Dialup or Broadband?

Never in the course of human history have there been so many choices when shopping for a local Internet Service Provider (ISP), particularly in a mid- to large-sized metropolitan area like the Piedmont Triad. As recently as six or seven years ago, dependable Internet access was affordable only by businesses or serious computer enthusiasts. Those who could afford accounts with Compuserve or America Online (AOL) usually wound up frustrated (by waiting for the servers to answer a call) or in despair (from having spent far more than they had intended).   

Today, the choice is clear:

• $20 per month (give or take a couple of $) for dialup access

• $40 per month (or maybe a few $ more) for broadband

In this article we will briefly discuss these alternatives, and the tradeoffs you make when you choose. 

If you bought your computer at retail during the last four years, it probably came with a modem and Windows 95 (OEM release 2x), Windows 98, or Windows 98 SE (Second Edition). If your computer did not come with a modem, you can purchase one at any major electronics outlet.

Dialup Access

Your modem communicates with your CPU via a COM (communications) port, which is either a physical port or one that is implemented in your operating system software. Dialup access to the Internet uses your modem and an ordinary telephone line, typically the same line that you use for your voice telephone in your home or office. You will want to have a "56K" modem or, to speak in technical terms, one that supports the "V.90" standard.

We recommend a high-quality external modem, which connects to a physical COM port (or USB port) on your computer by means of a cable. Expect to pay upwards of $100 for such a modem. If you have an internal modem, it may already be V.90-compliant; if it is not, get an upgrade.

At any rate, dialup Internet access involves connecting a regular telephone line to your modem and connecting your modem to your computer. Then you need to set up an account with a local ISP. If you do not already have Internet access, the place to start shopping for an ISP is in your telephone book yellow pages under "Internet Services."

We don't recommend a particular ISP for dialup access. There are numerous choices. We do recommend that you shop around, and that you choose an ISP which has been in business for awhile. Ask for references. Talk to your friends and associates, and see what they say. Make absolutely certain that you choose an ISP with access number(s) in your local calling area. There is no excuse for incurring toll charges to get on the Internet from home. And if you travel extensively and need to access the Internet when you are on the road, look for an ISP with a regional or even national presence. That way, you're likely to have a "local" number wherever you happen to be.

Your ISP will provide you with instructions on how to set up your computer for dial-up access to their system. Windows 95, 98, and 2000 (all flavors) provide native operating system support for dial-up networking (DUN), TCP/IP (the communications protocol that drives the Internet), and everything you need to connect to the Internet, browse the "World Wide Web," and use Internet e-mail. The ISP may provide a CD-ROM with customized web browsing and e-mail software, and in many cases the CD sets up your computer for a DUN connection. But at the very least, you will need to configure the telephone number that your modem must dial in order to connect.

Broadband!

At first blush, doubling what you pay for local Internet access seems a little extravagant. It's not, though. To illustrate, let's take just one example of the difference that broadband can make.

Let's assume that you use Microsoft's Windows 95, 98, WinMe, or some similar flavor of operating system. Over the course of the past two years, we have lost count of the number of "upgrades" available from Microsoft for these operating systems--not just the upgrade editions you find on the retail shelves, but the ones that are available for free over the Internet. "Windows Update" is now available for all Microsoft client platforms on Windows 95 and newer. Often, the updates that are available are small patches to fix performance bugs or security issues. Sometimes they are larger downloads to implement the latest version of--for example--the Java Virtual Machine. But frequently, the move from one major "release" of the Internet-related features of Windows involves downloading an entire new install of Internet Explorer: a download that will be at least 7 or 8MB in size and sometimes much larger.

As one who has performed such an upgrade numerous times over a "56K" dialup connection, I can assure you that it takes a couple of hours at minimum. Often, one starts such a process before bedtime, hoping that somehow it will have completed by morning.

Compare that with 15 minutes over broadband. Now, consider what your time is worth. Got you thinking yet?

That's right! There is no question that--at current price levels--the cost of broadband can be justified in a heartbeat.

In this area, consumer-grade broadband Internet access is available in two flavors, affectionately known as xDSL (something Digital Subscriber Line), and Cable. That's right, Cable with a capital "C," as in your local TV cable company. If you're shopping for Cable Internet Access in the triad area, we have one link for you:

Road Runner!

If Cable access is available to you, the hardware you need (a [duh] Cable Modem) physically connects to the same round coaxial cable that you are accustomed to plugging into the back of your television set. With our setup, this Cable modem is an external device. An eight-pin RJ-45 jack on the modem provides an ethernet connection to you, and in the simplest hookup you just connect an ethernet cable between that and a network card in your computer; turn on your computer, and boom! you're on the Internet.

