COMMENT
Get Faster, Cheaper Broadband Today!

By Cliff D'Arcy
August 9, 2005

If you enjoying surfing the Web, but haven't shopped around for a cheaper service, you're probably paying well over the odds!

This year, broadband overtook dial-up as the most popular way to access the Internet. Currently, broadband accounts for just over half (51%) of all net connections in the UK, and its popularity continues to grow. Indeed, with faster, cheaper broadband services being launched all the time, it looks as though dial-up accounts will soon be history!

The vast majority of UK households can have broadband access via standard phone lines or fibre-optic cable services. About two out of three broadband users use ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) services via standard phone lines, with most of the remainder hitting the Web via cable firms NTL, Telewest and Kingston Communications. In remote areas, high-speed Internet access is possible through wireless or satellite services. The main benefits of broadband are:

• A faster, 'always on' service - without extra call charges to pay, you can stay permanently connected to the Internet;
• You can make telephone calls while surfing, as the two signals do not interfere with each other; and
• You can use a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) package such as Skype to make completely free user-to-user calls over the Internet!

Of course, broadband offers a huge speed improvement over dial-up services: a 1Mbps (megabits per second) connection is up to twenty times faster than an old-fashioned 56k dial-up service. 'Two meg' (2Mbps) is twice as fast as 1 Mbps, and several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) now offer 4Mbps and even 8Mbps connections.

Indeed, cable firm NTL yesterday announced that it plans to offer almost 1½ million NTL broadband subscribers the UK's fastest broadband service, with 10Mbps as its standard speed, at no additional cost. NTL will first upgrade customers to a 3Mbps service by the end of this year, followed by an ultra-quick 10Mbps connection in 2006. NTL is considering going even further, by introducing unbelievably fast 30Mbps or even 50Mbps services, which would enable users to watch high-quality video over the net!

Choosing a broadband provider largely comes down to three factors: speed, service and price, but you can cut the cost of faster connections by agreeing to usage restrictions. For example, my 2Mbps 'metered' service from Prodigy Networks cost just £15 a month, including VAT, which makes it ome of the cheapest two-meg deal around. However, I have a usage allowance of 2Gb (two gigabytes, roughly the storage capacity of three CDs), and exceeding this limit means that each extra gigabyte costs me £1.50. This fits my usage pattern nicely, but if you are a heavy user or download a lot of large files, such as music or video clips, you may pay less with an unmetered service.

To get faster, cheaper web access, here is ADSLguide's price comparison for a 1Mb service. Before switching, check out your new ISP's:

• contention ratio (how many people share your local connection?);
• customer service (do you call customer services or technical support on an expensive premium-rate or 0870/1 helpline?);
• reliability statistics (how do existing users rate its reliability, and how does this compare with other providers' ratings?); and
• additional services (for example, does it come with free email accounts and personal web space?).

Finally, a wireless modem router and receivers can turn your home into a 'wi-fi' broadcast zone, enabling two or more PCs to share the same broadband connection. Thanks to my wireless network, I now enjoy complete freedom to work anywhere in my home!

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