Multiple options are available for Internet connections. They vary by speed, portability, reliability, usability, security and price. 

 

1. Speed may vary from 56K to 100Mb+ depending on technology used and provider chosen.

Common Download speed for different connection types:
56K bps dial-up.
768 Kbps DSL
1.5-20 Mbps Cable
10-50 Mbps Fiber-Optic cable (Verizon FiOS)

1. Mobility varies from several feet (cord) to complete portability (mobile broadband) with home/office wireless in between.
2. Reliability varies from relatively frequent blackouts during some unpredictable time or at a particular location for a mobile connection to relatively stable wired high speed connections,  with relatively being the key term as any connection may be interrupted due to multiple factors and so if you need high reliability a second, backup connection may be required.
3. Usability depends on the device you are connecting from and connection speed. For example, cell phones capabilities are predictably limited and so many applications may not be available if you decide to use cell phone for Internet connections. Even if you use a laptop with a mobile connection card, downloading large files such as movies may be quite time consuming.
4. Security requirements may vary from relatively low for music or movies downloads, exchanging pictures and such, to high for financial transactions, as well as medical, legal and other applications.
5. Price may vary from $10/month to $100s/month depending upon factors mentioned above.

• Internet Connection Options

(Availability and pricing may vary. Check availability first).
         
Prices shown are on a monthly basis.

• Cable is your most likely choice due to it wide availability and range of speed/pricing options.  

For example, RCN offers  
1.5Mbps – $23.00
5.0 Mbps – $33.00
10 Mbps - $43.00
20 Mbps - $68.00

• Fiber Optic cable - Verizon FIOS, if available in your area, provides several high-speed options.

10 Mbps – $48.00
20 Mbps – $58.00
50 Mbps - $145.00

• DSL may make sense if you have phone line from the same service provider (e.g. Verizon).:

Pricing w/o phone services:
Up to 1Mbps – $20.00
Up to 3Mbps – $30.00
With phone service advertised price price is about $10 for up to  1 Mbps and $20 for up to 3 Mbs speed.

• Mobile Broadband. Mobility is the main advantage. Most networks offer 3G network support which provides a speed faster than dial–up, but not as fast as cable. Provided by Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon. US Cellular, Alltel, ACS, etc.

Disadvantages:

• Low speed
• Speed can vary widely throughout the day, sometimes falling well below the 400 kbit/s target during peak times.
• Unreliable: location and weather dependent
• Somewhat expensive. For voice residential customers top tier providers charge $50-60 fee per month (higher if you do not have cell phone with the same carrier), may require subscription agreement with early termination fee ($175-200) and require connection card ($50-150). Activation fee $25-30. Depending upon your current mobile phone carrier and your flexibility in changing one your total prices may vary.

WiMax, 4th generation, up to 1.5 Mbp/s, was supposed to be launched Sep 2008  in Baltimore by Sprint/Nextel but this story had so many delays already that it is unclear when said service is going to be launched. Nokia is planning to offer WiMax services in the future. As  WiMax is already operating in Pakistan, you may get it eventually as well…

• Dialup advantages are low price and the ability to connect through any telephone line. However, the maximum speed of 56K is painfully slow, not to mention that connection has to be re-established every time you reconnect,and the fact that the phone cannot be used while you are connected. You probably do not want to use  dialup unless there are special circumstances involved.

 

• Satellite . The only provider operating in our area that we are currently aware of is Earthlink. Speed is low, price high, signal is weather dependent. See details below:

 

Up to 1.0Mbps $69.95/mo.
(Installation and equipment fees of $499.95)

Up to 1.0Mbps $99.95/mo.
(No upfront fees)

 

• Contract and small print:

The unknown is what exactly is in the contract for either of the providers, e.g. if the advertised prices are for the period of the contract, or for 3-6 month, and what will be the price after promotional period; setup fee; modem rental fee; termination fee; security deposit (for the equipment rented), etc.
If you are planning to move in less than a year some “bargain” contracts may end up as  the most expensive choice.

Try to find out as much information as possible in advance. Unfortunately, the usual scenario is that the customer sees the written contract for the first time when a company worker comes to install the equipment. It usually happens after delays, sometimes for weeks, due to scheduling, and after waiting for hours (usually at least two) for the worker to appear, and so everything is done in a hurry. As the majority of consumers do not practice law in the IT field, these agreements (with notorious fine print) may be quite confusing.