While there are more complex hookup scenarios, that's about as simple as it gets. In fact, when you think about it, it's a whole lot simpler (and a whole lot slicker) than the dialup situation we were in a few weeks ago. First of all, there is no dialing. Not only that, there's no software installation. Just tell Windows that you're always connected as long as the computer is on, and you are. And please be sitting down the first time you are busily processing your e-mail and the telephone rings! That's right, you are using the Internet over your TV cable. Your phone line is not tied up.

If you are interested in xDSL, you may have multiple choices. First of all, check with your local telephone company. The reason that's the place to start is because all current flavors of consumer DSL travel to your home or business over the same copper wires that are used for your telephone, your fax machine, your dialup modem, and your Long Distance service. However, there will be a piece of machinery needed for DSL, too. And, as you may have guessed, it's called a DSL Modem. But don't rush out and buy one, because your DSL provider will probably require that you use a particular kind of DSL modem. And there are several varieties on the market.

In order to get DSL service, you will have to subscribe to it via some provider. Your local telephone company may be the provider. BellSouth (our telephone company) certainly provides its own DSL service, and you can call BellSouth about that. However, there are independent providers of DSL service who have contracted with local telephone companies to co-locate their equipment in the switching offices where the telephone lines all converge. So, there may be multiple DSL providers willing to sell their DSL services to you, even though in the end the actual data will flow into your location over the same copper wires that you have used for telephone service Lo! these many years.

Similarly to the way that a Cable modem works, a DSL modem connects to the outside of your home somehow and provides, on the inside, an internet connection of some sort. While this is commonly ethernet, it does not have to be. There is a growing number of USB modems for DSL, and this may be the direction that your provider prefers--for cost or other reasons. To us, this has the disadvantage of having to locate your computer very close (within 10 feet or so) to the DSL modem. There are also internal DSL modems, which should also be much less costly than an external modem of any kind, but could be more problematic. In short, our recommendation would be to shoot for an external modem that provides an ethernet connection, giving you a much more flexible setup within your home or office.

If you want to shop around for DSL service, you can start on the web at:

DSL Reports,

and find links to providers throughout the country who may sell service in your zip code.

Once you have contracted with a DSL provider, the service will have to be provisioned on some particular telephone line (normally the one that you currently use for voice service). Then the modem will need to be installed and tested, and you are off and running with DSL broadband. And there is a very cool attribute to DSL service in that it doesn't "tie up" your telephone line any more than a Cable modem. You can use the exact same line for voice or fax AND the Internet at the same time.

All The News

Good and Bad. First, grab broadband if you can, but don't just abandon that good old 56K connection if it works for you. And the Bad News about Broadband starts out with the fact that you might not be able to get it--yet.

In order to get Internet service over your TV cable, the cable company must have completed certain upgrades in your neighborhood in order to provide digital services. Although they have reached most neighborhoods in the vicinity of I-40, they haven't reached them all--yet.

Meanwhile, the reach for DSL is limited as well. As of this writing, in this area, you have to be within so many FEET from a telco switch (called a "CO" locally). Actually, it's a couple of miles, give or take some feet--and those are copper miles, not as the crow barks. BellSouth has announced that their rollout efforts for ADSL are proceeding according to plan. However, their plan hasn't reached me--yet.

The "x" in xDSL is usually--in this area--an "A," which stands for "Asymmetric." This means that your broadband speed is faster in one direction (the download direction) than the other (the upload direction). For browsing the web that's fine, so don't worry about it too much. And Cable access is also asymmetric. For a consumer price you get download speeds approaching (or often exceeding) T1 velocity; if you're uploading anything you are limited to somewhere between 64 and 400 Kbps...which is still much, much faster than your 56K modem can achieve. In fact, 56K--or, to be more precise, the ITU V.90 standard--is also asymmetric, and uploads happen in the neighborhood of 28 Kbps if you have a very good connection.

The ADSL installations we've been involved with always require some kind of software installation on your computer. That's because, while the Cable providers figured out how to make their modems look to Windows like a normal gateway out of the box, the DSL providers have resorted to something called "PPP over ethernet," which attempts to make DSL look like a dialup connection. But, because it's not a dialup connection, configuring Windows to make it work is a bit more complex than with Cable.

Well, that's the take on local Internet access today in our neighborhood.  Feedback is welcome. The future is before us!

Tom Brown is the owner of First Computer Services, as well as an employee of local government. He specialized in Classical Philology before embarking on a 20-year career in Information Technology, which continues today.