available
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Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
This is the cheapest form of broadband internet that you can get in your home or business. The service is made available through your telephone line (you must be having one). Their speeds can usually go up to 25 Mbps in most connections but there are emerging services that can go up to 100 Mbps. However, distance is a major threat to this service; its strength reduces as you go further from the service provider. You’ll enjoy amazing speeds of the service if you’re located in the towns where DSL services are offered.
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Cable
This service is made available in your home or business through your cable service. It’s generally faster than both satellite and DSL services with speeds ranging above 100 Mbps. One major disadvantage, however, is that the service is shared with different households in your neighborhood, and this can slow the service when a lot of people are using it. This means that you can enjoy significantly fast speeds if you use the service during off-peak times, say when most people are asleep or away for their day-to-day activities. You can get much faster downloads by choosing a plan that fits your home and business needs.
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Satellite
This internet service can be delivered to your house or business via satellite service. It’s the slowest service among the services stated here with speeds hardly above 20 Mbps. The service usually has short hiccups especially during the first stages of using it but it becomes stable soon after. Satellite service can be your best internet service option if you’re living deep in a rural place.
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Fiber-Optic Internet
While this service can offer the fastest services unlike all the other services here, it’s currently available in certain areas only. The service can provide speeds up to 500 Mbps with a potential of offering much higher speeds as technology improves. The prices for this service are more or less the same as those of DSL for a certain range of speed.
What Speeds Do You Need?
It’s vital to first understand the bandwidth means which will guide you in finding the most appropriate service that suits your needs. Simply put, bandwidth refers to the maximum download data rates, mostly in megabits per second, from the internet to your device (tablet, mobile, or computer).
The required bandwidth is directly proportional to the data activities you’re doing and the number of devices using the same connection. This means that the internet activity you’re doing requires a certain bandwidth for it to function effectively. The table below gives a rough estimate (assuming a single user at a time) of the bandwidth you’ll require to accomplish a particular internet activity. Therefore, if you’re sharing your total bandwidth among the connected devices, you’ll need to increase the speeds significantly.
|
INTERNET ACTIVITY |
BANDWIDTH NEEDED (Mbps) |
|
General web surfing, social media, email |
1 |
|
Online gaming |
1-3 |
|
Video conferencing |
1-4 |
|
Standard-definition video streaming |
3-4 |
|
High-definition video streaming |
5-8 |
|
Frequent large file downloading |
50+ |
You’ll hardly get the speed you signed up for when using the service but, perhaps, up to the speed listed. There are quite a number of factors that can affect your available bandwidth; your hardware, other households’ network demand, and the quality of your provider’s infrastructure. You need to also consider the upload speed of the service in addition to the download speed. But how can you know the upload speed of any service? Well, this usually comes as the second number after the download speed and is often smaller than the download speed. For instance, 3 Mbps/1 Mbps.
Other Factors to Consider
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Additional Costs
There could be hidden costs which can hardly be revealed to you up front by most companies in their initial quote. For instance, some could require you to rent or purchase a router instead of just giving it to you without asking for payments or for it to be returned.
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Data Caps
Some service providers have limits on the amount of data you can download. Such service providers may not be worth your considerations, especially if you’ll require to download large files or stream HD videos most of the time.
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Add-Ons
Some service providers might want to sell different add-ons like firewalls to you to install in your device(s). In most instances, these add-ons should be provided free of charge by the provider, especially when you’ve bought a bundle of their services.
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Bundling
Bundling services can be an advantage to you if you’re already using the company for any of satellite, cable, and home phone services. You can decide to move these services as a bundle where you’ll get to enjoy all the features as one bundle.
Choosing Your Service
Before choosing the service to go for, it’s vital to check the availability and reliability of the service in your area. There are several platforms where you can find different service providers in your area. Satellite, phone companies, and cable are the most common services available in most metro areas. Satellite broadband providers are more common in rural areas.
Conclusion
When looking for the best internet service option for your online needs, you first have to check if fiber-optic or DSL options are available. Your next option (that is if the two are unavailable or if your bandwidth needs are not that high) would be the cable service and if this is unavailable as well, satellite service would be the only option to go for. Your location – town or rural areas – greatly determines the best and most reliable service for you. Choose your service wisely and enjoy the best home entertainment experience possible. Good luck!