Bundles:
Combining Internet with phone or/and TV services make sense if you need them.. However, be aware that consumers tend to compare advertised price of the phone line provided with the cable to their total existing phone bill and it looks like great saving. But after adding more than $10 in taxes and yet more in surcharges, it may not look that great. However, in the end it may be a better offer anyway.
But ask yourself, do you really need the land line at all if you already have  a cell phone? You can use Skype to call out ($3 per month) from your computer. You will need a headset; OK one is below $20 (much better headsets are available for $15 more). You can get a Skype number so people can call you as well, but that will cost you more.

TV is another choice to make. If you do not have time to watch it there is no particular reason to waste money. If you like to  watch news you can do so online for free whenever you have time or need and in  much more efficient manner as you can choose what story to watch (helpful if you do  not care that much what Britney or Paris and others did, which seems to represent substantial part of the “news”). Watching news or movies on your computer has minuses. The computer must be on and you must be in front of it. A TV with remote is much faster, handier and more reliable. If you would like to watch TV online or to download movies, especially in HD, you had better have a 5Mbps connection or or faster or it may become very annoying.

• The choice is yours.

To make the right choice you have to decide how you are planning to use your Internet connection and how much of the resources you are able to commit. Knowing your particular requirements you will also decide what the limiting factors are. If you are constantly traveling and require connection on the go you probably have to use one of the mobile broadband operators and use a cell phone,a laptop with a wireless card, or both. However, price, speed and usability may be far from optimal in comparison with regular home use.

If you are financially conservative you may choose low cost plans but then speed and to some  extent usability may be substantially lower. It may prevent you from using some of the applications requiring large file downloads and sluggishness may become an annoyance in general. If you decide to download relatively large files other connections may be difficult to use at the same time. This may sound like not a big deal but to be able to use internet for other purposes during downloads is of great convenience. Downloads may take a substantial amount of time which may be hard to estimate as it depends on how busy the servers are, how clogged the net traffic, etc. As you were already in front of your computer to initiate downloads and will have to return after the download is completed, it may be only natural and convenient to check anything from the weather to your bank account during the download time.
If your household is populated with overly enthusiastic Internet users (aka teenage kids), by choosing low speed options you are likely setting grounds for conflicts. However, if you do not need high speed and do not have a bunch of teens sharing your connection then less expensive alternative may be a prudentchoice.

If you are looking for a connection for your home or office you may want to decide if you are going to use it at particular desk or at multiple different places such as different rooms, the backyard,  the pool deck, etc. If you are planning to connect through one desktop computer only then a wired connection may be right for you. It is the fastest, the simplest and the most secure connection avaliable. However, if you have large house and backyard, laptops and multiple users and do not want to bother with getting cords into each corner transforming your house into something looking like an IT department then you are probably looking for a wireless router connected to your modem. Wireless connections are a bit more complicated than plug-and-play wired one. All computers connected through wireless system will require wireless cards. Most laptops now have them but most desktops do not. Although wireless network setup is not a rocket science, you have to know what you are doing, in particular to ensure a secure connection as you do not want your network to be wide open for any stranger sitting in a car outside of your house.

• Additional costs.

In addition to monthly connection cost you may need to include setup costs into your calculations. Setup expenses may include hardware costs (cable modem, Ethernet cables or wireless router, wireless cards, etc.) as well as different providers' fees and deposits.

There are some tradeoffs. For example, you can rent a cable modem from the service provider. However you will be charged modem rental fees and will pay fees equal to the modem's costs in two years or so. Note that the modem quality, reliability and compatibility with your network is your concern rather than your ISP’s and so rented modems may not represent the best choice. Note also that if you would like to terminate  service or to buy your own modem to replace the rented one you may be directed to return the modem to an office located in DC with no parking around whatsoever or to stand in line at the post office and pay for shipment.

• Choosing an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If you have already decided on type of connection, speed and other components and found that similar services are provided by several vendors then it is time to choose between these companies. All regular rules that you usually use for choosing the business to deal with are fully applicable. Just as an example, we generally we prefer smaller companies, e.g. RCN over Comcast. For comparison, 2007 annual revenues for RCN were $0.6 B vs Comcast’s $31B, so RCN was 50 times smaller in this regard and was supposed to have less bureaucracy and listen more to customers. They are also less known, spend a lot less for ads and so a leaving customer may be more of a problem for them. They are not as financially stable as the corporate giant Comcast and may become an acquisition target which is usually not a top concern for residential customers but may be significant consideration for business customers.

Note:
Availability, speed and pricing vary by area and will change with time. This article is a limited snapshot and is not updated regularly. Links provided may expire quickly. Check current availability, speed and pricing in your area.